The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-01-20
HEAVENLY BODIES
A Letter to the Young People About
the Stars.
BY REV. D. A. FRIEND.

My Dear Young Friends:
just want to talk to you about
"Aster." Now aster is the Greek word
for star; and the word astronomy means
the science of the stars.
And all the stars are known as heaven
ly bodies, and so the science of astron-
omy treats of the distance, form, mag
nitude and motion of the heavenly
bodies.
Stars are designated as of different
magnitudes or in other words different
sizes, so the largest stars are termed
stars of the first magnitude, and the
next largest of the second magnitude
and so Oh. Our sun Is a star of the
first magnitude and it has great many
worlds of lesser magnitude revolving
around it, and at different distances
from it; and the nearest they approach
to the sun, or to each other is many
millions of miles.
Those stars that revolve in this man.
ner around the sun are called planets,
and they all travel eastward, each one
in its circle, or orbit. lit it true that
they seem to be going westward but
that is owing TO the rotary motion of
the EARTH and they travel at the rate
Of many thousands of miles in an hour
Thus they run in their courses through
all the ages of time, and eternity.
l will mention few of the planets
by name and tell you the distance of
each from the sun, as we go along; and
now we will begin up next to the sun.
The first is Mercury, 80 millions of
miles from the sun, then Venus 66
millions Of milesthen earth, 92 millions,
and there is where we live at this time.
l suppose some of you never thought
before that we live on a star, but such
is really the case.
Next in order comes Mars, 139 mil
lions of miles from the sun, and then
we come to Jupiter, that wonderful
planet which is 479 millions of miles
from the sun, and has diameter of
IS, 800 miles and is 1900 times larger
than our earth and has five large moons
to give it light.
Then comes Saturn, one of the most
interesting of all the planets. 1t is
872 million of miles from the sun, and
has eight moons and three wondrous
white rings which encircle it to give it
light and beauty. This planet is so
beautiful that some one of the astrono-
mers has suggested that it might be
heaven itself.
Now we go way out to Uranus LISA
millions of miles from the sun with a
diameter of 80, O24 miles.
And farthest of all the group we
reach Neptune, 2,746 millions of miles
from the sun, with diameter of &c.
$50 miles.
Now these planets can be known
from the fixed stars IN the fact that
they never twinkle. All the other
stars are twinklng stars. but the plan
cts never twinkle.
The twinkling stars are all said to be
suns in the vast distance. and are sup
posed to have each system of worlds
revolving about it.
Our sun is more than a million of
times as large as our earth and is 500
times as large as all its planets put to-
gether
All these things seem to be great
in our estimation, but they are
only beginning of the great universe
which God, who alone is great, has
formed, and the same God has made
each one of US, that we might know
Him and love Him, and enjoy Him for
ever. in that world where our Redeem
er, Christ, has gone to prepare a place
for US.
FriendsviIle, Md, January Is, 1916.