The Story of the Heavens Part 30

There are only two bodies in the universe which sensibly contribute to the precessional movement of the earth's axis: these bodies are the sun and the moon. The shares in which the labour is borne by the sun and the moon are not what might have been expected from a hasty view of the subject. This is a point on which it will be desirable to dwell, as it ill.u.s.trates a point in the theory of gravitation which is of very considerable importance.

The law of gravitation a.s.serts that the intensity of the attraction which a body can exercise is directly proportional to the ma.s.s of that body, and inversely proportional to the square of its distance from the attracted point. We can thus compare the attraction exerted upon the earth by the sun and by the moon. The ma.s.s of the sun exceeds the ma.s.s of the moon in the proportion of about 26,000,000 to 1. On the other hand, the moon is at a distance which, on an average, is about one-386th part of that of the sun. It is thus an easy calculation to show that the efficiency of the sun's attraction on the earth is about 175 times as great as the attraction of the moon. Hence it is, of course, that the earth obeys the supremely important attraction of the sun, and pursues an elliptic path around the sun, bearing the moon as an appendage.

But when we come to that particular effect of attraction which is competent to produce precession, we find that the law by which the efficiency of the attracting body is computed a.s.sumes a different form.

The measure of efficiency is, in this case, to be found by taking the ma.s.s of the body and dividing it by the _cube_ of the distance. The complete demonstration of this statement must be sought in the formulae of mathematics, and cannot be introduced into these pages; we may, however, adduce one consideration which will enable the reader in some degree to understand the principle, though without pretending to be a demonstration of its accuracy. It will be obvious that the nearer the disturbing body approaches to the earth the greater is the _leverage_ (if we may use the expression) which is afforded by the protuberance at the equator. The efficiency of a given force will, therefore, on this account alone, increase in the inverse proportion of the distance. The actual intensity of the force itself augments in the inverse square of the distance, and hence the capacity of the attracting body for producing precession will, for a double reason, increase when the distance decreases. Suppose, for example, that the disturbing body is brought to half its original distance from the disturbed body, the leverage is by this means doubled, while the actual intensity of the force is at the same time quadrupled according to the law of gravitation. It will follow that the effect produced in the latter case must be eight times as great as in the former case. And this is merely equivalent to the statement that the precession-producing capacity of a body varies inversely as the cube of the distance.

It is this consideration which gives to the moon an importance as a precession-producing agent to which its mere attractive capacity would not have ent.i.tled it. Even though the ma.s.s of the sun be 26,000,000 times as great as the ma.s.s of the moon, yet when this number is divided by the cube of the relative value of the distances of the bodies (386), it is seen that the efficiency of the moon is more than twice as great as that of the sun. In other words, we may say that one-third of the movement of precession is due to the sun, and two-thirds to the moon.

For the study of the joint precessional effect due to the sun and the moon acting simultaneously, it will be advantageous to consider the effect produced by the two bodies separately; and as the case of the sun is the simpler of the two, we shall take it first. As the earth travels in its annual path around the sun, the axis of the earth is directed to a point in the heavens which is 23-1/2 from the pole of the ecliptic.

The precessional effect of the sun is to cause this point--the pole of the earth--to revolve, always preserving the same angular distance from the pole of the ecliptic; and thus we have a motion of the type represented in the diagram. As the ecliptic occupies a position which for our present purpose we may regard as fixed in s.p.a.ce, it follows that the pole of the ecliptic is a fixed point on the surface of the heavens; so that the path of the pole of the earth must be a small circle in the heavens, fixed in its position relatively to the surrounding stars. In this we find a motion strictly a.n.a.logous to that of the peg-top. It is the gravitation of the earth acting upon the peg-top which forces it into the conical motion. The immediate effect of the gravitation is so modified by the rapid rotation of the top, that, in obedience to a profound dynamical principle, the axis of the top revolves in a cone rather than fall down, as it would do were the top not spinning. In a similar manner the immediate effect of the sun's attraction on the protuberance at the equator would be to bring the pole of the earth's axis towards the pole of the ecliptic, but the rapid rotation of the earth modifies this into the conical movement of precession.

The circ.u.mstances with regard to the moon are much more complicated.

