Recreations in Astronomy Part 14

THE STELLAR SYSTEM.

"The heavens number out the glory of the strong G.o.d."--DAVID.

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Richter says that "an angel once took a man and stripped him of his flesh, and lifted him up into s.p.a.ce to show him the glory of the universe. When the flesh was taken away the man ceased to be cowardly, and was ready to fly with the angel past galaxy after galaxy, and infinity after infinity, and so man and angel pa.s.sed on, viewing the universe, until the sun was out of sight--until our solar system appeared as a speck of light against the black empyrean, and there was only darkness. And they looked onward, and in the infinities of light before, a speck of light appeared, and suddenly they were in the midst of rushing worlds. But they pa.s.sed beyond that system, and beyond system after system, and infinity after infinity, until the human heart sank, and the man cried out: 'End is there none of the universe of G.o.d?' The angel strengthened the man by words of counsel and courage, and they flew on again until worlds left behind them were out of sight, and specks of light in advance were transformed, as they approached them, into rushing systems; they moved over architraves of eternities, over pillars of immensities, over architecture of galaxies, unspeakable in dimensions and duration, and the human heart sank again and called ont: 'End is there none of the universe of G.o.d?' And all the stars echoed the question with amazement: 'End is there none of the universe of G.o.d?' And this echo found no answer. They moved on again past immensities of immensities, and eternities of eternities, until in the dizziness of uncounted galaxies the human heart sank for the last time, and called out: 'End is there none of the universe of G.o.d?' And again all the stars repeated the question, and the angel answered: 'End is there none of the universe of G.o.d. Lo, also, there is no beginning.'"

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X.

_THE OPEN PAGE OF THE HEAVENS._

The Greeks set their mythological deities in the skies, and read the revolving pictures as a starry poem. Not that they were the first to set the blazonry of the stars as monuments of their thought; we read certain allusions to stars and asterisms as far back as the time of Job. And the Pleiades, Arcturus, and Orion are some of the names used by Him who "calleth all the stars by their names, in the greatness of his power." Homer and Hesiod, 750 B.C., allude to a few stars and groups. The Arabians very early speak of the Great Bear; but the Greeks completely nationalized the heavens.

They colonized the earth widely, but the heavens completely; and nightly over them marched the grand procession of their apotheosized divinities. There Hercules perpetually wrought his mighty labors for the good of man; there flashed and faded the changeful star Algol, as an eye in the head of the snaky-haired Medusa; over them flew Pegasus, the winged horse of the poet, careering among the stars; there the ship Argo, which had explored all strange seas of earth, nightly sailed in the infinite realms of heaven; there Perseus perpetually killed the sea-monster by celestial aid, and perpetually won the chained Andromeda for his bride. Very evident was their recognition of divine help: equally evident was [Page 196]

their a.s.sertion of human ability and dominion. They gathered the illimitable stars, and put uncountable suns into the shape of the Great Bear--the most colossal form of animal ferocity and strength--across whose broad forehead imagination grows weary in flying; but they did not fail to put behind him a representative of themselves, who forever drives him around a sky that never sets--a perpetual type that man's ambition and expectation correspond to that which has always been revealed as the divine.

The heavens signify much higher power and wisdom to us; we retain the old pictures and groupings for the convenience of finding individual stars. It is enough for the astronomer that we speak of a star as situated right ascension 13' 45", declination 88 40'. But for most people, if not all, it is better to call it Polaris. So we might speak of a lake in lat.i.tude 42 40', longitude 79 22', but it would be clearer to most persons to say Chatauqua. For exact location of a star, right ascension and declination must be given; but for general indication its name or place in a constellation is sufficiently exact. The heaven is rather indeterminably laid out in irregular tracts, and the mythological names are preserved.

