The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1909-06-16
THE EARTH'S MOTIONS
How We Are WhirIing Around
and Through Space.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SUN.
Without Its Attraction That Draws the
World Toward 1t In an Eliptical
Course Our Globe Would Wander on
Forever In Straight Line.

NourSe Our 1ioOe Would wander on
Forever In Straight Line.
There are those who think much of
moving from one point to another of
the earth-travel they call it-and yet
pay little heed to the wonderful Jour-
ney of the earth itself. Many. again.
go to seek a climate while the hurry
ing earth is bringing to them one eli
mate after another in endless success.
sion. Those who have not hitherto
taken much notice of the earth's prog
reSs-whO have not, so to speak. looked
are whirled along-might find a new
interest in doing so. Look, for exam
pie, at the apparent size of the sun.
Casual observation shows that it ap-
pears larger in the winter heavens
And exact measurements tell US that
it is largest on Jan. and smallest on
July 2. The size of the sun thus marks
the earths nearest approach and
greatest distance from the sun. Accu-
rate astronomical measurement Of the
suns diameter might even determine
the day of the year, for the daily vari-
alton in the apparent size of the sun is
some nine-fftieths of a second of an
gular measurement. And astronomers
profess to measure the second decimal
of seconds.
There are three ways in which we
are journeying with the earth There
is, first, the daily revolution, which car
ries us through a complete circle in
twenty-four hours at rate varying
from rather more than a thousand
miles an hour at the equator to moth
ing at the poles, where no one, by the
way, has ever been. Then we are trav-
cling around the sun once a year at
the rate of eighteen miles a second
Thirdly, we are journeying through
stellar space, for one Of the most re-
markable facts which modern astron-
omy has brought to light is that our
solar system. the sun with all it's plan
cts, is on a journey toward the con-
stellation I.yra at the rate of ten miles
second
AS we sit in a train and are whirled
along it sometimes appears assif the
scenery were flying past us rather
than we past it. SO the daily revolu-
ton of the earth-a thousand miles an
hour at the equator-makes the sun
rise and set. and our yearly journey
makes the sun apparently travel
through the consultations of the 20
diac. If we move round any stationary
object on the earth we see it with
constantly changing background
windmill. now cottage, now a
wood, now church, etc. SO as we
travel round the sun we see it with an
ever changing background of stars
now those of Aries now of Taurus
now of Gemini, and so on. The posi-
ton of the sun among the stars marks
ney And as the earth arrives at diff
ferent points Of it's orbit the times Of
the riSingS of certain stars vary These
indications Of the earth's progress
have been taken as marks of the sea-
sons. Thus when Sirius rose with the
sun 1t was known that the dog days
had begun. Early astronomers watch
ed carefully for the rising Of the dog,
star. The Egyptian astronomers look
ed for the helical rising of Sothis to
proclaim the new year
1t Is the earth's yearly journey round |
the sun which enables us to determine
the distances Of the stars. The method |
is precisely that adopted by surveyors
for determining the position of objects
on earth. The direction Of the object |
whose distance is to be found is OBJ
served from two points a known dis |
lance apart. The rest is mere calcula-
ton. In the case of the stars the direc-
lions are observed from two extreme |
points in the earth's orbit instead Of |
from the two ends of base line. The
process Is called triangulation when
applied to earth measurements, and |
everybody understands what 1t means. |
When applied to the stars it is called |
parallax and remains a mystery to |
most people. Such is the obscuring
power Of a word.
The little more and the little less"
Df Browning are forcibly illustrated In
the direction Of the earth's journey |
round the sun. An elliptic course diff
fering very little from q circle, COM
bined with tilt of the axis, gives us
the seasons. But If this difference and |
tilt did not exist there would be no
seasons and one climate would rule
the year. If, again. the course were
more elliptic, then for the hemisphere
whose winter occurred at tie earth's
greatest distance from the sun there
might be glacial period.
THE straight line" says Miss Helen
Keller, "symbolizes duty. 1t is a dull
thought drawn out endlessly." And
this seems to be reflection on what
we had thought was the earth's path
Of duty round the sun. for this path is
the curve known as the ellipse. More
over, the thought makes the sun a
tempter Of the earth from the strict
path of duty, for the earth. we learn
from our Newton. If left to itself