The moon describes a certain orbit around the earth; that orbit lies in a certain plane, and that plane has, of course, a certain pole on the celestial sphere. The precessional effect of the moon would accordingly tend to make the pole of the earth's axis describe a circle around that point in the heavens which is the pole of the moon's...o...b..t. This point is about 5 from the pole of the ecliptic. The pole of the earth is therefore solicited by two different movements--one a revolution around the pole of the ecliptic, the other a revolution about another point 5 distant, which is the pole of the moon's...o...b..t. It would thus seem that the earth's pole should make a certain composite movement due to the two separate movements. This is really the case, but there is a point to be very carefully attended to, which at first seems almost paradoxical. We have shown how the potency of the moon as a precessional agent exceeds that of the sun, and therefore it might be thought that the composite movement of the earth's pole would conform more nearly to a rotation around the pole of the plane of the moon's...o...b..t than to a rotation around the pole of the ecliptic; but this is not the case. The precessional movement is represented by a revolution around the pole of the ecliptic, as is shown in the figure. Here lies the germ of one of those exquisite astronomical discoveries which delight us by ill.u.s.trating some of the most subtle phenomena of nature.

The plane in which the moon revolves does not occupy a constant position. We are not here specially concerned with the causes of this change in the plane of the moon's...o...b..t, but the character of the movement must be enunciated. The inclination of this plane to the ecliptic is about 5, and this inclination does not vary (except within very narrow limits); but the line of intersection of the two planes does vary, and, in fact, varies so quickly that it completes a revolution in about 18-2/3 years. This movement of the plane of the moon's...o...b..t necessitates a corresponding change in the position of its pole. We thus see that the pole of the moon's...o...b..t must be actually revolving around the pole of the ecliptic, always remaining at the same distance of 5, and completing its revolution in 18-2/3 years. It will, therefore, be obvious that there is a profound difference between the precessional effect of the sun and of the moon in their action on the earth. The sun invites the earth's pole to describe a circle around a fixed centre; the moon invites the earth's pole to describe a circle around a centre which is itself in constant motion. It fortunately happens that the circ.u.mstances of the case are such as to reduce considerably the complexity of the problem. The movement of the moon's plane, only occupying about 18-2/3 years, is a very rapid motion compared with the whole precessional movement, which occupies about 26,000 years. It follows that by the time the earth's axis has completed one circuit of its majestic cone, the pole of the moon's plane will have gone round about 1,400 times. Now, as this pole really only describes a comparatively small cone of 5 in radius, we may for a first approximation take the average position which it occupies; but this average position is, of course, the centre of the circle which it describes--that is, the pole of the ecliptic.

We thus see that the average precessional effect of the moon simply conspires with that of the sun to produce a revolution around the pole of the ecliptic. The grosser phenomena of the movements of the earth's axis are to be explained by the uniform revolution of the pole in a circular path; but if we make a minute examination of the track of the earth's axis, we shall find that though it, on the whole, conforms with the circle, yet that it really traces out a sinuous line, sometimes on the inside and sometimes on the outside of the circle. This delicate movement arises from the continuous change in the place of the pole of the moon's...o...b..t. The period of these undulations is 18-2/3 years, agreeing exactly with the period of the revolution of the moon's nodes.

The amount by which the pole departs from the circle on either side is only about 92 seconds--a quant.i.ty rather less than the twenty-thousandth part of the radius of the sphere. This phenomenon, known as "nutation," was discovered by the beautiful telescopic researches of Bradley, in 1747. Whether we look at the theoretical interest of the subject or at the refinement of the observations involved, this achievement of the "Vir incomparabilis," as Bradley has been called by Bessel, is one of the masterpieces of astronomical genius.

The phenomena of precession and nutation depend on movements of the earth itself, and not on movements of the axis of rotation within the earth. Therefore the distance of any particular spot on the earth from the north or south pole is not disturbed by either of these phenomena.

