The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-04-03

When we arise tomorrow morning an
look from our chamber window as IN
welcome rays of the sun stream through
suppose that we should see hair dozel
smaller suns and brilliant stars SHINING Il
other portions of the sky. From anothe
window more diminutive suns and briSh
stars will be visible. During the day on
after another Of these little orbs Will dis
appear in the west, and others Will rls'
in the east, and when the great orb OF da!
finally sinks below the horizon, score O.
these lesser suns and effugent stars, sliin
ing with added luster in the absence OIL tn
king of day, will spangle the heavens
and diffuse a soft light equal to that OF q
bright dawn.
We denizens of the earth will not witness
that beautiful spectacle tomorrow morning
and the succeeding night with our phy'
steal eyes, but let US in Imagination WING
our way through the infinite depths oil
space till we reach that wonderful cluster
of stars called the Pleiades. AS we
rspidly approach a new universe, filled
with a galaxy of bright stars, will expand
before our eyes, and as we penetrate the
interior, innumerable effulgnt suns and
stars will shine upon us from every part of
the celestial sphere. We alight upon a
planet revolving around one of these
magnificent worlds and the picture drawn
in the preceding paragraph is perpetually
visible to our gaze.
POETRY OF THE PLEIADES
The most interesting object in our winter
evening skies is this beautiful cluster of
stars. The Oriental year began at that
ho,rr in the month of November. when these
+Ia 10 ~
thus giving them PRECEDENCE over every
other heavenly body. The word
Pleiades is derived from the Greek
pleiones (many), or pleios (fulD, for
these stars regulated agriculture,
navigation and other industries. Hence
Job significantly asks "Can'st thou
bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades,
or loose the bands of Orion?'
There is frequent allusion to this cluster
by the poets of ancient and modern times.
One of the happiest is in Tennyson's
"Locksey Hail.
"And I have seen the Pleiades rising
through the mellow shade,
Glitter1ng like a swarm of firetlies tangled
In a silver braid
An unknown poet thus graphically pic
lures the heavens on a winter evening:
Orion, in clear, autumnal nights,
Comes proudly climbing up the eastern
heights,
His silvery bands in all their beauty
cleaning;
Arcturus greets us with his shining face,
The Pleiades still wear their native grace;
The North Star hangs above ''the empty
place."
Where the mysterious Arctic fires are
streaming.
THE SACRED NUMBER SEVEN
To the inexperienced observer, the Plei-
AIDES have the appearance of many stars
merged into confused cluster-the indi-
vidual stars not being clearly perceived.
A more practiced eye is able to separate
the stars in the group and even count
them. The ancient shepherds on the pla
teaux of Mesopotamia saw seven stars IN
those clear oriental skies, and the cluster
was called the Seven Stars the Seven
Sisters" etc. The Greeks and Romans, I'M
keen vision, and in an atmosphere more
laden with vapors, perceived only six stars,
and their legends embraced several pretty
myths accounting for the lost Pleiad.
According to one of these, Orion, young |
hunter, followed by his dog Sirius met |
Diana's nymphs in the forest. They We're
near and addressed them they turned and |
fed. He pursued, and, as he was about to
overtake them. they We're suddenly |
changed into doves and afterward trans
formed into seven bright stars, forming |
where they shone undimmed |
for ages. But when Troy fell they grew |
pale with grief and one, to hide her an |
guish, withdrew from sight.
It'll, A.
chambers of the great pyramid comment
orate the seven Pleiades. He also finds that |
1000 years ago, at which time the great pyra-
mid was built, the Pleiades eliminated above
the pole, coincidently with Alpha Dracons
below the pole-the latter star being visible
through one of the inclined passages of the
pyramid.
HOW THE NUMBER GREW
Many sharp-eyed people in all ages have
been able to see eight Pleiades. A few not
able instances are mentioned where eleven
stars could be discerned. Miss Airy daugh-
ter of the former astronomer royal of
England, could distinguish twelve by slight
~ averting her eyes. The most eXtraordin-
ary case known is that of Maestlin, the
.utor of Kepler, who saw fourteen stars
n the group and correctly mapped eleven
previous to the invention of the telescope |
When Calico pointed his imperfect tele-
scope to the Pleiades in 1910 he counted 80:
half a century later Robert Hooke saw, with
/ better instrument, rs, and De Rheita in
he next century us As more powerful
We're constructed the number
# stars in the cluster was successfully
till in the year 1876 Wolf cata-
ogued 625 stars down to the fourteenth
But the brothers, Paul and Prosper Hen
y of the Paris observatory, employed the
lrt OF photography with great success, and
n 1888 imprinted on the sensitized plate
Al stars within limits representing 2H de-
'rees in length by IL in width. Even this
marvellous feat was surpassed two years
alter, when the same brothers. with an ex-
'osure of four hours, brought out 1926 stars
the sixteenth magnitude. If we include
he populous region just beyond the mar
An O. :he camera plate but manifestlv be-
onglng to the cluster, the number of stars
Vil propably be augmented to 1000.
How many more members there may be
n this great Pleiades system we have as
ct no means of determining nor even of
onJecturing, but, as each increase of tele-
copic power and of Photographic skill has
evealed additional stars, we may presume
hat the group contains far more than the
lumber last mentioned
INCOMPRIHENSIBL DISTANCES
What is the distance of the Pleiades from,
ur base of observation? That. as vet &c
n unsolved problem. Alcyone, the bright
n oh or