THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STARS
If we look at the heavens on a clear, moonless night in winter, and from a
position embracing the entire horizon, the scene is an inexpressibly grand
one. The intense sparkling brilliancy of Sirius, Capella, Vega, and other
stars of the first magnitude; their striking arrangement in constellations
or groups, of which Orion, the Great Bear, Cassiopeiæ, and the Pleiades,
are familiar examples; and the filling up between these by less and less
brilliant points down to the limit of vision, so as to cover the whole sky
with a scintillating tracery of minute points of light, convey together an
idea of such confused scattering and such enormous numbers, that it seems
impossible to count them or to reduce them to systematic order. Yet this
was done for all except the faintest stars by Hipparchus, 134 B.C., who
catalogued and fixed the positions of more than 1000 stars, and this is
about the number, down to the fifth magnitude, visible in the latitude of
Greece. A recent enumeration of all the stars visible to the naked eye,
under the most favourable conditions and by the best eyesight, has been
made by the American astronomer, Pickering. His numbers are--for the
Northern Hemisphere 2509, and for the Southern Hemisphere 2824, thus
showing a somewhat greater richness in the southern celestial hemisphere.
But as this difference is due entirely to a preponderance of stars between
magnitudes 5-1/2 and 6, that is, just on the limits of vision, while those
down to magnitude 5-1/2 are more numerous by 85 in the Northern Hemisphere,
Professor Newcomb is of opinion that there is no real superiority of
numbers of visible stars in one hemisphere over the other. Again, the total
number of the visible stars by the above enumeration is 5333. But this
includes stars down to 6.2 magnitude, while it is generally considered that
magnitude 6 marks the limit of visibility. On a re-examination of all the
materials, the Italian astronomer Schiaparelli concludes that the total
number of stars down to the sixth magnitude is 4303; and they seem to be
about equally divided between the northern and southern skies.
THE MILKY WAY
But besides the stars themselves, a most conspicuous object both in the
northern and southern hemisphere is that wonderful irregular belt of
faintly diffused light termed the Milky Way or Galaxy. This forms a
magnificent arch across the sky, best seen in the autumn months in our
latitude. This arch, while following the general course of a great circle
round the heavens, is extremely irregular in detail, sometimes being
single, sometimes double, sending off occasional branches or offshoots, and
also containing in its very midst dark rifts, spots, or patches, where the
black background of almost starless sky can be seen through it. When
examined through an opera-glass or small telescope quantities of stars are
seen on the luminous background, and with every increase in the size and
power of the telescope more and more stars become visible, till with the
largest and best modern instruments the whole of the Galaxy seems densely
packed with them, though still full of irregularities, wavy streams of
stars, and dark rifts and patches, but always showing a faint nebulous
background as if there remained other myriads of stars which a still higher
optical power would reveal.
The relations of this great belt of telescopic stars to the rest of the
star-system have long interested astronomers, and many have attempted its
solution. By a system of gauging, that is counting all the stars that
passed over the field of his telescope in a certain time, Sir William
Herschel was the first who made a systematic effort to determine the shape
of the stellar universe. From the fact that the number of stars increased
rapidly as the Milky Way was approached from whatever direction, while in
the Galaxy itself the numbers visible were at once more than doubled, he
formed the idea that the shape of the entire system must be that of a
highly compressed very broad mass or ring rather less dense towards the
centre where our sun was situated. Roughly speaking, the form was likened
to a flat disc or grindstone, but of irregular thickness, and split in two
on one side where it appears to be double. The immense quantity of the
stars which formed it was supposed to be due to the fact that we looked at
it edgewise through an immense depth of stars; while at right angles to its
direction when looking towards what is termed the pole of the Galaxy, and
also in a less degree when looking obliquely, we see out into space through
a much thinner stratum of stars, which thus seem on the average to be very
much farther apart.
But, in the latter part of his life, Sir William Herschel realised that
this was not the true explanation of the features presented by the Galaxy.