The brightest stars are then indicated in order by the letters of the Greek alphabet--Alpha (a), Beta (b), Gamma (g), etc. After these are exhausted, the Roman alphabet is used in the same manner, and then numbers are resorted to; so that the famous star 61 Cygni is the 111th star in brightness in that one constellation. An acquaintance with the names, peculiarities, and movements of the stars visible at different seasons of the year is an unceasing source of pleasure. It [Page 197] is not vision alone that is gratified, for one fine enough may hear the morning stars sing together, and understand the speech that day uttereth unto day, and the knowledge that night showeth unto night. One never can be alone if he is familiarly acquainted with the stars. He rises early in the summer morning, that he may see his winter friends; in winter, that he may gladden himself with a sight of the summer stars. He hails their successive rising as he does the coming of his personal friends from beyond the sea. On the wide ocean he is commercing with the skies, his rapt soul sitting in his eyes. Under the clear skies of the East he hears G.o.d's voice speaking to him, as to Abraham, and saying, "Look now toward the heavens, and tell the number of the stars, if thou be able to number them."

A general acquaintance with the stars will be first attempted; a more particular knowledge afterward. Fig. 67 (page 201) is a map of the circ.u.mpolar region, which is in full view every clear night. It revolves daily round Polaris, its central point. Toward this star, the two end stars of the Great Dipper ever point, and are in consequence called "the Pointers." The map may be held toward the northern sky in such a position as the stars may happen to be.

The Great Bear, or Dipper, will be seen at nine o'clock in the evening above the pole in April and May; west of the pole, the Pointers downward, in July and August; close to the north horizon in October and November; and east of the pole the Pointers highest, in January and February. The names of such constantly visible stars should be familiar. In order, from the end of the tail of the Great Bear, we have Benetnasch ae, Mizar z, Little Alcor close to it, [Page 198] Alioth, e Megrez, d at the junction, has been growing dimmer for a century, Phad, g Dubhe and Merak. It is best to get some facility at estimating distances in degrees. Dubhe and Merak, "the Pointers," are five degrees apart. Eighteen degrees forward of Dubhe is the Bear's nose; and three pairs of stars, fifteen degrees apart, show the position of the Bear's three feet. Follow "the Pointers" twenty-nine degrees from Dubhe, and we come to the pole-star. This star is double, made of two suns, both appearing as one to the naked eye. It is a test of an excellent three-inch telescope to resolve it into two. Three stars beside it make the curved-up handle of the Little Dipper of Ursa Minor. Between the two Bears, thirteen degrees from Megrez, and eleven degrees from Mizar, are two stars in the tail of the Dragon, which curves about to appropriate all the stars not otherwise a.s.signed. Follow a curve of fifteen stars, doubling back to a quadrangle from five to three degrees on a side, and thirty-five degrees from the pole, for his head. His tongue runs out to a star four degrees in front. We shall find, hereafter, that the foot of Hercules stands on this head. This is the Dragon slain by Cadmus, and whose teeth produced such a crop of sanguinary men.

The star Thuban was once the pole-star. In the year B.C. 2300 it was ten times nearer the pole than Polaris is now. In the year A.D. 2100 the pole will be within 30' of Polaris; in A.D. 7500, it will be at a of Cepheus; in A.D. 13,500, within 7 of Vega; in A.D. 15,700, at the star in the tongue of Draco; in A.D. 23,000, at Thuban; in A.D. 28,000, back to Polaris. This indicates no change in the position of the dome [Page 199] of stars, but a change in the direction of the axis of the earth pointing to these various places as the cycles pa.s.s. As the earth goes round its...o...b..t, the axis, maintaining nearly the same direction, really points to every part of a circle near the north star as large as the earth's...o...b..t, that is, 185,000,000 miles in diameter. But, as already shown, that circle is too small to be discernible at our distance. The wide circle of the pole through the ages is really made up of the interlaced curves of the annual curves continued through 25,870 years. The stem of the spinning top wavers, describes a circle, and finally falls; the axis of the spinning earth wavers, describes a circle of nearly 28,000 years, and never falls.

The star g Draconis, also called Etanin, is famous in modern astronomy, because observations on this star led to the discovery of the _aberration of light_. If we held a gla.s.s tube perpendicularly out of the window of a car at rest, when the rain was falling straight down, we could see the drops pa.s.s directly through. Put the car in motion, and the drops would seem to start toward us, and the top of the tube must be bent forward, or the drops entering would strike on the backside of the tube carried toward them. So our telescopes are bent forward on the moving earth, to enable the entered light to reach the eye-piece. Hence the star does not appear just where it is. As the earth moves faster in some parts of its...o...b..t than others, this aberration is sometimes greater than at others. It is fortunate that light moves with a uniform velocity, or this difficult, problem would be still further complicated.

