The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-23

A Piece of News That Is i'm Reality
Very Old.

New York Commercial Advertiser.
A few days ago all the newspapers an
hhouneed that a new star was apnaren envy
This argued well for the completeness OF
the news service of our country, since, per-
haps not more than a hundred persons in
the United States took an active interest
in the nebula of Andromeda.
But the promptneSS of astronomical news
service leaves something to be desired. For
example. this new star, the making of
which we are watching, was, in reality,
made years ago, though the light from IL is
only just reaching us But the stellar uni
verse is one place where rapid transit--at
least rapder transit than existed at the
time of Moses-has not been introduced
by this time be of quite a respectable age.
news of its birth is as eagerly waited for
by astronomers as though IT had only yes
terday been created by act of Congress.
Astronomy is a peculiar science. 1t holds
It's devoteeS in as relentless a grip as mon
eymaking ever did, though its practical or
commercial results have been, perhaps,
smaller than those of any other science. 1t
is true 1t has foretoid that the world will be
q coIo ana nieless moon IN eighteen million
years, but that hardly concerns any of us
now, unless it be the life insurance COM
panies. And the motions of the stars are
so slow that the astronomers of to-day are
really making their observations patiently
night after night for their colleagues of a
Thousand yeals hence to profit by.
Still, observatories have multiplied in the
land. 1t has become the fashion of men who
have repented of their sins to put up an
observatory. They do this instead of build
ing church, as penitents did a few hundred
years ago. Whether the fact that mans
name cannot be so conspicuously en-
blazoned on nurch as it can on an OBJ
servatory has anything to do with this
change can only be guessed.
Astronomy concerns itself largely with
theories Ii there is forming a star out of
the nebula of Andromeda it is an argument
for the nebular hypothesis, and there will
be joy among those who concern themselves
with the first and latter ends OF things.
Once before, in 1885, there seemed to be the
making of star out of Andromeda, but 1t
faded away again in the little cloudlike
affair that it has been since the memory
of man. Astronomers wondered whether
they were not in reality looking at some
star between us and the nebula, but now
that a star seems to be coming again their
hopes have revived.
The nebula of Andromeda is millions or
times larger than our whole solar system
sun, planets, moons, rings and all-aStron-
omy deals largely in millions. 1t IS COM
posed of heated gas, even as our own sun
and planets are supposed to have been once,
and the latest photographs of it show that
it has condensed toward the center into
bright star, surrounded with elongated
rings, which are expected in the course or
millions of years to break into pieces, which
pieces will assume a globular shape, ana III
the course of time cool into planets like our
own.
The nebular hypothesis is a pleasing
hypothesis, though it does leave the soul Tor
theologians to account for, and 1t may be
hoped that when Andromeda really settles
down to civilization she will profit by some
of the mistakes we have made in this world.