The brilliant spots and patches in it, the dark rifts and openings, the
narrow streams of light often bounded by equally narrow streams or rifts of
darkness, render it quite impossible to conceive that this complex luminous
ring has the form of a compressed disc extending in the direction in which
we see it to a distance many times greater than its thickness. In one very
luminous cluster Herschel thought that his telescope had penetrated to
regions twenty times as far off as the more brilliant stars forming the
nearer portions of the same object. Now, in the case of the Magellanic
clouds, which are two roundish nebular patches of large size some distance
from the Milky Way in the Southern Hemisphere and looking like detached
portions of it, Sir John Herschel himself has shown that any such
interpretation of its form is impossible; because it requires us to suppose
that in both these cases we see, not rounded masses of a roughly globular
shape, but immensely long cones or cylinders, placed in such a direction
that we see only the ends of them. He remarks that one such object so
situated would be an extraordinary coincidence, but that there should be
two or many such is altogether out of the question. But in the Milky Way
there are hundreds or even thousands of such spots or masses of
exceptional brilliancy or exceptional darkness; and, if the form of the
Galaxy is that of a disc many times broader than thick, and which we see
edgewise, then every one of these patches and clusters, and all the narrow
winding streams of bright light or intense blackness, must be really
excessively long cylinders, or tunnels, or deep curving laminæ, or narrow
fissures. And every one of these, which are to be found in every part of
this vast circle of luminosity, must be so arranged as to be exactly turned
towards our sun. The weight of this argument, which has been most forcibly
and clearly set forth by the late Mr. R.A. Proctor, in his very instructive
volume _Our Place among Infinities_, is now generally admitted by
astronomers, and the natural conclusion is that the form of the Milky Way
is that of a vast irregular ring, of which the section at any part is,
roughly speaking, circular; while the many narrow rifts or lanes or
openings where we seem to be able to see completely through it to the
darkness of outer space beyond, render it probable that in those directions
its thickness is less instead of greater than its apparent width, that is,
that we see the broader side rather than the narrow edge of it.
Before entering on the consideration of the relations which the bulk of the
stars we see scattered over the entire vault of heaven bear to this great
belt of telescopic stars, it will be advisable to give a somewhat full
description of the Galaxy itself, both because it is not often delineated
on star-maps with sufficient accuracy, or so as to show its wonderful
intricacies of structure, and also because it constitutes the fundamental
phenomenon upon which the argument set forth in this volume primarily
rests. For this purpose I shall use the description of it given by Sir John
Herschel in his _Outlines of Astronomy_, both because he, of all the
astronomers of the last century, had studied it most thoroughly, in the
northern and in the southern hemispheres, by eye-observation and with the
aid of telescopes of great power and admirable quality; and also because,
amid the throng of modern works and the exciting novelties of the last
thirty years, his instructive volume is, comparatively speaking, very
little known. This precise and careful description will also be of service
to any of my readers who may wish to form a closer personal acquaintance
with this magnificent and intensely interesting object, by examining its
peculiarities of form and beauties of structure either with the naked eye,
or with the aid of a good opera-glass, or with a small telescope of good
defining power.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE MILKY WAY
Sir John Herschel's description is as follows:--'The course of the Milky
Way as traced through the heavens by the unaided eye, neglecting occasional
deviations and following the line of its greatest brightness as well as its
varying breadth and intensity will permit, conforms, as nearly as the
indefiniteness of its boundary will allow it to be fixed, to that of a
great circle inclined at an angle of about 63° to the equinoctial, and
cutting that circle in Right Ascension 6h. 47m. and 18h. 47m., so that its
northern and southern poles respectively are situated in Right Ascension
12h. 47m., North Polar Distance 63°, and R.A. 0h. 47m., NPD. 117°.