The lat.i.tude of a place is the distance of the place from the earth's equator, and this quant.i.ty remains unaltered in the course of the long precession cycle of 26,000 years. But it has been discovered within the last few years that lat.i.tudes are subject to a small periodic change of a few tenths of a second of arc. This was first pointed out about 1880 by Dr. Kustner, of Berlin, and by a masterly a.n.a.lysis of all available observations, made in the course of many years past at various observatories, Dr. Chandler, of Boston, has shown that the lat.i.tude of every point on the earth is subject to a double oscillation, the period of one being 427 days and the other about a year, the mean amplitude of each being O"14. In other words, the spot in the arctic regions, directly in the prolongation of the earth's axis of rotation, is not absolutely fixed; the end of the imaginary axis moves about in a complicated manner, but always keeping within a few yards of its average position. This remarkable discovery is not only of value as introducing a new refinement in many astronomical researches depending on an accurate knowledge of the lat.i.tude, but theoretical investigations show that the periods of this variation are incompatible with the a.s.sumption that the earth is an absolutely rigid body. Though this a.s.sumption has in other ways been found to be untenable, the confirmation of this view by the discovery of Dr. Chandler is of great importance.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE ABERRATION OF LIGHT.

The Real and Apparent Movements of the Stars--How they can be Discriminated--Aberration produces Effects dependent on the Position of the Stars--The Pole of the Ecliptic--Aberration makes Stars seem to Move in a Circle, an Ellipse, or a Straight Line according to Position--All the Ellipses have Equal Major Axes--How is this Movement to be Explained?--How to be Distinguished from Annual Parallax--The Apex of the Earth's Way--How this is to be Explained by the Velocity of Light--How the Scale of the Solar System can be Measured by the Aberration of Light.

We have in this chapter to narrate a discovery of a recondite character, which ill.u.s.trates in a forcible manner some of the fundamental truths of Astronomy. Our discussion of it will naturally be divided into two parts. In the first part we must describe the nature of the phenomenon, and then we must give the extremely elegant explanation afforded by the properties of light. The telescopic discovery of aberration, as well as its explanation, are both due to the ill.u.s.trious Bradley.

The expression _fixed_ star, so often used in astronomy, is to be received in a very qualified sense. The stars are, no doubt, well fixed in their places, so far as coa.r.s.e observation is concerned. The lineaments of the constellations remain unchanged for centuries, and, in contrast with the ceaseless movements of the planets, the stars are not inappropriately called fixed. We have, however, had more than one occasion to show throughout the course of this work that the expression "fixed star" is not an accurate one when minute quant.i.ties are held in estimation. With the exact measures of modern instruments, many of these quant.i.ties are so perceptible that they have to be always reckoned with in astronomical enquiry. We can divide the movements of the stars into two great cla.s.ses: the real movements and the apparent movements. The proper motion of the stars and the movements of revolution of the binary stars const.i.tute the real movements of these bodies. These movements are special to each star, so that two stars, although close together in the heavens, may differ in the widest degree as to the real movements which they possess. It may, indeed, sometimes happen that stars in a certain region are animated with a common movement. In this phenomenon we have traces of a real movement shared by a number of stars in a certain group. With this exception, however, the real movements of the stars seem to be governed by no systematic law, and the rapidly moving stars are scattered here and there indiscriminately over the heavens.

The apparent movements of the stars have a different character, inasmuch as we find the movement of each star determined by the place which it occupies in the heavens. It is by this means that we discriminate the real movements of the star from its apparent movements, and examine the character of both.

In the present chapter we are concerned with the apparent movements only, and of these there are three, due respectively to precession, to nutation, and to aberration. Each of these apparent movements obeys laws peculiar to itself, and thus it becomes possible to a.n.a.lyse the total apparent motion, and to discriminate the proportions in which the precession, the nutation, and the aberration have severally contributed.

We are thus enabled to isolate the effect of aberration as completely as if it were the sole agent of apparent displacement, so that, by an alliance between mathematical calculation and astronomical observation, we can study the effects of aberration as clearly as if the stars were affected by no other motions.

Concentrating our attention solely on the phenomena of aberration we shall describe its particular effect upon stars in different regions of the sky, and thus ascertain the laws according to which the effects of aberration are exhibited. When this step has been taken, we shall be in a position to give the beautiful explanation of those laws dependent upon the velocity of light.