The displacement of a star from this course is about 20".43.

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On the side of Polaris, opposite to Ursa Major, is King Cepheus, made of a few dim stars in the form of the letter K. Near by is his brilliant wife Ca.s.siopeia, sitting on her throne of state.

They were the graceless parents who chained their daughter to a rock for the sea-monster to devour; but Perseus, swift with the winged sandals of Mercury, terrible with his avenging sword, and invincible with the severed head of Medusa, whose horrid aspect of snaky hair and scaly body turned to stone every beholder, rescues the maiden from chains, and leads her away by the bands of love.

Nothing could be more poetical than the life of Perseus. When he went to destroy the dreadful Gorgon, Medusa, Pluto lent him his helmet, which would make him invisible at will; Minerva loaned her buckler, impenetrable, and polished like a mirror; Mercury gave him a dagger of diamonds, and his winged sandals, which would carry him through the air. Coming to the loathsome thing, he would not look upon her, lest he, too, be turned to stone; but, guided by the reflection in the buckler, smote off her head, carried it high over Libya, the dropping blood turning to serpents, which have infested those deserts ever since.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 67.--Circ.u.mpolar Constellations. Always visible.

In this position.--January 20th, at 10 o'clock; February 4th, at 9 o'clock; and February 19th, at 8 o'clock.]

The human mind has always been ready to deify and throne in the skies the heroes that labor for others. Both Perseus and Hercules are divine by one parent, and human by the other. They go up and down the earth, giving deliverance to captives, and breaking every yoke. They also seek to purge away all evil; they slay dragons, gorgons, devouring monsters, cleanse the foul places of earth, and one of them so wrestles with death as to win a victim from his grasp. Finally, by [Page 201] an ascension in light, they go up to be in light forever. They are not ideally perfect. They right wrong by slaying wrong-doers, rather than by being crucified themselves; they are just murderers; but that only plucks the fruit from the tree of evil. They never attempted to infuse a holy life. They punished rather than regenerated. It must be confessed, also, that they were not sinless. But they were the best saviors the race could imagine, and are examples of that perpetual effort of the human mind to incarnate a Divine Helper who shall labor and die for the good of men.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 68.--Algol is on the Meridian, 51 South of Pole.--At 10 o'clock, December 7th; 9 o'clock, December 22d; 8 o'clock, January 5th.]

_Equatorial Constellations._

If we turn our backs on Polaris on the 10th of November, at 10 o'clock in the evening, and look directly overhead, we shall see the beautiful constellation of Andromeda. Together with the square of Pegasus, it makes another enormous dipper. The star a Alpheratz is in her face, the three at the left cross her breast. b and the two above mark the girdle of her loins, and g is in the foot. Perseus is near enough for help; and Cetus, the sea-monster, is far enough away to do no harm. Below, and east of Andromeda, is the Ram of the golden fleece, recognizable by the three stars in an acute triangle. The brightest is called Arietis, or Hamel. East of this are the Pleiades, and the V-shaped Hyades in Taurus, or the Bull.

The Pleiades rise about 9 o'clock on the evening of the 10th of September, and at 3 o'clock A.M. on June 10th.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 69.--Capella (45 from the Pole) and Rigel (100) are on the Meridian at 8 o'clock February 7th, 9 o'clock January 22d, and at 10 o'clock January 7th.]

Fig. 69 extends east and south of our last map. It is the most gorgeous section of our heavens. (See the Notes to the Frontispiece.) Note the triangle, 26 on a side, made by Betelguese, Sirius, and Procyon. A line from Procyon to Pollux leads quite near to Polaris.

Orion is the mighty hunter. Under his feet is a hare, behind him are two dogs, and before him is the rushing bull. The curve of stars to the right of Bellatrix, g, represents his shield of the Nemean lion's hide. The three stars of his belt make a measure 3 long; the upper one, Mintaker, is less than 30' south of the equinoctial. The ecliptic pa.s.ses between Aldebaran and the Pleiades.

