The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1906-11-16

the number of visible stars is already
known, for even with the very stron-
gest telescopes there are blank spaces
which are absolutely devoid Of stars
below a certain magnitude or even the
;veriest trace Of nebulous light. Ill.,
j. These spaces are known to astrono-
mers by the name Of local sacks. 1.
They contain NO stars faiHter than ths
itwslfth ,magnttudeau aud. In facts appeat
70 mark those tparts; Of, the uniyersS
which are comparatively. thin. on TIN
other hand, in other patts of The 'hsav-:
fensEwe have not ~ ANY means fsachsd
the limit. Of ttelescopic resolvability.y Il
no. curious, though, that these iptensslx
dark .''holes" In the bright empyreai1
are mostly to be found In thoss parts
of' ethe heavens where *inost stars
'sssund, notably in the MilkyoWay. 4
These remarkable blank tspots havs
been a favorite theme Of discussion
and argument among all asronomeEss
for; whatever the real shape or diss
hibution Of that universe may be, they
point to the almost certain infereuce
that in q particular direction 1t lease
there Is an actual limit to the number
of stars, and IL there IS a limit In one
direction we have every right to sup
pose that such Is the case in others;
and that we have only to wait for
telescopes strong enough to resolve
those parts which are still unresolva-
BILE to discover that a point can be
reached when all the stars of the uni
verse are unfolded to our gaze. Z
II, now, we admit that the number
of visible stars is limited, the next
question to be asked is, What is the
order or shape of their distribution?
Various astronomers have had various
theories about this matter. Herschel
was inclined to- think that the visible
universe was in the shape Of disk,
though his views In. this direction were
considerably modified during the later
part Of his life. Strive considered that
'the universe was in the shape of disk
;of limited thickness, but Infinite length
atltheory which is hard to support, az,
unless the ultimate, extinction Of light
in space is believed In, that part of
Tie heavens which lay toward the
'plane of athe disk would necessarily
shine with, the brightness Of the sun.
,Rsoetos, Though :Anding + impossible to
Aeaps. AM, particular, shape Tor the w.
ible universe, as whote, VIZ ofa ne
6bthSons HAT the briGi4ftttes6it> part tof IT.
:namely, thei Milky 5way-was In ths
ifscaas Ola spiral. This. otter, Theory,
however. has many objections to con-
,fend With. oner astroaomefs ohavS
lid different theories On this Question,
'bdttall ofsleatly all appear to admit
IN ultinats limit 10 the ~ Of TIE yisf-
,bls universes o., In other words, believe
that the galaxy Of i worlds. which sur
round us-fesn,- In fact, but an fsIet In
the, wat .in1nitys Of space. sss II.
It wtdld appear At hrats Sasht INT
anyl,attempt toI so1vs theNnqptten Sf
theuedstencs of external, ,gal4xies 40!
their distance was absolutely fut1s, Ut
sueh Is not tie case. The resukiSf eall
citation Is init ne tde6fsAti sztt9hAl
uklvsrSea 3is5 sos ifar vaistaRt4 that atSht
troHs itF rAveling At; IT, .psed, ef t1edIa
900 smilessa second would TAKE Nearly
10 $4,000 years 70 ttiaA 1sG Cham
bstS 50adraal. S# .5s'hai gT''as =