Part 17

It was believed at first that this direction precisely coincided with the solar equator; but it seems more certain that it coincides with the plane of the earth’s orbit, or the ecliptic.

Now, what is the nature of this luminous mass? Must it be considered as a zone of vapors thrown off by the sun, when in the process of consolidation, when our central star passed from a nebulous state to that of a condensed fluid sphere? This was the opinion of Laplace.

Another hypothesis, also connected with the first, is that the Zodiacal Light is formed of myriads of solid particles, analogous to the aerolites, possessing a general movement, but traveling separately around the focus of our solar world. The light of the ring would be thus produced by the accumulation of this multitude of brilliant points, reflecting toward us the light borrowed by each of them from the sun.

This explanation accounts for the intensity of the Zodiacal Light at different epochs; it would suffice to admit that the condensation of the particles or the density of the ring is not the same throughout its extent, and that its movement of circulation round the sun presents successively different parts to the earth. In this case, it becomes a question whether this lenticular ring of matter is distinct from the zone of aerolites.

Lastly, some astronomers regard the Zodiacal Light as a vaporous ring which belongs to the earth, surrounding it at some distance. But this is an opinion which appears somewhat wild, and is utterly at variance with observation.

Are the stars that are visible to the naked eye spread orderless on the celestial vault? or is there not between those apparently most closely connected some real or physical connection which requires us to rank them in natural groups?

These questions have been already partly solved by what is known of the double and multiple star systems. Soon, exploring the regions of the sky visible by means of the telescope, we shall have to pass in review a multitude of stellar associations, in which suns are found so compact and so numerous, and the form of the groups so regular, that it is impossible to deny their reciprocal dependence.

But long before the discovery of these islands, these archipelagos as worlds, scattered with such astonishing profusion over the infinite, the naked eye had already distinguished a certain number of groups, the stars composing which were so near together that it was impossible to doubt their physical connection.

Such, for example, is the group of the Pleiades. Such, again, are the groups known under the names of the Hyades, of Præsepe, and of Berenice’s Hair. All are visible to the naked eye, and good eyes distinguish without difficulty the principal stars of the first-named groups. The Pleiades are situated in the constellation of the Bull, which we can distinguish so easily to the northwest of Orion and Aldebaran.

Of about eighty stars which form the group of the Pleiades, six are visible without the help of telescopes. Formerly, the Latin poet tells us, seven were counted, which may be held to prove that one of them is variable, and has diminished in brightness, or else has disappeared.

The most brilliant, Alcyone, is of the third magnitude; Electra and Atlas are of the fourth; Merope, Maïa, and Taygete of the fifth. Three others again have received particular names, although they are below the limit of ordinary vision; these are Pleione, Celeno, and Asterope, from the sixth to the eighth magnitude. All the others are only visible by the aid of a telescope; but with an ordinary glass it is possible to distinguish a large number. The Pleiades are known under the name of the Hen-coop, doubtless because Alcyone appears in the group as a hen surrounded with her chickens.

The Hyades, which are near the Pleiades, form a less numerous and more scattered group. The bright light of Aldebaran, which is, as is known, of the first magnitude, renders them more difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.

They appear in the rainy season. Hence their name of Hyades, from the Greek word which signifies to rain.

The connection of the stars which compose this group is not so striking as in the case of the Pleiades. Nevertheless, it seems difficult to admit that they are quite independent of each other’s attraction. In examining the position of these two groups in the vicinity of the Milky Way, and observing that both are situated in the prolongation of a branch of the great zone, we are almost entitled to consider them as two clusters of stars, belonging to the immense stellar stratum which surrounds us, and in the midst of which the sun himself is placed.

In Berenice’s Hair, most of the stars are visible to the naked eye, and are perfectly distinguished in the sky, a little to the east of the Lion. No very brilliant star in the vicinity inconveniences the eye by effacing their light.

The next group is situated in the Crab, and is known under the name of Præsepe: it is visible to the unassisted sight; but it is impossible to distinguish the separate stars without the help of a telescope. Nevertheless, an instrument of moderate power easily separates them.

The groups which we have just described form a transition between the stars scattered over the celestial vault and the more condensed clusters, the undefined aspect of which caused them formerly to be designated under the general name of nebulæ.

Doubtless, if we could place ourselves in space, and contemplate from a sufficiently distant standpoint the whole of the stars which appear to us isolated, we should see them condensed into one or several distinct groups, analogous to those of the Pleiades; while, were we to penetrate into the midst of one of those compact clusters, we should see the stars of which it is formed separated and scattered over the celestial vault in such a way as to give it the aspect of our own heavens.

THE NEBULÆ AND SWARMS OF SUNS.—J. E. GORE

We will now consider the nebulæ, properly so called, that is to say, objects which the spectroscope shows to consist of glowing gas. These are sometimes large and irregular in form, like the great nebula in the “Sword” of Orion, sometimes with spiral convolutions, and sometimes of a definite shape, like the planetary and annular nebulæ.

Of the large and irregular nebulæ, one of the most remarkable is that known as “the great nebula in Orion.” It surrounds the multiple star, Theta Orionis. It is a curious fact that it escaped the searching eye of Galileo, although he gave special attention to the constellation of Orion, for even with a good opera-glass a nebulous gleam is distinctly visible round the central star of the “Sword.” The nebula seems to have been discovered by Cysat, a Swiss astronomer, in the year 1618, and it was sketched by Huygens in 1656. It has been called the “fish-mouth” nebula, from the fancied resemblance of the centre portion to the mouth of a fish. A number of small stars are visible over the surface of the nebula, and at one time Lord Rosse thought it showed indications of resolution into stars when examined with his giant telescope; but this is now known to have been a mistake, for Dr. Huggins finds, with the spectroscope, that it consists of nothing but glowing gas.