Throughout the region where it is so remarkably subdivided, this great
circle holds an intermediate situation between the two great streams; with
a nearer approximation however to the brighter and continuous stream than
to the fainter and interrupted one. If we trace its course in order of
right ascension, we find it traversing the constellation Cassiopeiæ, its
brightest part passing about two degrees to the north of the star Delta of
that constellation. Passing thence between Gamma and Epsilon Cassiopeiæ, it
sends off a branch to the south-preceding side, towards Alpha Persei, very
conspicuous as far as that star, prolonged faintly towards Eta of the same
constellation, and possibly traceable towards the Hyades and Pleiades as
remote outliers. The main stream, however (which is here very faint),
passes on through Auriga, over the three remarkable stars, Epsilon, Zeta,
Eta, of that constellation called the Hædi, preceding Capella, between the
feet of Gemini and the horns of the Bull (where it intersects the ecliptic
nearly in the Solstitial Colure) and thence over the club of Orion to the
neck of Monoceros, intersecting the equinoctial in R.A. 6h. 54m. Up to this
point, from the offset in Perseus, its light is feeble and indefinite, but
thenceforward it receives a gradual accession of brightness, and where it
passes through the shoulder of Monoceros and over the head of Canis Major
it presents a broad, moderately bright, very uniform, and to the naked eye,
starless stream up to the point where it enters the prow of the ship Argo,
nearly on the southern tropic. Here it again subdivides (about the star _m_
Puppis), sending off a narrow and winding branch on the preceding side as
far as Gamma Argûs, where it terminates abruptly. The main stream pursues
its southward course to the 123rd parallel of NPD., where it diffuses
itself broadly and again subdivides, opening out into a wide fan-like
expanse, nearly 20° in breadth, formed of interlacing branches, which all
terminate abruptly, in a line drawn nearly through Lambda and Gamma Argûs.
'At this place the continuity of the Milky Way is interrupted by a wide
gap, and where it recommences on the opposite side it is by a somewhat
similar fan-shaped assemblage of branches which converge upon the bright
star Eta Argûs. Thence it crosses the hind feet of the Centaur, forming a
curious and sharply-defined semicircular concavity of small radius, and
enters the Cross by a very bright neck or isthmus of not more than three or
four degrees in breadth, being the narrowest portion of the Milky Way.
After this it immediately expands into a broad and bright mass, enclosing
the stars Alpha and Beta Crucis and Beta Centauri, and extending almost up
to Alpha of the latter constellation. In the midst of this bright mass,
surrounded by it on all sides, and occupying about half its breadth, occurs
a singular dark pear-shaped vacancy, so conspicuous and remarkable as to
attract the notice of the most superficial gazer and to have acquired among
the early southern navigators the uncouth but expressive appellation of the
_coal-sack_. In this vacancy, which is about 8° in length and 5° broad,
only one very small star visible to the naked eye occurs, though it is far
from devoid of telescopic stars, so that its striking blackness is simply
due to the effect of contrast with the brilliant ground with which it is on
all sides surrounded. This is the place of nearest approach of the Milky
Way to the South Pole. Throughout all this region its brightness is very
striking, and when compared with that of its more northern course already
traced, conveys strongly the impression of greater proximity, and would
almost lead to a belief that our situation as spectators is separated on
all sides by a considerable interval from the dense body of stars composing
the Galaxy, which in this view of the subject would come to be considered
as a flat ring or some other re-entering form of immense and irregular
breadth and thickness, within which we are excentrically situated, nearer
to the southern than to the northern part of its circuit.
'At Alpha Centauri the Milky Way again subdivides, sending off a great
branch of nearly half its breadth, but which thins off rapidly, at an angle
of about 20° with its general direction to Eta and _d_ Lupi, beyond which
it loses itself in a narrow and faint streamlet. The main stream passes on
increasing in breadth to Gamma Normæ, where it makes an abrupt elbow and
again subdivides into one principal and continuous stream of very irregular
breadth and brightness, and a complicated system of interlaced streaks and
masses, which covers the tail of Scorpio, and terminates in a vast and
faint effusion over the whole extensive region occupied by the preceding
leg of Ophiuchus, extending northward to the parallel of 103° NPD., beyond
which it cannot be traced; a wide interval of 14°, free from all appearance
of nebulous light, separating it from the great branch on the north side
of the equinoctial of which it is usually represented as a continuation.
