Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-12-27
The Depths of Space.

Distance so Overwhelming That the
Finite Mind Cannot Conceive Tn en-.
Let us suppose that telegraph lines, in
stead of being merely confined TO the earth,
were extended throughout the length and
depth of space. Let one wire stretch from
the earth TO the moon, another from the
earth TO the sun, another from the earth TO
the nearest brightest star, another from the
earth to faint telescope star, and finally,
let wire be stretched all the way from the
earth to one of the more distant stars. Let
us now see what the very shortest time
would be in which a message might be
transmitted TO each of these several dest-
nations. First, with respect to the moon,
Our satellite is, comparatively speaking,
so near to us that but little more than a
second would be required for a signal to
travel thither from the earth The sun is,
however, many times farther away than the
moon, and the time required for sending a
message TO the sun would be correspond
ingly longer The sun is, indeed, so far
that VIXEN the key had been pressed down,
and the electric wave had shot forth along
the solar wire to pursue its route at that
stupendous speed which would permit it to
place a girdle seven times round this earth
in a second, yet eight minutes would have
TO elapse ere the electric wave had passed
from the earth to the sun. An answer
sent back from the sun would require an
other eight minutes for the return journey
so that if there were no undue delay in the
solar post-office, we might expect a reply
within half an hour or so after the original
message had been despatched.
Telegraphing to the stars would, how
ever, be much more tedious matter. Take
first the case of the very nearest of those
twinkling points of light, namely Alpha
Centauri. The transmission of a tele-
graphic message TO this distant sun would
indeed tax the patience. The key is pressed
down, the message bounds off on its Jour
ney; it wings its way along the wire with
that velocity sufficient TO carry it 10000
miles in single second of time. Even the
nearest of the stars is however sunk into
space TO a distance so overwhelming that
the time required for the journey is not a
question of seconds, or of minutes, not of
hours, not of days, not of weeks, nor even
OF months, for no less than four years
would have to pass by before the electricity
had accomplished this stupendous journey.
Alpha Centaur is, however, merely the
nearest of these stars. We have yet to in
dictate the distances of those which are
more remote Look up tonight toward
u
twinkling points which delight our eyes,
there is many a one up there so far off that
if, after the battle of Waterloo had been
won in 1915, the Duke of Wellington had
telegraphed the news to these stellar depth,
the message would not have been received
there, notwithstanding the fact that for so
years it has been flashing along with that
lightning velocity which would carry it
seven times round the earth in the interval
between the two ticks of a clock
There are stars farther still. Fortify
your eyes with telescope, and direct it
towards the sky. Over our heads there
are thousands of stars SO remote, that, if
the news of the discovery of America by
Columbus had been circulated far and wide
through the universe, by the instrumental
ity of the telegraph, those thousands of
stars to which l now refer are elevated in
to boundless space to attitudes so stupen-
dous that the announcement would not yet
have reached them.
And we have still one more step to take.
Let us think of the telegraph wire that is
supposed to run from the earth to one of !
those stars which are only known to us by
the impressions they make on a photo |
graphic plate. 1t seems certain that many
of these stars are so remote that if the glad |
tidings of the first Christmas at Bethlehem |
1894 years ago, had been disseminated |
through the universe by the swiftest cleo |
trio current ever known, yet these stars are I
so inconceivably remote that all the seconds |
which have elapsed in the 1894 years of our |
present era, would not have sufficed for |
the journey.
But if any reader of these lines should |
entertain any misgivings as to the reality |
of those stellar distances, then there is one |
consideration which l specially commend |
to his notice. Remember that space seems |
to us to be boundless, for our Imagination |
can conceive no limits. There must, it !
would seem, be depths of space thousands
of times, or indeed millions of times greater /
than those of which l have spoken. We |
can conceive of no boundary; for even, if |
that celestial vault of crystal existed which |
the ancients supposed, our imaginations
could pierce through it to the other side,
and then in thought we could start afresh,
and on and on indefinitely. And seeing
that space seems to us to be infinite, what
wonder is it if the stars should lie at the
distances l have named, or at distances
millions of times greater still.-Sir Robert
Ball, astronomer.