The brightest line in the nebular spectrum—the “chief nebular line,” as it is called—has not yet been identified with that of any terrestrial substance.

Mr. W. H. Pickering and Dr. Max Wolf have photographed another nebula surrounding the star Zeta Orionis—the southern star of the “Belt,” which seems to be connected with the nebula in the “Sword”; and Professor Barnard, using the “lens of a cheap oil lantern” of 1½ inches aperture and 3½ inches focal length, has photographed “an enormous curved nebulosity” stretching over nearly the whole of the constellation of Orion, and involving the “great nebula.”

Professor Keeler found, with the spectroscope, that the Orion nebula is apparently receding from the earth at the rate of nearly eleven miles a second, but this motion may be, in part at least, due to the sun’s motion in space in the opposite direction. Professor Pickering considers that the parallax of the nebula is probably not more than 0.″003, which corresponds to a thousand years’ journey for light!

In the southern constellation, Argo is a magnificent nebula, somewhat similar in appearance to the great nebula in Orion. It surrounds the famous variable star Eta Argûs. It is sometimes spoken of as the “keyhole” nebula, owing to a curious opening of that shape near its centre. It was carefully drawn by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope in the years 1834-38. It lies in a very brilliant portion of the Milky Way, and Sir John Herschel thus describes it: “It is not easy for language to convey a full impression of the beauty and sublimity of the spectacle which the nebula offers as it enters the field of view of a telescope, fixed in right ascension, by the diurnal motion, ushered in as it is by so glorious and innumerable a procession of stars, to which it forms a sort of climax, and in a part of the heavens otherwise full of interest,” and he adds: “In no part of its extent does this nebula show any appearance of resolvability into stars, being, in this respect, analogous to the nebula of Orion. It has, therefore, nothing in common with the Milky Way, on the ground of which we see it projected, and may therefore be, and not improbably is, placed at an immeasurable distance behind that stratum.” Sir John Herschel’s conclusion as to its physical constitution has been fully confirmed by the spectroscope, which shows it to consist of luminous gas. As in the Orion nebula, there are numerous stars scattered over it. Some of these may possibly have a physical connection with the nebula, while others may belong to the Milky Way. The nebula is of great extent, covering an apparent space about five times the area of the full moon, and its real dimensions must be enormous. It was photographed by Mr. Russell, director of the Sydney Observatory, in July, 1890, and the photograph shows that “one of the brightest and most conspicuous parts of the nebula”—the swan-shaped form near the centre of Herschel’s drawing—has “wholly disappeared,” and its place is now occupied by “a great, dark oval.” Mr. Russell first missed the vanished portion of the nebula in the year 1871, while examining it with a telescope of 11½ inches aperture, and the photograph now confirms the disappearance, which is very remarkable, and shows that changes are actually in progress in these wonderful nebulæ, changes which may be detected after a comparatively short interval of time.

Smaller than the nebula in Argo, but somewhat similar in general appearance, is that known as 30 Doradus, which forms one of the numerous and diverse objects which together constitute the greater Magellanic Cloud. Sir John Herschel drew it carefully at the Cape of Good Hope, and describes it as “one of the most singular and extraordinary objects which the heavens present,” and he says “it is unique even in the system to which it belongs, there being no other object in either nubecula to which it bears the least resemblance.” It is sometimes called the “looped nebula,” from the curious openings it contains. One of these is somewhat similar to the “key-hole” opening in the Argo nebula. Near its centre is a small cluster of stars, and scattered over the nebula are many faint stars, of which Sir John Herschel gives a catalogue of 105, ranging from the ninth to the seventeenth magnitude. I do not know whether this nebula has been examined with the spectroscope, but its appearance would suggest that it is gaseous. It is remarkable as being the only object of its class which is found outside the zone of the Milky Way.

Among the nebulæ of irregular shape, although its spectrum is said to be not gaseous, may be mentioned that known as the “trifid nebula,” or 20 Messier. It lies closely north of the star 4 Sagittarii in a magnificent region of the heavens. In the drawing made by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope, the principal portion consists of three masses of nebulous matter separated by dark “lanes” or “rifts.” Near the junction of the three “rifts” is a triple star. A beautiful drawing of this nebula has also been made by Trouvelot. It agrees fairly well with that of Sir John Herschel, but shows more detail.

Among other gaseous nebulæ may be mentioned that called by Sir John Herschel the “dumb-bell” nebula. It lies a little south of the sixth magnitude star 14 Vulpeculæ, and was discovered by Messier in 1779, while observing Bode’s comet of that year. In small telescopes it has the appearance of a dumb-bell, or hour-glass, but in larger telescopes the outline is filled in with fainter nebulous light, giving to the whole an elliptical form. Several faint stars have been seen in it, but these probably belong to the Milky Way, as Dr. Huggins finds the spectrum gaseous. Dr. Roberts has photographed it, and he thinks that “the nebula is probably a globular mass of nebular matter which is undergoing the process of condensation into stars, and the faint protrusions of nebulosity in the south following and north preceding ends are the projections of a broad ring of nebulosity which surrounds the globular mass. This ring, not being sufficiently dense to obscure the light of the central region of the globular mass, is dense enough to obscure those parts of it that are hidden by the increased thickness of the nebulosity, thus producing the ‘dumb-bell’ appearance. If these inferences are true, we may proceed yet a step, or a series of steps, further, and predict that the consummation of the life-history of this nebula will be its reduction to a globular cluster of stars.”