Everyone knows the Milky Way. It is one of the most striking sights of a
clear night, for only on clear, moonless nights can we see its cloudy
track of light across the heavens. More than any other celestial object
it affects us with a sense of mystery and of unknown destiny as, indeed,
it has affected men at all times and in all countries. To the American
Indian it was the “path of souls.” In ancient mythology it had various
meanings: thus, it was the highway of the gods to Olympus; or it sprang
from the ears of corn dropped by Isis as she fled from her pursuer; or
it marked the original course of the sun, which he later abandoned. In
mediæval times it became associated by pilgrims with their own journeys.
It stretches like a vast ragged semicircle over the sky. Indeed, it
traces a rough circle, for this line is continued over the southern
hemisphere also. The circle is, however, very far from being smooth or
even; the path is full of irregularities. It varies in width to an
extent of about thirty degrees, and varies also considerably in
brightness. Its total area has been estimated to cover rather less than
one-fourth of the whole northern hemisphere of the sky, and to cover
about one-third of the southern hemisphere. Its track lies through the
constellations Cassiopeia and Auriga; it passes between the feet of
Gemini and the horns of Taurus, through Orion just above the giant’s
club, and through the neck and shoulder of Monoceros. It passes above
Sirius into Argo, here entering the southern hemisphere, and through
Argo and the Southern Cross into the Centaur. In the Centaur the Milky
Way divides into two streams, in a manner which suggests the divided
course of a river around an island, a dark rift between the two luminous
streams representing the island.
It is a very long island, however, for the double conformation of the
Milky Way extends over one-third of its entire course--that is to say,
one hundred and twenty degrees of the circle. The divergent branches
reunite in the northern hemisphere in the constellation Cygnus. The
brighter stream passes through Norma, Ara, Scorpio and Sagittarius;
along the bow of Sagittarius into Antinous, here entering the northern
hemisphere again; then through Aquila, Sagitta, and Vulpecula it arrives
at Cygnus and reunion with the branch which left it in Centaur. From
Cygnus the stream, now single, passes through Lacerta and the head of
Cepheus to the point whence we started, in Cassiopeia.
As we follow the Milky Way throughout its course, we find it continually
sending out streaming appendages of nebulous appearance towards
clusters, nebulæ, or groups of stars. In Norma it sends out a
complicated series of nebulous streaks and patches, covering the
Scorpion’s tail, spreading faintly over the leg of Ophiuchus, and
extending beyond, as if to meet a corresponding branch sent off from the
region of Cygnus in the northern hemisphere. The latter is a very bright
and remarkable streak, running south through Cygnus and Aquila, to
become lost in a dim and sparsely starred region. From Cassiopeia a
vivid branch proceeds to the chief star of Perseus, and faint streaks
appear to continue the “feeler” towards the Hyades and the Pleiades.
There are many other “feelers” of the same kind, and they are all of
great interest, because they seem to show some sort of influence
exercised by the Milky Way upon the whole starry universe.
ANCIENT AND MODERN CONCEPTIONS OF THE NATURE OF THE MILKY WAY. Strange
theories as to the nature of the Milky Way have been put forward at
various times. Anaxagoras thought it might be due to the shadow of our
globe; Aristotle, that it was some kind of mist due to the exhalation of
vapors from the earth.
But a grander and truer conception of its nature and situation, removed
far from the earth and independent of any terrestrial cause, had early
come to several minds. Pythagoras and Democritus both formed the
conjecture that its shimmer might be due to innumerable stars, and
Galileo’s telescope confirmed their theory.
As we have seen, the Milky Way is by no means a simple stream of stars;
with careful observation, even the naked eye can perceive something of
its irregular detail, when the atmosphere is unusually clear, and there
is no moon. Viewed under these conditions through a good telescope, the
effect of the Milky Way, when made to pass progressively before the
vision, is one of unexampled grandeur and sublimity.
[Illustration: =THE STARRY GRANDEUR OF THE MILKY WAY=
=COURSE OF THE MILKY WAY THROUGH THE TWO HEMISPHERES OF THE HEAVENS=
These two drawings show the two semi-circles of the Milky Way as they
extend from the regions of the Polar Star to the region of the Southern
Cross on each side of the apparent sphere of the heavens. It will be
noticed that the bright stars congregate near its region, and that there
is a characteristic harmony in the way in which the wisps appear to
project into space, suggesting some common cause for this appearance
throughout the whole galaxy.]
The general effect has been well likened to that of an old, gnarled
tree-trunk, marked with knots and curving lines, and riddled with dark
holes and passages, linked together by shimmering wisps or arches. This
general effect is practically lost as the detail becomes clear in a
telescopic view. The detail is extremely various. At one point it may
consist of separate stars scattered irregularly upon a background of
darkness; at another, of star-clusters, sometimes following one upon
another in long, processional line; at another, the stars seem to
collect in small, soft clouds, presenting the appearance, as the
telescope sweeps over them, of drifting foam.
THE STRANGE, DARK RIFTS IN THE SKYSCAPE WHERE NO STARS APPEAR. At yet
another point the track may be involved in nebulosity in which many
stars appear to be imbedded. Perhaps the most characteristic features
are several which have already been remarked as conspicuous in
star-clusters or nebulæ, such as lines of stars, dark lanes or rifts,
and dark holes. The lines of stars, which are evidently connected by
some actual physical relation, are either straight, curved, radiated, or
in parallels. In Sagittarius is a very striking collection of about
thirty stars resembling in form a forked twig with a curved hook at the
unforked end. The dark rifts in the Milky Way show the same features as
those in star-clusters. Sometimes they are parallel; sometimes they
radiate like branches from a common center; sometimes they are lines
with bright stars; sometimes they are quite black, as if utterly void;
sometimes slightly luminous, as if powdered with small stars.
It can be by no accident or chance that in the vast edifice of the
heavens objects of certain classes should crowd into the belt of the
Milky Way, and other classes avoid it; it points to the whole forming a
single growth, an essential unity. For there is but one belt in the
heavens, like the Milky Way, a belt in which small stars, new stars, and
planetary nebulæ find their favorite home; and that belt encircles the
entire heavens; and similarly that belt is the only region from which
the white nebulæ appear to be repelled. The Milky Way forms the
foundation, the strong and buttressed wall of the celestial building;
the white nebulæ close in the roof of its dome.