'Returning to the point of separation of this great branch from the main
stream, let us now pursue the course of the latter. Making an abrupt bend
to the following side, it passes over the stars Iota Aræ, Theta and Iota
Scorpii, and Gamma Tubi to Gamma Sagittarii, where it suddenly collects
into a vivid oval mass about 6° in length and 4° in breadth, so excessively
rich in stars that a very moderate calculation makes their number exceed
100,000. Northward of this mass, this stream crosses the ecliptic in
longitude about 276°, and proceeding along the bow of Sagittarius into
Antinous has its course rippled by three deep concavities, separated from
each other by remarkable protuberances, of which the larger and brighter
forms the most conspicuous patch in the southern portion of the Milky Way
visible in our latitudes.
'Crossing the equinoctial at the 19th hour of R.A., it next runs in an
irregular, patchy, and winding stream through Aquila, Sagitta, and
Vulpecula up to Cygnus; at Epsilon of which constellation its continuity is
interrupted, and a very confused and irregular region commences, marked by
a broad dark vacuity, not unlike the southern "coal-sack," occupying the
space between Epsilon, Alpha, and Gamma Cygni, which serves as a kind of
centre for the divergence of three great streams; one, which we have
already traced; a second, the continuation of the first (across the
interval) from Alpha northward, between Lacerta and the head of Cepheus to
the point in Cassiopeiæ whence we set out, and a third branching off from
Gamma Cygni, very vivid and conspicuous, running off in a southern
direction through Beta Cygni, and _s_ Aquilæ almost to the equinoctial,
where it loses itself in a region thinly sprinkled with stars, where in
some maps the modern constellation Taurus Poniatowski is placed. This is
the branch which, if continued across the equinoctial, might be supposed to
unite with the great southern effusion in Ophiuchus already noticed. A
considerable offset, or protuberant appendage, is also thrown off by the
northern stream from the head of Cepheus directly towards the pole,
occupying the greater part of the quartile formed by Alpha, Beta, Iota, and
Delta of that constellation.'
To complete this careful, detailed description of the Milky Way, it will be
well to add a few passages from the same work as to its telescopic
appearance and structure.
'When examined with powerful telescopes, the constitution of this wonderful
zone is found to be no less various than its aspect to the naked eye is
irregular. In some regions the stars of which it is composed are scattered
with remarkable uniformity over immense tracts, while in others the
irregularity of their distribution is quite as striking, exhibiting a rapid
succession of closely clustering rich patches separated by comparatively
poor intervals, and indeed in some instances by spaces absolutely dark _and
completely void of any star_, even of the smallest telescopic magnitude. In
some places not more than 40 or 50 stars on an average occur in a
gauge-field of 15', while in others a similar average gives a result of 400
or 500. Nor is less variety observable in the character of its different
regions in respect of the magnitudes of the stars they exhibit, and the
proportional numbers of the larger and smaller magnitudes associated
together, than in respect of their aggregate numbers. In some, for
instance, extremely minute stars occur in numbers so moderate as to lead us
irresistibly to the conclusion that in these regions we see _fairly
through_ the starry stratum, since it is impossible otherwise that the
numbers of the smaller magnitudes should not go on continually increasing
ad infinitum. In such cases, moreover, the ground of the heavens is for the
most part perfectly dark, which again would not be the case if innumerable
multitudes of stars, too minute to be individually discernible, existed
beyond. In other regions we are presented with the phænomenon of an almost
uniform degree of brightness of the individual stars, accompanied with a
very even distribution of them over the ground of the heavens, both the
larger and smaller magnitudes being strikingly deficient. In such cases it
is equally impossible not to perceive that we are looking _through_ a sheet
of stars nearly of a size, and of no great thickness compared with the
distance which separates them from us. Were it otherwise we should be
driven to suppose the more distant stars uniformly the larger, so as to
compensate by their greater intrinsic brightness for their greater
distance, a supposition contrary to all probability....
