The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-16
THE HEAVENS In JULY.

During these July nights the stars present
their most charming appearance. One OF
the easiest summer consultations to trace
out is that of the Scorpion, now a conspicu-
Gus group of stars in the southern heavens.
By 9 o'clock its brilliant red star Antares
is on the meridian. 1t is the principal star
of the constellation. the only first magni-
tude star in that part of the heavens, and
1t marks the heart of the Scorpion. The
cluster of stars about ten degrees north
west of Antares is in the head of the Scor-
pion, while the ten stars extending down
first in a south-southeasterly direction.
thence easterly, where they turn toward
the north, mark the line of the body and
tail. The return curve in the tail is like a
shepherds crook, and the two stars very
close together at the end of the curve are
in the stinger Of the Scorpion. The bright
star seen about fifteen degrees east of
Antares is the beautiful planet Saturn.
Observe that zone Of singular whiteness
that stretches across the heavens from
north to south. 1t appears TO begin north
east of the pole star, in the constellation
Cassiopeia, and sweeps across the sky to
the southern horizon, producing an effect of
understandable grandeur. 1t really passes
quite around the celestial sphere, producing
a gigantic girdle which the Greeks called
Galaxy, the Romans Via Lactea, and in our
language it is the Milky Way. Milton de-
sc-ibes it:
"A broad and ample road. whose dust is
gold,
AND pavement stars, as stars to thee ap-
Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way
Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest,
Powdered with stars"
In the Milky Way the star depths reach
II --1-.,x-~ o-l ;0 L. +A1 manu- f0trndo-
ton on which the stellar universe is built.
Sir William Herschel b. a laborious process
technically called "star %gauging," discov-
cred the important fact that the stars are
thinnest at the points most distant from
the Milky Way. and that they constantly
increase in number as the ~galactic region is
approached. This discovery strengthened a
theory of Kant's-that the stars are ar
ranged in a fat lens-shaped stratum with
our solar system near the center. Kant.
who was a speculative philosopher and not
an astronomer, perceiving that the Galaxy
encircled the heavens, reasoned that the
stellar system must extend much farther
in that direction than 1t did elsewhere. The
Kantian theory. however, does not suppose
that our stellar cluster constitutes the
whole material universe. Herschels theory
of the structure of the universe is similar
to Rants. Briefly, il is that the stars are
in clusters: our solar system. together with
all the visible stars, belongs TO the Milky
Way cluster, so that We see this great Cir
die of light because we are looking through
the thickest section of our star cluster,
which is made up of numbered millions
Of mighty suns whose distances are so vast
that the human eye cannot separate them
into points of light. Beyond are star clus-
tiers too remote to be observed, which con-
stitute milky ways or systems els extensive
as our own.
In ancient times the stars were supposed
to be countless, but the number actually
visible, at one time, TO the unaided eye. on
a clear night. does, not exceed two thou
sand. 1t is estimated that at least one hun-
dred million stars have Deen brought into
view by the use of the modern telescope of
high power. The asterism Of the Pleiades
contains six stars visible to the naked eye.
A Photographic plate exposed in a telescope
for one hour revealed seven thousand stars
in the same place. Even a small telescope
will show that the Galaxy is made up Of
millions of faint stars, all OF which are suns
similar in composition and probably not in
ferior in size to ours.
According to Professor Newcomb, the dis
tribution of the nebulae is exactly opposite
that or the stellar arrangement, viz, as We
go out from the Milky Way the stars de-
crease in number. while the nebulae in
crease. In all about 5000 nebulae have been
observed. and their position among the
stars determined. The nebula of Androm-
eda is the only one visible TO the unaided
eye. all others are telescope. The spectre
scope shows that nebulae are composed OF
incandescent gases, in large part hydrogen.
The hypothesis of La Place, that our solar
system was formed from a nebula. is one
of the most interesting speculations in as
tronomy. During 80 years this theory has
been gradually perfected through the re-
searches OF Kant the metaphysician. La
Place the Mathematician. Herschel the
astronomer, Helmholtz the physicist and
the hypothesis by mathepatically demon
s%trating the effect of tidd friction in plas-
tic masses, thus explaining why the moon
always presents the same face TO the earth
as do Mercury and Venus TO the sun. Last
~, the genius OF Lord Kelvin has strength
ened the hypothesis by computation on the
solar heat due to contraction, showing the
probable age OF the sun 10 be not less than
twenty million years.
Two rare and splendid astronomical
events will take place within a year. The
first will occur on the night of Nov. y TO
IA, when the earth viii enter the orbit of
the Leonids or November meteoroids. Once
In thirty-three years the earth passes
through the gem of the ring" OF these
1neteoroids. and we then have a grand dis
play of falling stars that Eliminates the
total eclipse of the sun May Is. 1900. The
zone OF totality will be fifty-five miles in
width. stretching from New Orleans 10
Raleigh. ~. c.. and Norfolk. Va. thence
across the Atlantic to Portugal. Spain and
north Africa. JOHN c. DEAN.