The times., 1900-12-30

would add up TO the stupendous total OF
! 10000; and of these the great majority
| would be spiral.
When we approach the question of the
distribution of nebulae in different parts
of the sky, as shown by their catalogued
| positions. we are met by curious fact.
! 1t appears that the region in the neigh
borhood of the Milky Way is especially
| poor in nebulae whereas these objects
seem TO cluster in especially large num-
bers about those points in the sky that
J are farthest from the Milky Way. But We
know that the Milky Way Is richer in
stars than any other part of the sky, since
J IL is in fact made up of stellar bodies
cluste red so closely that ii is well-nigh
| impossible to see between them in the
/ denser portions. Now il cannot be the
result of chance that the stars should tend
to congregate in the Milky Way while the
nebulae tend to seek position as far
from it as possible Whatever may be
the cause. we must conclude that the
sidereal system. as We see 1t, is in gen.
eral constructed upon single plan, and
does not consist of a series OF universes
scattered at random throughout space. IL
we are TO suppose that nebulae turn into
stars as result of condensation or any
other change. then it is not astonishing to
fad minimum of nebulae where there is
maximum of stars, since the nebulae
will have been consumed, as 1t were, in
the formation of the stars.
II is never advisable to push philosoph-
ical speculation very lar when supported
by too slender a basis of fact. But II we
are TO regard the visible universe as made
up on the whole of a single system of
bodies, we may well ask one or two
questions TO be answered by speculative
theory. We have said the stars are not
uniformly distributed in space. Their con-
eeatration in the Milky Way, forming a
narrow band dividing the sky very nearly
into two equal parts, must be due to their
being actually massed in a thin disk or
ring of space within which our solar sys
ten is also situated. This thin disk pro-
jected upon the sky would then appear
as the narrow star hand of the Milky
Way. Now, suppose this disk has an axis
perpendicular to itself, and let us imagine
a rotation of the whole sidereal system
about that axis. Then the fact that the
visible nebulae are congregated far from
the Milky Way means that they are ac-
tually near the imaginary axis. Possibly
the diminished velocity of motion near
the axis may have something to do with
the presence of the nebulae there. Pos
sibly the nebulae themselves have axes
perpendicular to the plane of the Milky
Way. If So We should see the spiral
nebulae near the Milky Way edgeways.
and those far from it without foreshort-
ening. Thus, the paucity OF nebulae near
the Milky Way may be due in part TO
the increased difficulty of seeing them
when looked at edgeways. Indeed. there
is no limit to the possibilities of hypo-
thetical reasoning about the nebular
structure of our universe; unfortunately,
the whole question must be placed for the
present among those intensely interesting
cosmic problems awaiting elucdation, let
US hope. in the new century.
The following astronomical predictions
give the positions of the more conspicuous
consultations at about D. M. January |
u, 1901. They Will 6e found approximately |
correct also at about the same time of |
night throughout the month:
Orion, most striking of all the star |
groups. has changed its position some |
what since last month It is now little |
east of south. midway between horizon and |
zenith. The three belt stars are nearly /
horizontal. and 4 lire drawn through them
downward TO the left brings us to brilliant |
Sirius. Taurus and Auriga are overhead I
the former south Of the zenith, the latter |
north. Gemini hang in the eastern sky. |
Toward the north the Great Bear guards
the Pole on the east, and Cassiopeia on the
west.
None of the major planets is conspicu-
Gus as evening star about the time of
sunset. In the morning just before gun
rise, we have Venus blazing in the south /
eastern sky. up about oneeighth of the
distance from horizon to zenith; Mars in
the west at the same time, above the
horizon about one-third the distance TO
the zenith. In the latter half of the
month. Jupiter and Saturn are near to-
gether. and are visible in the morning
twilight, not far from the southeastern
horizon. In fact. the three bright plan
cts, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, are all
contained in a small area, and make a
superb display in the cold. early morning
sky of January. The closest approach of
Venus and Jupiter takes place on the 18TH !
and of Venus and Saturn on the oath. On
the 18th they will be re-enforced by The
moon, and on the 9th the moon will pass
near Mars. There will not be a good
opportunity to see Mercury In January
Prof. Harold Jacoby in the New York
Evening Post"