'Throughout by far the larger portion of the extent of the Milky Way in
both hemispheres, the general blackness of the ground of the heavens on
which its stars are projected, and the absence of that innumerable
multitude and excessive crowding of the smallest visible magnitudes, and of
glare produced by the aggregate light of multitudes too small to affect the
eye singly, must, we think, be considered unequivocal indications that its
dimensions in _directions where these conditions obtain_ are not only not
infinite, but that the space-penetrating power of our telescopes suffices
fairly to pierce through and beyond it.'
In the above-quoted passage the italics are those of Sir John Herschel
himself, and we see that he drew the very same conclusions from the facts
he describes, and for much the same reasons, as Mr. Proctor has drawn from
the observations of Sir William Herschel; and, as we shall see, the best
astronomers to-day have arrived at a similar result, from the additional
facts at their disposal, and in some cases from fresh lines of argument.
THE STARS IN RELATION TO THE MILKY WAY
Sir John Herschel was so impressed with the form, structure, and immensity
of the Galactic Circle, as he sometimes terms it, that he says (in a
footnote p. 575, 10th ed.), 'This circle is to sidereal what the invariable
ecliptic is to planetary astronomy--a plane of ultimate reference, the
ground-plane of the sidereal system.' We have now to consider what are the
relations of the whole body of the stars to this Galactic Circle--this
plane of ultimate reference for the whole stellar universe.
If we look at the heavens on a starry night, the whole vault appears to be
thickly strewn with stars of various degrees of brightness, so that we
could hardly say that any extensive region--the north, east, south, or
west, or the portion vertically above us--is very conspicuously deficient
or superior in numbers. In every part there are to be found a fair
proportion of stars of the first two or three magnitudes, while where these
may seem deficient a crowd of smaller stars takes their place.
But an accurate survey of the visible stars shows that there is a large
amount of irregularity in their distribution, and that all magnitudes are
really more numerous in or near the Milky Way, than at a distance from it,
though not in so large a degree as to be very conspicuous to the naked eye.
The area of the whole of the Milky Way cannot be estimated at more than
one-seventh of the whole sphere, while some astronomers reckon it at only
one-tenth. If stars of any particular size were uniformly distributed, at
most one-seventh of the whole number should be found within its limits. But
Mr. Gore finds that of 32 stars brighter than the second magnitude 12 lie
upon the Milky Way, or considerably more than twice as many as there should
be if they were uniformly distributed. And in the case of the 99 stars
which are brighter than the third magnitude 33 lie upon the Milky Way, or
one-third instead of one-seventh. Mr. Gore also counted all the stars in
Heis's Atlas which lie upon the Milky Way, and finds there are 1186 out of
a total of 5356, a proportion of between a fourth and a fifth instead of a
seventh.
The late Mr. Proctor in 1871 laid down on a chart two feet diameter all the
stars down to magnitude 9-1/2 given in Agrelander's forty large charts of
the stars visible in the northern hemisphere. They were 324,198 in number,
and they distinctly showed by their greater density not only the whole
course of the Milky Way but also its more luminous portions and many of the
curious dark rifts and vacuities, which latter are almost wholly avoided by
these stars.
Later on Professor Seeliger of Munich made an investigation of the relation
of more than 135,000 stars down to the ninth magnitude to the Milky Way, by
dividing the whole of the heavens into nine regions, one and nine being
circles of 20° wide (equal to 40° diameter) at the two poles of the Galaxy;
the middle region, five, is a zone 20° wide including the Milky Way itself,
and the other six intermediate zones are each 20° wide. The following table
shows the results as given by Professor Newcomb, who has made some
alterations in the last column of 'Density of Stars' in order to correct
differences in the estimate of magnitudes by the different authorities.
Regions. Area in Degree. Number of Stars. Density.
I. 1,398.7 4,277 2.78
II. 3,146.9 10,185 3.03
III. 5,126.6 19,488 3.54
IV. 4,589.8 24,492 5.32
V. 4,519.5 33,267 8.17
VI. 3,971.5 23,580 6.07
VII. 2,954.4 11,790 3.71
VIII. 1,796.6 6,375 3.21
IX. 468.2 1,644 3.14
_N.B._--The inequality of the N. and S. areas is because the
enumeration of the stars only went as far as 24° S. Decl., and
therefore included only a part of Regions VII., VIII., and IX.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF STAR-DENSITY From Herschel's Gauges (as given by
Professor Newcomb, p. 251).]