At one particular region of the heavens the effect of aberration has a degree of simplicity which is not manifested anywhere else. This region lies in the constellation Draco, at the pole of the ecliptic. At this pole, or in its immediate neighbourhood, each star, in virtue of aberration, describes a circle in the heavens. This circle is very minute; it would take something like 2,000 of these circles together to form an area equal to the area of the moon. Expressed in the usual astronomical language, we should say that the diameter of this small circle is about 409 seconds of arc. This is a quant.i.ty which, though small to the unaided eye, is really of great relative magnitude in the present state of telescopic research. It is not only large enough to be perceived, but it can be measured, with an accuracy which actually does not admit of a doubt, to the hundredth part of the whole. It is also observed that each star describes its little circle in precisely the same period of time; and that period is one year, or, in other words, the time of the revolution of the earth around the sun. It is found that for all stars in this region, be they large stars or small, single or double, white or coloured, the circles appropriate to each have all the same size, and are all described in the same time. Even from this alone it would be manifest that the cause of the phenomenon cannot lie in the star itself. This unanimity in stars of every magnitude and distance requires some simpler explanation.

Further examination of stars in different regions sheds new light on the subject. As we proceed from the pole of the ecliptic, we still find that each star exhibits an annual movement of the same character as the stars just considered. In one respect, however, there is a difference. The apparent path of the star is no longer a circle; it has become an ellipse. It is, however, soon perceived that the shape and the position of this ellipse are governed by the simple law that the further the star is from the pole of the ecliptic the greater is the eccentricity of the ellipse. The apparent path of the stars at the same distance from the pole have equal eccentricity, and of the axes of the ellipse the shorter is always directed to the pole, the longer being, of course, perpendicular to it. It is, however, found that no matter how great the eccentricity may become, the major axis always retains its original length. It is always equal to about 409 seconds--that is, to the diameter of the circle of aberration at the pole itself. As we proceed further and further from the pole of the ecliptic, we find that each star describes a path more and more eccentric, until at length, when we examine a star on the ecliptic, the ellipse has become so attenuated that it has flattened into a line. Each star which happens to lie on the ecliptic oscillates to and fro along the ecliptic through an amplitude of 409 seconds. Half a year accomplishes the journey one way, and the other half of the year restores the star to its original position. When we pa.s.s to stars on the southern side of the ecliptic, we see the same series of changes proceed in an inverse order. The ellipse, from being actually linear, gradually grows in width, though still preserving the same length of major axis, until at length the stars near the southern pole of the ecliptic are each found to describe a circle equal to the paths pursued by the stars at the north pole of the ecliptic.

The circ.u.mstance that the major axes of all those ellipses are of equal length suggests a still further simplification. Let us suppose that every star, either at the pole of the ecliptic or elsewhere, pursues an absolutely circular path, and that all these circles agree not only in magnitude, but also in being all parallel to the plane of the ecliptic: it is easy to see that this simple supposition will account for the observed facts. The stars at the pole of the ecliptic will, of course, show their circles turned fairly towards us, and we shall see that they pursue circular paths. The circular paths of the stars remote from the pole of the ecliptic will, however, be only seen somewhat edgewise, and thus the apparent paths will be elliptical, as we actually find them. We can even calculate the degree of ellipticity which this surmise would require, and we find that it coincides with the observed ellipticity.

Finally, when we observe stars actually moving in the ecliptic, the circles they follow would be seen edgewise, and thus the stars would have merely the linear movement which they are seen to possess. All the observed phenomena are thus found to be completely consistent with the supposition that every star of all the millions in the heavens describes once each year a circular path; and that, whether the star be far or near, this circle has always the same apparent diameter, and lies in a plane always parallel to the plane of the ecliptic.

We have now wrought the facts of observation into a form which enables us to examine into the cause of a movement so systematic. Why is it that each star should seem to describe a small circular path? Why should that path be parallel to the ecliptic? Why should it be completed exactly in a twelvemonth? We are at once referred to the motion of the earth around the sun. That movement takes place in the ecliptic. It is completed in a year. The coincidences are so obvious that we feel almost necessarily compelled to connect in some way this apparent movement of the stars with the annual movement of the earth around the sun. If there were no such connection, it would be in the highest degree improbable that the planes of the circles should be all parallel to the ecliptic, or that the time of revolution of each star in its circle should equal that of the revolution of the earth around the sun. As both these conditions are fulfilled, the probability of the connection rises to a value almost infinite.

