We are about to discuss one of the grandest truths in the whole
of nature. We have had occasion to see that this sun of ours is a
magnificent globe immensely larger than the greatest of his planets,
while the greatest of these planets is immensely larger than this
earth; but now we are to learn that our sun is, indeed, only a star
not nearly so bright as many of those which shine over our heads every
night. We are comparatively close to the sun, so that we are able
to enjoy his beautiful light and cheering heat. Each of those other
myriads of stars is a sun, and the splendor of those distant suns is
often far greater than that of our own. We are, however, so enormously
far from them that they appear dwindled down to insignificance. To
judge impartially between our sun or star and such a sun or star as
Sirius we should stand halfway between the two; it is impossible to
make a fair estimate when we find ourselves situated close to one star
and a million times as far from the other. After allowance is made for
the imperfections of our point of view, we are enabled to realize the
majestic truth that the sun is no more than a star, and that the other
stars are no less than suns. This gives us an imposing idea of the
extent and the magnificence of the universe in which we are situated.
Look up at the sky at night--you will see a host of stars; try to think
that every one of them is itself a sun. It may probably be that those
suns have planets circulating round them, but it is hopeless for us to
expect to see such planets. Were you standing on one of those stars
and looking towards our system, you would not perceive the sun to be
the brilliant and gorgeous object that we knew so well. If you could
see him at all, he would merely seem like a star, not nearly so bright
as many of those you can see at night. Even if you had the biggest
of telescopes to aid your vision, you could never discern from one
of these bodies the planets which surround the sun. No astronomer in
the stars could see Jupiter even if his sight were a thousand times
as good or his telescopes a thousand times as powerful as any sight
or telescope that we know. So minute an object as our earth would, of
course, be still more hopelessly beyond the possibility of vision.