Upon this table of densities Professor Newcomb remarks as follows:--'The
star-density in the several regions increases continuously from each pole
(regions I. and IX.) to the Galaxy itself (region V.). IF THE LATTER WERE
A SIMPLE RING OF STARS SURROUNDING A SPHERICAL SYSTEM OF STARS, THE
STAR-DENSITY WOULD BE ABOUT THE SAME IN REGIONS I., II., and III., and also
in VII., VIII., and IX., but would suddenly increase in IV. and VI. as the
boundary of the ring was approached. Instead of such being the case, the
numbers 2.78, 3.03, and 3.54 in the north, and 3.14, 3.21, and 3.71 in the
south, show a progressive increase from the galactic pole to the Galaxy
itself. The conclusion to be drawn is a fundamental one. The universe, or
at least the denser portion of it, is really flattened between the galactic
poles, as supposed by Herschel and Struve.'
But looking at the series of figures in the table, and again as quoted by
Professor Newcomb, they seem to me to show in some measure what he says
they do not show. I therefore drew out the above diagram from the figures
in the table, and it certainly shows that the density in regions I., II.,
and III., and in regions VII., VIII., and IX., may be said to be 'about the
same,' that is, they increase very slowly, and that they _do_ 'suddenly
increase' in IV. and VI. as the boundary of the Galaxy is approached. This
may be explained either by a flattening towards the poles of the Galaxy, or
by the thinning out of stars in that direction.
In order to show the enormous difference of star-density in the Galaxy and
at the galactic poles, Professor Newcomb gives the following table of the
Herschelian gauges, on which he only remarks that they show an enormously
increased density in the galactic region due to the Herschels having
counted so many more stars there than any other observers.
+-----------+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Region, .| I. | II.|III.| IV.| V. | VI. | VII.|VIII.| IX. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Density, .|107 |154 |281 |560 |2,019| 672 | 261 | 154 | 111 |
+-----------+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF STAR-DENSITY From a table in _The Stars_ (p.
249).]
But an important characteristic of these figures is, that the Herschels
alone surveyed the whole of the heavens from the north to the south pole,
that they did this with instruments of the same size and quality, and that
from almost life-long experience in this particular work they were
unrivalled in their power of counting rapidly and accurately the stars that
passed over each field of view of their telescopes. Their results,
therefore, must be held to have a comparative value far above those of any
other observer or combination of observers. I have therefore thought it
advisable to draw a diagram from their figures, and it will be seen how
strikingly it agrees with the former diagram in the very slow increase of
star-richness in the first three regions north and south, the sudden
increase in regions IV. and VI. as we approach the Galaxy, while the only
marked difference is in the enormously greater richness of the Galaxy
itself, which is an undoubtedly real phenomenon, and is brought out here by
the unrivalled observing power of the two greatest astronomers in this
special department that have ever lived.
We shall find later on that Professor Newcomb himself, as the result of a
quite different inquiry arrives at a result in accordance with these
diagrams which will then be again referred to. As this is a very
interesting subject, it will be well to give another diagram from two
tables of star-density in Sir John Herschel's volume already quoted. The
tables are as follows:--
Zones of Galactic Average number of Star
North Polar Distance. per Field of 15'.
0° to 15° 4.32
15° to 30° 5.42
30° to 45° 8.21
45° to 60° 13.61
60° to 75° 24.09
75° to 90° 53.43
Zones of Galactic Average number of Stars
South Polar Distance. per Field of 15'.
0° to 15° 6.05
15° to 30° 6.62
30° to 45° 9.08
45° to 60° 13.49
60° to 75° 26.29
75° to 90° 59.06
In these tables the Milky Way itself is taken as occupying two zones of 15°
each, instead of one of 20° as in Professor Newcomb's tables, so that the
excess in the number of stars over the other zones is not so large. They
show also a slight preponderance in all the zones of the southern
hemisphere, but this is not great, and may probably be due to the clearer
atmosphere of the Cape of Good Hope as compared with that of England.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF STAR-DENSITY. From Table in Sir J. Herschel's
_Outlines of Astronomy_ (10th ed., pp. 577-578).]