The important question has then arisen as to why the movement of the earth around the sun should be a.s.sociated in so remarkable a manner with this universal star movement. There is here one obvious point to be noticed and to be dismissed. We have in a previous chapter discussed the important question of the annual parallax of stars, and we have shown how, in virtue of annual parallax, each star describes an ellipse. It can further be demonstrated that these ellipses are really circles parallel to the ecliptic; so that we might hastily a.s.sume that annual parallax was the cause of the phenomenon discovered by Bradley. A single circ.u.mstance will, however, dispose of this suggestion. The circle described by a star in virtue of annual parallax has a magnitude dependent on the distance of the star, so that the circles described by various stars are of various dimensions, corresponding to the varied distances of different stars. The phenomena of aberration, however, distinctly a.s.sert that the circular path of each star is of the same size, quite independently of what its distance may be, and hence annual parallax will not afford an adequate explanation. It should also be noticed that the movements of a star produced by annual parallax are much smaller than those due to aberration. There is not any known star whose circular path due to annual parallax has a diameter one-twentieth part of that of the circle due to aberration; indeed, in the great majority of cases the parallax of the star is an absolutely insensible quant.i.ty.

There is, however, a still graver and quite insuperable distinction between the parallactic path and the aberrational path. Let us, for simplicity, think of a star situated near the pole of the ecliptic, and thus appearing to revolve annually in a circle, whether we regard either the phenomenon of parallax or of aberration. As the earth revolves, so does the star appear to revolve; and thus to each place of the earth in its...o...b..t corresponds a certain place of the star in its circle. If the movement arise from annual parallax, it is easy to see where the place of the star will be for any position of the earth. It is, however, found that in the movement discovered by Bradley the star never has the position which parallax a.s.signs to it, but is, in fact, a quarter of the circ.u.mference of its little circle distant therefrom.

A simple rule will find the position of the star due to aberration. Draw from the centre of the ellipse a radius parallel to the direction in which the earth is moving at the moment in question, then the extremity of this radius gives the point on its ellipse where the star is to be found. Tested at all seasons, and with all stars, this law is found to be always verified, and by its means we are conducted to the true explanation of the phenomenon.

We can enunciate the effects of aberration in a somewhat different manner, which will show even more forcibly how the phenomenon is connected with the motion of the earth in its...o...b..t. As the earth pursues its annual course around the sun, its movement at any moment may be regarded as directed towards a certain point of the ecliptic. From day to day, and even from hour to hour, the point gradually moves along the ecliptic, so as to complete the circuit in a year. At each moment, however, there is always a certain point in the heavens towards which the earth's motion is directed. It is, in fact, the point on the celestial sphere towards which the earth would travel continuously if, at the moment, the attraction of the sun could be annihilated. It is found that this point is intimately connected with the phenomenon of aberration. In fact, the aberration is really equivalent to drawing each star from its mean place towards the Apex of the Earth's Way, as the point is sometimes termed. It can also be shown by observation that the amount of aberration depends upon the distance from the apex. A star which happened to lie on the ecliptic will not be at all deranged by aberration from its mean place when it happens that the apex coincides with the star. All the stars 10 from the apex will be displaced each by the same amount, and all directly in towards the apex. A star 20 from the apex will undergo a larger degree of displacement, though still in the same direction, exactly towards the apex; and all stars at the same distance will be displaced by the same amount. Proceeding thus from the apex, we come to stars at a distance of 90 therefrom. Here the amount of displacement will be a maximum. Each one will be about twenty seconds from its average place; but in every case the imperative law will be obeyed, that the displacement of the star from its mean place lies towards the apex of the earth's way. We have thus given two distinct descriptions of the phenomenon of aberration. In the first we find it convenient to speak of a star as describing a minute circular path; in the other we have regarded aberration as merely amounting to a derangement of the star from its mean place in accordance with specified laws. These descriptions are not inconsistent: they are, in fact, geometrically equivalent; but the latter is rather the more perfect, inasmuch as it a.s.signs completely the direction and extent of the derangement caused by aberration in any particular star at any particular moment.

The question has now been narrowed to a very definite form. What is it which makes each star seem to close in towards the point towards which the earth is travelling? The answer will be found when we make a minute enquiry into the circ.u.mstances in which we view a star in the telescope.

