The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-07-24
5hs sGossio.
Immensity Of Space.

II is well known that the nearest OF
the fixed stars Is Alpha Centauri, the
brilliant Southern binary. which is re-
moved from us 275.ooo times farther than
the sun. writes +. j. j. See in the Attain
tic Monthly. one OF the next nearest stars
is Sirius, which is about 500, 900 times the
suns distance. These distances CORE
spond 10 the spaces trayersed by a ray OF
light in four and eight years, and hence
We see these two brilliant stars as they
shone four and eight years ago respect
lively. The smallest angular magnitude
which can be certainly measured In the
greatest modern telescope ~ five two
hundredths of second of arc, and this
corresponds TO the paranax of a star at "a
distance or 90 light years or the angle
subtended by human hair. assumed TO
have diameter of one-thousandth of an
inch, at a distance OF $50 feet
Hence IL follows that all stars removed
from us by more than 90 light years have
parallaxes too small to be detected even
by the most refined methods OF modern
research, and We can at best merely guess
at their distances. As the near star, AL
pha Centauri is only four light years dis
tant, while some OF the known stars are
10 times as remote, II seems probable
that all those stars which have a meas
ureable parallax are very close TO us
compared with the distance of the more
remote objects. III we suppose the aver
age star TO be is times as remote as those
objects having the smallest measurable
parallax, the average distance would be
about 900 light years. AS this estimated
distance is probably too small IL seems
certain that the multitude OF stars are
removed from us by more than 1000 light
years, or 30 times the distance of Alpha
CentaurL We may reckon that I'm all
probability the most remote regions are
ten times more distant from us than the
nearest portion OF the galaxy, and hence
that our telescopes probably penetrate
regions lying so remote that light from
the most distant objects would not reach
us In less than 10, 900 years. What we see
in these border regions OF the universe
is. not the events now transpiring there.
but phenomena as they were 10000 years
ago, or before the beginning OF human
history.
The rays that reach our eyes from diff
ferent portions OF the SKY thus started
In different ages. and may be said TO dis
close different phases of the development
OF the universe: those from the more re-
mote regions, representing ancient, those
from the nearer portions more modern
cosmical history Even II all the crea-
tion began at the same time and progress
tered by the time required for the prop
agation of light across the immense
spaces by which we are removed from
other proportions OF the universe. And
as the stars probably did not begin to
develop at the same time IL is natural
that we should see all stages of world
development now going on I'm the heavens
IL Is worthy of remark that IL we
imagine a sufficiently powerful sensitive
n axFn tn1a T.
ter OF the Milky Way. at the distance of
5000 light years. and directed toward the
earth, the ethereal throbs OF falling upon
them would reveal history as IL was 5000
years ago: and IL these eyes should move
toward the earth they would witness all
human history as II was enacted through
the successive centuries. Thus the nature
Of terrestrial events Is forever preserved
and transmitted on through The ether of
infinite space.