It need only be noted here that this diagram shows the same general
features as those already given, of a continuous increase of star-density
from the poles of the Galaxy, but more rapidly as the Galaxy itself is
more nearly approached. This fact must, therefore, be accepted as
indisputable.
CLUSTERS AND NEBULÆ IN RELATION TO THE GALAXY
An important factor in the structure of the heavens is afforded by the
distribution of the two classes of objects known as clusters and nebulæ.
Although we can form an almost continuous series from double stars which
revolve round their common centre of gravity, through triple and quadruple
stars, to groups and aggregations of indefinite extent--of which the
Pleiades form a good example, since the six stars visible to the naked eye
are increased to hundreds by high telescopic powers, while photographs with
three hours' exposure show more than 2000 stars--yet none of these
correspond to the large class known as clusters, whether globular or
irregular, which are very numerous, about 600 having been recorded by Sir
John Herschel more than fifty years ago. Many of these are among the most
beautiful and striking objects in the heavens even with a very small
telescope or good opera-glass. Such is the luminous spot called Praesepe,
or the Beehive in the constellation Cancer, and another in the sword handle
of Perseus.
In the southern hemisphere there is a hazy star of about the fourth
magnitude, Omega Centauri, which with a good telescope is seen to be really
a magnificent cluster nearly two-thirds the diameter of the moon, and
described by Sir John Herschel as very gradually increasing in brightness
to the centre, and composed of innumerable stars of the thirteenth and
fifteenth magnitudes, forming the richest and largest object of the kind in
the heavens. He describes it as having rings like lace-work formed of the
larger stars. By actual count, on a good photograph, there are more than
6000 stars, while other observers consider that there are at least 10,000.
In the northern hemisphere one of the finest is that in the constellation
Hercules, known as 13 Messier. It is just visible to the naked eye or with
an opera glass as a hazy star of the sixth magnitude, but a good telescope
shows it to be a globular cluster, and the great Lick telescope resolves
even the densest central portion into distinct stars, of which Sir John
Herschel considered there were many thousands. These two fine clusters are
figured in many of the modern popular works on astronomy, and they afford
an excellent idea of these beautiful and remarkable objects, which, when
more thoroughly studied, will probably aid in elucidating some of the
obscure problems connected with the constitution and development of the
stellar universe.
But for the purpose of the present work the most interesting fact connected
with star-clusters is their remarkable distribution in the heavens. Their
special abundance in and near the Milky Way had often been noted, but the
full importance of the fact could not be appreciated till Mr. Proctor and,
later, Mr. Sidney Waters marked down, on maps of the two hemispheres, all
the star-clusters and nebulæ in the best catalogues. The result is most
interesting. The clusters are seen to be thickly strewn over the entire
course of the Milky Way, and along its margins, while in every other part
of the heavens they are thinly scattered at very distant intervals, with
the one exception of the Magellanic clouds of the southern hemisphere where
they are again densely grouped; and if anything were needed to prove the
physical connection of these clusters with the Galaxy it would be their
occurrence in these extensive nebulous patches which seem like outlying
portions of the Milky Way itself. With these two exceptions probably not
one-twentieth part of the whole number of star-clusters are found in any
part of the heavens remote from the Milky Way.
