The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-06-12
DARK. DEAD STARS
Millions on Millions Of Them Are
Flying Through Space.
THE PERIlS OF A COLLISION.
What Would Happen IL One Of the Lar
ger Of These Errstic DereIiets Should
WhirI Itself Into Our Solar System.
The Birth Of q Nebuia.

Possibly i has never occurred {,
many people that there are such bode
as dark stars. but so great an authorit,
as Sir Robert Ball has said that til,
dark stars are TO the bright for nun
bers as the cold horseshoes in existenc,
are TO the red hot ones. For every sucl
hot one there must be many hundred.
of cold ones. so that IL the smile /.
sound the heavens must contain an in
credible number of these derelicts or
the ocean of space. which. having lived
their life, have grown cold and dead
but are still racing about at star speed
until in their wanderings they meet
some other heavenly body in terrific
collision.
Such gigantic catastrophe as the
clash of two suns. each perhaps mil.
lions of miles in diameter. rushing at
each other az the rate of twenty or
thirty or even more miles per second
would result. so the mathematicians
tell us. in world splitting explosion
exactly as If each were composed of
billions Of billions Of tons of gunpow-
der. and as when gunpowder expodes
nothing is left but gas and smoke. so
in the clash Of stars nothing would be
left of the two great solid bodies which
had collided but an immense whirling
mass Of incandescent gas called a
nebula. Of which. as most people know,
there are quite number dotted over
the heavens. This maelstrom Of gas
would sail about among the stars for
nges. in the course of which il would
naturally cool down and condense into
"a star system much like our own. with
probably central sur. planets and
moon.
Some Of these would sooner or later
arrive ut a condition OF temperature
suitable for the support of life and as
the centuries passed would become
peopled with sentient beings. Grad
ually they would grow too cold for life
TO exist and finally become frigid. cold.
dark stars once more. The number of
stars visible to the naked eye is only
a few thousands. With the best tele.
scope and other Instruments it is cal
culated we can detect about a hum
dred millions-nOt large number
,there are fifteen times as many peo-
pie as that living on this globe); but,
judging by Sir Robert Balls horse
shoe smile and reckoning only hun
dred dark ones to every bright one. we
may take it that there must be at least
100000, 900 dark stars chasing about
in space. most of which we have never
seen and probably never will see
say most of which. for perhaps it
may come as a surprise to some that
the earth We live in is a dark star.
So are all the other planets and plane
tods Of our solar system. which with
their moons. of which bodies. shining
only by the reflected light of the sun.
there are at least 600 known to as
tronomers. Nor must we forget to
mention those bodies called shooting
stars which may I've seen almost any
clear night If patiently watched for.
These. though they look like stars. are
hardly. as every one knows. to be dig
nified by the name. being mostly but
very small masses of matter flying
about in space. They are quite cold
and dark until they enter our atmOs. |
phere, which they do at such a speed |
as raises them at once to white heat |
by friction of their passage through |
1t. and thus they are revealed to us.
For every one we see there must be
many thousands whose paths miss us
entirely. ships that pass in the night.
c 81 |
are Of immense magnitude and are un.
doubtedly regular In their course
Others are doubtless flying about the
heavens on haphazard paths. and 1t
IT conceivable that one might come
along and collide with us or our sun
The result of such a collision would
he the end Of this earth
and its inhabitants.
IL the intruder were of any respecta.
BILE size collision with any of the lar
ger members OF the solar system would
produce such a connagration as would
raise the temperature of all the rest
above the point at which life as we
all the inhabitants thereof would be
burnt up and the elements would melt
with fervent heat" Even If such
star did not collide. but merely passed
through our system. the effect OF its
attraction would altogether upset pres.
pnt conditions and almost certainly
bring about the cessation of life on the q
Earth.
Neither Gun we encourage ourselves |
With the hop" that the collision would !
De too sudden for MS to know much !
bout It, N" such thing Our astron0-
ners wouid see the star directly II got
near enough for the sun to light il up.
probably fifteen or twenty years before C
I arrived, according to its size aud n
peed. They would be able 10 calcu- b
ate its path and foretell to a few min z
ties the precise moment OF the catas. c
rophe. and we Should have the added 4
'orror OF tue aa,jcipa ton OF our slowly p
dvaDciog d"om. Indeed. the passage .
Il even a s'oail star quite outside our
ystem toy ouny millions or miles
would still have a sufficiently disturb