The beam of rays from a star falls on the object-gla.s.s of a telescope; those rays are parallel, and after they pa.s.s through the object-gla.s.s they converge to a focus near the eye end of the instrument. Let us first suppose that the telescope is at rest; then if the telescope be pointed directly towards the star, the rays will converge to a point at the centre of the field of view where a pair of cross wires are placed, whose intersection defines the axis of the telescope. The case will, however, be altered if the telescope be moved after the light has pa.s.sed through the objective; the rays of light in the interior of the tube will pursue a direct path, as before, and will proceed to a focus at the same precise point as before. As, however, the telescope has moved, it will, of course, have carried with it the pair of cross wires; they will no longer be at the same point as at first, and consequently the image of the star will not now coincide with their intersection.

The movement of the telescope arises from its connection with the earth: for as the earth hurries along at a speed of eighteen miles a second, the telescope is necessarily displaced with this velocity. It might at first be thought, that in the incredibly small fraction of time necessary for light to pa.s.s from the object-gla.s.s to the eye-piece, the change in the position of the telescope must be too minute to be appreciable. Let us suppose, for instance, that the star is situated near the pole of the ecliptic, then the telescope will be conveyed by the earth's motion in a direction perpendicular to its length. If the tube of the instrument be about twenty feet long, it can be readily demonstrated that during the time the light travels down the tube the movement of the earth will convey the telescope through a distance of about one-fortieth of an inch.[42] This is a quant.i.ty very distinctly measurable with the magnifying power of the eye-piece, and hence this derangement of the star's place is very appreciable. It therefore follows that if we wish the star to be shown at the centre of the instrument, the telescope is not to be pointed directly at the star, as it would have to be were the earth at rest, but the telescope must be pointed a little in advance of the star's true position; and as we determine the apparent place of the star by the direction in which the telescope is pointed, it follows that the apparent place of the star is altered by the motion of the earth.

Every circ.u.mstance of the change in the star's place admits of complete explanation in this manner. Take, for instance, the small circular path which each star appears to describe. We shall, for simplicity, refer only to a star at the pole of the ecliptic. Suppose that the telescope is pointed truly to the place of the star, then, as we have shown, the image of the star will be at a distance of one-fortieth of an inch from the cross wires. This distance will remain constant, but each night the direction of the star from the cross wires will change, so that in the course of the year it completes a circle, and returns to its original position. We shall not pursue the calculations relative to other stars; suffice it here to say that the movement of the earth has been found adequate to account for the phenomena, and thus the doctrine of the aberration of light is demonstrated.

It remains to allude to one point of the utmost interest and importance.

We have seen that the magnitude of the aberration can be measured by astronomical observation. The amount of this aberration depends upon the velocity of light, and on the velocity with which the earth's motion is performed. We can measure the velocity of light by independent measurements, in the manner already explained in Chapter XII. We are thus enabled to calculate what the velocity of the earth must be, for there is only one particular velocity for the earth which, when combined with the measured velocity of light, will give the measured value of aberration. The velocity of the earth being thus ascertained, and the length of the year being known, it is easy to find the circ.u.mference of the earth's path, and therefore its radius; that is, the distance from the earth to the sun.

Here is indeed a singular result, and one which shows how profoundly the various phenomena of science are interwoven. We make experiments in our laboratory, and find the velocity of light. We observe the fixed stars, and measure the aberration. We combine these results, and deduce therefrom the distance from the earth to the sun! Although this method of finding the sun's distance is one of very great elegance, and admits of a certain amount of precision, yet it cannot be relied upon as a perfectly unimpeachable method of deducing the great constant. A perfect method must be based on the operations of mere surveying, and ought not to involve recondite physical considerations. We cannot, however, fail to regard the discovery of aberration by Bradley as a most pleasing and beautiful achievement, for it not only greatly improves the calculations of practical astronomy, but links together several physical phenomena of the greatest interest.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE ASTRONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HEAT.