Sirius rises about 9 o'clock P.M. on the 1st of December, and about 4 o'clock A.M. on the 16th of August. Procyon rises about half an hour earlier.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 70--Regulus comes on the Meridian, 79 south from the Pole, at 10 o'clock March 23d, 9 o'clock April 8th, and at 8 o'clock April 23d.]

Fig. 70 continues eastward. Note the sickle in the head and neck of the Lion. The star b is Denebola, in his tail. Arcturus appears by the word Bootes, at the edge of the map. These two stars make a triangle with Spica, about 35 on a side. The geometric head of Hydra is easily discernible east of Procyon: The star g in the Virgin is double, with a period of 145 years. z is just above the equinoctial. There is a fine nebula two-thirds of the way from d to ae, and a little above the line connecting the two. Coma Berenices is a beautiful cl.u.s.ter of faint stars. Spica rises at 9 o'clock on the 10th of February, at 5 o'clock A.M. on the 6th of November.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7l.--Arcturus comes to the Meridian, 70 from the Pole, at 10 o'clock May 25th, 9 o'clock June 9th, and at 8 o'clock June 25th.]

Fig. 71 represents the sky to the eastward and northward of the last. A line drawn from Polaris and Benetnasch comes east of Arcturus to the little triangle called his sons. Bootes drives the Great Bear round the pole. Arcturus and Denebola make a triangle with a, also called Cor Coroli, in the Hunting Dogs. This triangle, and the one having the same base, with Spica for its apex, is called the "Diamond of the Virgin." Hercules appears head down--a in the face, b, g, d; in his shoulders, p; and ae; in the loins, t in the knee, the foot being bent to the stars at the right. The Serpent's head, making an X, is just at the right of the g of Hercules, and the partial circle of the Northern Crown above. The head of Draco is seen at b on the left of the map. Arcturus rises at 9 o'clock about the 20th of February, and at 5 A.M. on the 22d of October; Regulus 3h. 35m. Earlier.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 72.--Altair comes to the Meridian, 82 from the Pole, at 10 o'clock P.M. August 18th, at 9 o'clock September 2d, and at 8 o'clock September 18th.]

Fig. 72 portrays the stars eastward and southward. Scorpio is one of the most brilliant and easily traced constellations. Antares, a, in the heart, is double. In Sagittarius is the Little Milk-dipper, and west of it the bended bow. Vega is at the top of the map. Near it observe z, a double, and e, a quadruple star. The point to which the solar system is tending is marked by the sign of the earth below p; Herculis. The Serpent, west of Hercules, and coiled round nearly to Aquila, is very traceable. In the right-hand lower corner is the Centaur. Below, and always out of our sight, is the famous a Centauri. The diamond form of the Dolphin is sometimes called "Job's Coffin." The ecliptic pa.s.ses close [Page 207] to b of Scorpio, which star is in the head. Antares, in Scorpio, rises at 9 o'clock P.M. on May 9th, and at 5 o'clock A.M. on January 5th.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 73.--Fomalhaut comes to the Meridian, only 17 from the horizon, at 8 o'clock November 4th.]

In Fig. 73 we recognize the familiar stars of Pegasus, which tell us we have gone quite round the heavens. Note the beautiful cross in the Swan. b in the bill is named Albireo, and is a beautiful double to almost any gla.s.s. Its yellow and blue colors are very distinct. The place of the famous double star 61 Cygni is seen. The first magnitude star in the lower left-hand corner is Fomalhaut, in the Southern Fish. a Pegasi is in the diagonal corner from Alpharetz, in Andromeda. The star below Altair is b Aquilae, and is called Alschain; the one above is g Aquilae, named Tarazed. This is not a brilliant section of the sky. Altair rises at 9 o'clock on the 29th of May, and at 6 o'clock A.M. on the 11th of January.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 74.--Southern Circ.u.mpolar Constellations invisible north of the Equator.]

