Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1914-01-24
A DIP INTO SPACE
From Our Little Solar System to
the Far Starry Limits.
SOME MARVELLOUS DISTANCES

/ The Stellar Universe as We Know 1t
and What II Means In the Matter Of
Miles to Reach its Boundaries From
the Center of Our Own Sun.
| 1t is worth while making an effort 10
| picture to ourselves the vast extent of
! the starry system in which we reside
Having gained some faint notion of
the extent of the lesser solar system,
which occupies a small corner of the
stellar system, we must work outward
from that beginning. Let us take for
our unit of measurement the space
which separates the earth from the
sun and let the 100000 miles of this
distance be represented in our minds
by a single inch. In proportion the
sun itself must be pictured by a tiny
ball less than one hundredth part of an
inch in diameter, while our earth
must be mere speck less than one
ten-thousandth of an inch in diameter
And this little sun and this minute
earth must be just an inch asunder
Following out the same idea. Mer-
curry and Venus, being closer to the
sun than we are, have to be less than
an inch away from him, while Jupiter
will be five inches Off Saturn will be
ten inches off. Uranus will be over
nineteen inches off, Neptune will be
almost thirty inches off Then the so
lar system as a whole, leaving only
out of the question certain comets
which travel farther, will be inclosed
in a circle less than two yards in diam
-eter
The question arises next. What will
be the proportionate size of the stellar
system on this same scale of measure
ment? If the solar system is to be
comprised with a hoop not two yards
across how wide a space should we
allow to the surrounding system of
stars, "our universe?" How near will
be the nearest of outlying stars? And
the answer is sufficiently startling If
the sun is reckOned to be one inch
away from our earth, if Neptune is
reckoned to be less than three feet
away from the sun. then on the same
scale the star which lies closest of all
outer stars in the whole universe to US.
Alpha Centauri by name, must be
reckoned as lying at a distance of
about three and half miles. And be-
tween the two-nothing; at least moth
ing in the shape of a star. An occa-
sional comet may lag slowly along in
the darkness finding its way from one
sun system to another, and dark bod
ies cooled suns, may possibly float
here or there unseen by US. but Of
stars radiant with heat and light none
is found in hat wide area.
Astronomical writer's sometimes talk
of stars sin the vicinity" of the sun.
and this is what is meant by "yicin-
ity." Think of the distances implied
Our whole solar system is first brought
! down into small circle two yards
across-every inch in those yards stand
ing for more than 90,O00,O00 miles
and then on every side and above and
below is an encompassing void Of
| three and a half miles, every inch Of
those miles again representing more
than 90,000,000 miles. And then we
come upon one cleaning star Only
one quite SO near. Another star in the
suns vicinity known as 81 Cyeni
would lie a a distance Of seven miles
aAd the brilliant Sirius would be over
ten miles off Others must be placed
at distances Of twenty miles. City
niles 100 miles 1t is easy to start
with list Of these figures 1t is not
easy to say where one should stop
That the starry system has limits we
do not doubt, but to define those limits
is not possible On such a scale as Is
given above those limits certainly
would not lie within a distance Of 100
miles nor of 1000 miles
It is believed that some dim stars
barely to be detected, mas be 10000
times as far away as our suns nearest
neighbor. Alpha Ceutauri, and this at
once gives. even Oh our much reduced
scale, line from the center Of $4,000
miles. Suppose that the limits of the
stellar system lay somewhere about
there. Thirty-fve thousand miles each
way from the center would mean a di-
ameter for the whole of 10000 miles
Imagine a starry system 10000 miles
across from side to side, each inch IN
those miles representing 92000,00O Of
real miles, and somewhere in the midst
of it our small solar system, just two
yards across, separated from all other
stars by wide blank Of three or four
miles.
That would be stupendous enough
But we have no reason whatever fol
supp0sing that the limits Of our uni
verse do lie there. The true boundaries
Of the stellar system may be twice as
far four times as far, ten times as far
We do not even know with certainty
that our solar system is placed any
where near its center, though this
seems rather likely. Far off as the
boundary reaches In one direction, II +
may reach much further ia another d. /
recti0n. -Chambers Journal
Ar Ant Illusion.