Nebulæ were for a long time confounded with star-clusters, because it was
thought that with sufficient telescopic power they could all be resolvable
into stars as in the case of the Milky Way itself. But when the
spectroscope showed that many of the nebulæ consisted wholly or mainly of
glowing gases, while neither the highest powers of the best telescopes nor
the still greater powers of the photographic plate gave any indications of
resolvability, although a few stars were often found to be, as it were,
entangled in them, and evidently forming part of them, it was seen that
they constituted a distinct stellar phenomenon, a view which was enforced
and rendered certain by their quite unique mode of distribution. A few of
the larger and irregular type, as in the case of the grand Orion nebula
visible to the naked eye, the great spiral nebula in Andromeda, and the
wonderful Keyhole nebula round Eta Argûs, are situated in or near the Milky
Way; but with these and a few other exceptions the overwhelming majority of
the smaller irresolvable nebulæ appear to avoid it, there being a space
almost wholly free from nebulæ along its borders, both in the northern and
southern hemispheres; while the great majority are spread over the sky, far
away from it in the southern hemisphere, and in the north clustering in a
very marked degree around the galactic pole. The distribution of nebulæ is
thus seen to be the exact opposite to that of the star-clusters, while both
are so distinctly related to the position of the Milky Way--the
ground-plane of the sidereal system, as Sir John Herschel termed it--that
we are compelled to include them all as connected portions of one grand
and, to some extent, symmetrical universe, whose remarkable and opposite
mode of distribution over the heavens may probably afford a clue to the
mode of development of that universe and to the changes that are even now
taking place within it. The maps referred to above are of such great
importance, and are so essential to a clear comprehension of the nature and
constitution of the vast sidereal system which surrounds us, that I have,
with the permission of the Royal Astronomical Society, reproduced them
here. (See end of volume.)
A careful examination of them will give a clearer idea of the very
remarkable facts of distribution of star-clusters and nebulæ than can be
afforded by any amount of description or of numerical statements.
The forms of many of the nebulæ are very curious. Some are quite irregular,
as the Orion nebula, the Keyhole nebula in the southern hemisphere, and
many others. Some show a decidedly spiral form, as those in Andromeda and
Canes Venatici; others again are annular or ring-shaped, as those in Lyra
and Cygnus, while a considerable number are termed planetary nebulæ, from
their exhibiting a faint circular disc like that of a planet. Many have
stars or groups of stars evidently forming parts of them, and this is
especially the case with those of the largest size. But all these are
comparatively few in number and more or less exceptional in type, the great
majority being minute cloudy specks only visible with good telescopes, and
so faint as to leave much doubt as to their exact shape and nature. Sir
John Herschel catalogued 5000 in 1864, and more than 8000 were discovered
up to 1890; while the application of the camera has so increased the
numbers that it is thought there may really be many hundreds of thousands
of them.
The spectroscope shows the larger irregular nebulæ to be gaseous, as are
the annular and planetary nebulæ as well as many very brilliant white
stars; and all these objects are most frequent in or near the Milky Way.
Their spectra show a green line not produced by any terrestrial element.
With the great Lick telescope several of the planetary nebulæ have been
found to be irregular and sometimes to be formed of compressed or looped
rings and other curious forms.
Many of the smaller nebulæ are double or triple, but whether they really
form revolving systems is not yet known. The great mass of the small nebulæ
that occupy large tracts of the heavens remote from the Galaxy are often
termed irresolvable nebulæ, because the highest powers of the largest
telescopes show no indication of their being star-clusters, while they are
too faint to give any definite indications of structure in the
spectroscope. But many of them resemble comets in their forms, and it is
thought not impossible that they may be not very dissimilar in
constitution.
* * * * *
We have now passed in review the main features presented to us in the
heavens outside the solar system, so far as regards the numbers and
distribution of the lucid stars (those visible to the naked eye) as well as
those brought to view by the telescope; the form and chief characteristics
of the Milky Way or Galaxy; and lastly, the numbers and distribution of
those interesting objects--star-clusters and nebulæ in their special
relations to the Milky Way. This examination has brought clearly before us
the unity of the whole visible universe; that everything we can see, or
obtain any knowledge of, with all the resources of modern gigantic
telescopes, of the photographic plate, and of the even more marvellous
spectroscope, forms parts of one vast system which may be shortly and
appropriately termed the Stellar universe.
In our next chapter we shall carry the investigation a step further, by
sketching in outline what is known of the motions and distances of the
stars, and thus obtain some important information bearing upon our special
subject of inquiry.