The National tribune., 1909-01-07
NORTH STAR NO PART OF THE
SOLAR SYSTEM.
1t is No Consequence Where the Sun
Rises as to the North Star.


Editor National Tribune: The Sun of
our Solar System is taken as the CEN
ter of 1t, for the good reasons that all
the other parts of the system go
around the sun, and 1t appears to be the
source of the light and heat Of the
whole system. The North Star Is seen
| to be of any consequence to the Solar
| System. or to any of Its constituent
parts otherwise than any other star.
| While the satellites revolve about
their planets, they do so along with
their planets. A planet and its satellites,
| travelling together in their orbit about
the sun, may be considered as one, and
their orbit may be considered as that
of the planet itself.
The sun itself, the planets themselves,
and all the satellites have a revolution
of their own. being their daily revolu-
| ton on their shortest diameter. Their
days differ in length of time, and we
call our day one of "a hours. AS to the
| length of the day of the sun, or of the
planets, or of the satellites, 1t is GUS
tomary to compare the time of their
days with the time of our own days.
For instance, we say of the Sun, that it
turns on its axis in about rs of our
days.
| In the case Of every solid body turn
| ing daily in its place In space, 1t has a
mechanical center which Is it's shortest
diameter and on which 1t revolves, and
which we are accustomed to call its
axis Such solid body finds its own CEN
ter on actual resistance Of the air in
which 1t turns daily. 1t takes cover
ing of the atmosphere with 1t. which
presses against the earth.
| OF course, the axis of a solid body, as
It revolves, is conceived of only as an
Imaginary line, and its poles are the
l.
the surface of the earth. The axis Of
the Sun is taken to be perpendicular to
a plane extended thru the center of the
Sun, and projected into surrounding
space thruout the entire Solar System.
OF course, it is an imaginary plain, one
that would cut the orbit of the earth
| With the axis of the Sun assumed to
be perpendicular to the plain we have
described, astronomers are enabled to
make their calculation on the dfvergen-
cy Of the axis of our own earth. The
Earth's axis Is found to be about 23 de-
grees. q minutes and 80 seconds in
clined away from that plain, and we
say the inclination is to the north so
many degrees, minutes and seconds;
but, Of course. 1t is the same at the
other end of the Earth, or to the south
1t is called the "obliquity of the eclip-
tic"
In Sir John Herschers "Outline of
Astronomy" 1t is stated in Article 1862,
that in the case of the annual motion
of the earth, Its axis preserves, at all
times, the same direction;" .
and the Earth ia carried round parallel
to itself, and pointing always to the
same vanishing point in the sphere of
the fixed stars. This 1t is which gives
to us the variety of seasons"
/ The Sun and the plants and all the
satellites have their own daily reyolu-
tions 1t is found, for some reason, that
they turn from west to the east in
making their daily movement in the
lspace allotted to each one. For the
individual bodies of our solar system
the movement from west to east seems
to be the established one for all.
i One of the chief fixed stars situated
about in the vanishing point of the
North Pole Is the North Star. A person
on the earth In the Northern Hemi-
sphere can see 1t all the time, because
it is very nearly In line with the axis
Of the Earth's daily revolution. The
iseen all day long. from noon to noon
"a hours-if the Earth remained as 1t
1t, assuming the thing as possible.
4 Your correspondent, B. H. Tripp. of
Canton. 8. D., has letter published in
The National Tribune of June 4, on
the subject of "Sunrises and the North
Star" / presume he has the ideas of a
surveyor in the South, who explained to
me that the Earth was plain and the
North Star the center of It, and that
lpeople went around the earth by going
laround the pole or center of the plain.
That the Earth is round-a solid,
lround body with a center, shortest di-
ameter or axis, upon which 1t turns
|duily--is proved by too many facts to
now permit of any doubt.
That men can go around the Earth
from the north to the south, or from
the south to the north, as well as they
can 60 around 1t from the west to the
east. or from the east to the west,
proves It to be round. The changing
Iseason does the same. In fact, there
10 one point Of the astronomers state-
lments safely established, and that q