The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1914-01-09
DISTANCE OF THE STARS
ssto~ Astronomers Set About the TASK
Of Measuring II

Of Measuring 1t
With the exception OF O. hundred
stars at most, We know nothing o1
The distances of the Individual stars
What is the cause of this state ot
things? 1t is owing to the fact that
we have two eyes that we are en-.
abled net only to perceive the di.
recton in which external object:
areisituated, but to get an idea OF
their distance, to localize them In
space. But this power is rather linn
tied. For distances exceeding some
hundreds of yards it utterly fails.
The reason Is that the distance be-
tween the eyes as compased with
the distance to be evaluated be-
comes too small. Instruments have
been devised by which the distance
between the eyes is, as it were, arti-
fcially increased. With a good in
strument of this sort distances Of
several miles may be evaluated. For
still greater distances we may i'm
aglne each eye replaced by a photo
graphic plate. Even this would be
quite sufficient for one of the heav-
emily bodies-viz, for the moon.
At one and the same moment let
q photograph of the moon and the
surrounding stars be taken both at
the Cape observatory and at the
Royal observatory at Greenwich.
Placing the two photographs side by
side in the stereoscope, we shall
clearly see the moon Hanging in
space" and may evaluate its dis
tance.
But for the sun and the nearest
planets, our next neighbors In the
universe after the moon, the diff
galty reeommences.
Tie reason is that any available
distance on the earth, taken as eye
distance, is rather small for the
purpose. However, owing to in
credible perseverance and skill of
several observers and by substitut-
Ing the most refined measurement
for stereoscopic examination, as
tronomers have succeeded in over
coming the difficulty for the sun. !
think we may say that at present
we know it's distance to within q
thousandth part OF its amount.
Knowing the suns distance, we gel
that of all the planets by a we'll
known, relation existing between the
planetary distances.
But now for the fixed stars,
which must be, hundreds, of thou
sands of times farther removed than
the sun. There evidently can be no
question of any sufficient eve dis
tance on our earth. Meanwhile our
success with the sun has provided
rs with new one distance, 24 ,006
times greater than any possible eve
distance on the earth. for now tha
We know the distance at Which thc
earth travels in It's orbit around the
sun we can take the diameter of its |
orbit as our ere distance. Photo |
graphs taken at periods six months
apart will represent the stellar
world as seen from points the dis
lance between which is already best
expressed in the time it would take
light TO traverse it. The time would
be about sixteen minutes.
However, even this distance, i'm
mense as it is, is, on the whole, in
adequate for obtaining a stereo-
'copic view of the stars. It is only
n quite exceptional cases that pho
:ographs on a large scale-that is,
,btained by the aid of big tele-
Icopes--show any stereoscopic eff
'ect for fxed sta accurate
of & ..otos We may
perhaps get somewfs beyond what
We can attain by simple ssereoscopic
but, as we Id mo-
nent ago, astronomers hs not sue
.eeded in this way IN determining
he distance Of more than a hun
lred stars in all.--Scientifc Amer.
an.