Fig. 74 gives the stars that are never seen by persons north of the earth's equator. In the Ship is brilliant Canopus, and the remarkable variable ae. Below it is the beautiful Southern Cross, near the pole of the southern heavens. Just below are the two first magnitude stars Bungala, a, and Achernar, b, of the Centaur. Such a number of unusually brilliant stars give the southern sky an unequalled splendor. In the midst of them, as if for contrast, is the dark hole, called by the sailors the "Coal-sack," where even the telescope reveals no sign of light. Here, also, are the two Magellanic clouds, both easily discernible by the naked eye; the larger two hundred times the apparent size of the moon, lying between the pole and Canopus, and the other between Achernar and the pole. The smaller cloud is only one-fourth the size of the other. Both are mostly resolvable into groups of stars from the fifth to the fifteenth magnitude.

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For easy out-door finding of the stars above the horizon at any time, see star-maps at end of the book.

_Characteristics of the Stars._

Such a superficial examination of stars as we have made scarcely touches the subject. It is as the study of the baptismal register, where the names were anciently recorded, without any knowledge of individuals. The heavens signify much more to us than to the Greeks. We revolve under a dome that investigation has infinitely enlarged from their estimate. Their little lights were turned by clumsy machinery, held together by material connections. Our vast worlds are connected by a force so fine that it seems to pa.s.s out of the realm of the material into that of the spiritual. Animal ferocity or a human Hercules could image their idea of power. Ours finds no symbol, but rises to the Almighty. Their heavens were full of fighting Orions, wild bulls, chained Andromedas, and devouring monsters. Our heavens are significant of harmony and unity; all worlds carried by one force, and all harmonized into perfect music.

All their voices blend their various significations into a personal speaking, which says, "Hast thou not heard that the everlasting G.o.d, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" There is no searching of his understanding.

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created all these things, that brought out their host by number, that calleth them all by their names in the greatness of his power; for that he is strong in power not one faileth.

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_Number._

We find about five thousand stars visible to the naked eye in the whole heavens, both north and south. Of these twenty are of the first magnitude, sixty-five of the second, two hundred of the third, four hundred of the fourth, eleven hundred of the fifth, and three thousand two hundred of the sixth. We think we can easily number the stars; but train a six-inch telescope on a little section of the Twins, where six faint stars are visible, and over three thousand luminous points appear. The seventh magnitude has 13,000 stars; the eighth, 40,000; the ninth, 142,000. There are 18,000,000 stars in the zone called the Milky Way. When our eyes are not sensitive enough to be affected by the light of far-off stars the tastimetre feels their heat, and tells us the word of their Maker is true--"they are innumerable."[*]

[Footnote *: _Telescopic Work._--Look at the Hyades and Pleiades in Taurus. Notice the different colors of stars in them both. Find the cl.u.s.ter Praesepe in Fig. 70, just a trifle above a point midway between Procyon and Regulus. It is equally distant from Procyon and a point a little below Pollux. Sweep along the Milky Way almost anywhere, and observe the distribution of stars; in some places perfect crowds, in others more spa.r.s.ely scattered. Find with the naked eye the rich cl.u.s.ter in Perseus. Draw a line from Algol to a of Perseus (Fig. 67); turn at right angles to the right, at a distance of once and four-tenths the first line a brightness will be seen. The telescope reveals a gorgeous cl.u.s.ter.]

_Double and Multiple Stars._

If we look up during the summer months nearly overhead at the star e Lyra, east of Vega (Fig. 72), we shall see with the naked eye that the star appears a little [Page 211] elongated. Turn your opera-gla.s.s upon it, and two stars appear. Turn a larger telescope on this double star, and each of the components separate into two.

It is a double double star. We know that if two stars are near in reality, and not simply apparently so by being in the same line of sight, they must revolve around a common centre of gravity, or rush to a common ruin. Eagerly we watch to see if they revolve. A few years suffice to show them in actual revolution. Nay, the movement of revolution has been decided before the companion star was discovered. Sirius has long been known to have a proper motion, such as it would have if another sun were revolving about it. Even the direction of the unseen body could always be indicated. In February, 1862, Alvan Clark, artist, poet, and maker of telescopes (which requires even greater genius than to be both poet and artist), discovered the companion of Sirius just in its predicted place. As a matter of fact, one of Mr. Clark's sons saw it first; but their fame is one. The time of revolution of this pair is fifty years. But one companion does not meet the conditions of the movements. Here must also be one or more planets too small or dark to be seen. The double star x in the Great Bear (see Fig. 70) makes a revolution in fifty-eight years.