The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1915-02-18

derstorm.
THE astronomer arrives at a knowl.
edge Of the fluctuations Of the universe
BY projecting his Imagination back into
the past and forward into the future.
He gazes through a telescope which
penetrates time instead of space. Its
lenses gather together and bend to
focus beams Of ages instead of rays Of
light With its aid he sweeps all past
and coming aeons into the field of his
mental vision and strives to view them
In the mass. as they are seen by the
ancient of days himself.
ut Is in this way that we know that
all these brilliant consultations, which
to the eye of the casual locker have
not altered their outlines since record.
ed history began. are in reality as
mutable and ephemeral as so many
swarms of snow crystals
Eyes; 1t is no exaggeration to affirm
that the Ornament Of stars would ap.
pear to an eye endowed with immortal
vision as restless and as swiftly vari.
able as winter storm sky filed with
eddying fakes
"Ursa Major. the Great Bear, Leo
the Lion. Taurus the charging Bull.
Orion the mighty Hunter. the Southern
Cross. the Northern Crown. the Tyre.
the Whale. the Scorpion, the Scales,
Virgo the Virgin. Hercules the Doer Of
Deeds. Draco the Great Dragon, Ophi
uchus the Serpent Bearer. the whole
refulgent cycle Of the zodiac from
Aries round to Pisces. all these, with.
out exception. and every starry com.
pany in the whole sky that mankind
has admired and made legends about
are breaking up. crumbling. drifting
asunder and preparing to assemble in
other formations. like the new heaven
that IL to shine upon the new earth OF
the Apocalypse.
Look up at Aldebaran. the red tirst
magnitude star in the eye of Taurus.
1t Is going away from you at a speed
of thirty-tive miles per second. seventy
times as fast as the swiftest cannon
ball. Every successive night It is
100000 miles farther than 1t was
twenty-four hours before. and yet its
distance is so great that 1t has not ap.
preciably diminished in brightness In
a thousand years.
Then az your eyes on little star
under the feet Of Orion. which astrono.
mers call, Delta Leporis. 1t is flying
away from Us at the rate Of sixty.two
miles per second. That means q re-
treat OF more than 6.25O.OOO miles be-
tween one night and the next, and yet
Delta Leporis' does not sensibly fade
1t is like distant steamers hght-so
far away to begin with that no aitera.
ton of its distance can produce
changefin its apparent magnitude until.
the time elapsed begins to bear some
appreciable proportion to the space that
intervenes.
''If you will regard another little staf
In the Whale. called Eta Cephet you
win be looking at projectile az big 40
q sun. which 10 shooting toward ~
more than nfty miles h h&eco1d The
great dog star. Sirius. which crossed
the milky way hundreds'eo of centuries
before history began. Is speeding incur
direction at the rate Of fifteen miles
second. and the little dog star. Procy.
on, IL chasing after him with the los
ing stride Of ten miles per second.
1.-THE magnificent Arcturus is retiring
into the depths Of space with digniAed
step-three miles second-whtle Al.
pha Centaurus. q twin star. each Of
whose components equals our sun. H.
drawing million miles nearer every
twenty four hours. The vast Orion
Nebula % retreating eleven miles sec.
ond. but that whirlinR wonder. called
the Andromeda Nebuia Is rushing hith.
erward 1870 miles a second. or more
than 100000 miles per dayl
Luckily for %. 1t has plenty Of SKY
rooml
I'm view Of all this. do the heavens
still seem to you 90 placid and IN
ichanReabler = Garrett p. Serviss In
Washington Post
: q.