Heat and Astronomy--Distribution of Heat--The Presence of Heat in the Earth--Heat in other Celestial Bodies--Varieties of Temperature--The Law of Cooling--The Heat of the Sun--Can its Temperature be Measured?--Radiation connected with the Sun's Bulk--Can the Sun be Exhausting his Resources?--No marked Change has occurred--Geological Evidence as to the Changes of the Sun's Heat Doubtful--The Cooling of the Sun--The Sun cannot be merely an Incandescent Solid Cooling--Combustion will not Explain the Matter--Some Heat is obtained from Meteoric Matter, but this is not Adequate to the Maintenance of the Sun's Heat--The Contraction of a Heated Globe of Gas--An Apparent Paradox--The Doctrine of Energy--The Nebular Theory--Evidence in Support of this Theory--Sidereal Evidence of the Nebular Theory--Herschel's View of Sidereal Aggregation--The Nebulae do not Exhibit Changes within the Limits of our Observation.

That a portion of a work on astronomy should bear the t.i.tle placed at the head of this chapter will perhaps strike some of our readers as unusual, if not actually inappropriate. Is not heat, it may be said, a question merely of experimental physics? and how can it be legitimately introduced into a treatise upon the heavenly bodies and their movements?

Whatever weight such objections might have once had need not now be considered. The recent researches on heat have shown not only that heat has important bearings on astronomy, but that it has really been one of the chief agents by which the universe has been moulded into its actual form. At the present time no work on astronomy could be complete without some account of the remarkable connection between the laws of heat and the astronomical consequences which follow from those laws.

In discussing the planetary motions and the laws of Kepler, or in discussing the movements of the moon, the proper motions of the stars, or the revolutions of the binary stars, we proceed on the supposition that the bodies we are dealing with are rigid particles, and the question as to whether these particles are hot or cold does not seem to have any especial bearing. No doubt the ordinary periodic phenomena of our system, such as the revolution of the planets in conformity with Kepler's laws, will be observed for countless ages, whether the planets be hot or cold, or whatever may be the heat of the sun. It must, however, be admitted that the laws of heat introduce certain modifications into the statement of these laws. The effects of heat may not be immediately perceptible, but they exist--they are constantly acting; and in the progress of time they are adequate to effecting the mightiest changes throughout the universe.

Let us briefly recapitulate the circ.u.mstances of our system which give to heat its potency. Look first at our earth, which at present seems--on its surface, at all events--to be a body devoid of internal heat; a closer examination will dispel this idea. Have we not the phenomena of volcanoes, of geysers, and of hot springs, which show that in the interior of the earth heat must exist in far greater intensity than we find on the surface? These phenomena are found in widely different regions of the earth. Their origin is, no doubt, involved in a good deal of obscurity, but yet no one can deny that they indicate vast reservoirs of heat. It would indeed seem that heat is to be found everywhere in the deep inner regions of the earth. If we take a thermometer down a deep mine, we find it records a temperature higher than at the surface. The deeper we descend the higher is the temperature; and if the same rate of progress should be maintained through those depths of the earth which we are not able to penetrate, it can be demonstrated that at twenty or thirty miles below the surface the temperature must be as great as that of red-hot iron.

We find in the other celestial bodies abundant evidence of the present or the past existence of heat. Our moon, as we have already mentioned, affords a very striking instance of a body which must once have been very highly heated. The extraordinary volcanoes on its surface place this beyond any doubt. It is equally true that those volcanoes have been silent for ages, so that, whatever may be the interior condition of the moon, the surface has now cooled down. Extending our view further, we see in the great planets Jupiter and Saturn evidence that they are still endowed with a temperature far in excess of that which the earth has retained; while, when we look at our sun, we see a body in a state of brilliant incandescence, and glowing with a fervour to which we cannot approximate in our mightiest furnaces. The various fixed stars are bodies which glow with heat, like our sun; while we have in the nebulae objects the existence of which is hardly intelligible to us, unless we admit that they are possessed of heat.

From this rapid survey of the different bodies in our universe one conclusion is obvious. We may have great doubts as to the actual temperature of any individual body of the system; but it cannot be doubted that there is a wide range of temperature among the different bodies. Some are hotter than others. The stars and suns are perhaps the hottest of all; but it is not improbable that they may be immeasurably outnumbered by the cold and dark bodies of the universe, which are to us invisible, and only manifest their existence in an indirect and casual manner.

The law of cooling tells us that every body radiates heat, and that the quant.i.ty of heat which it radiates increases when the temperature of the body increases relatively to the surrounding medium. This law appears to be universal. It is obeyed on the earth, and it would seem that it must be equally obeyed by every other body in s.p.a.ce. We thus see that each of the planets and each of the stars is continuously pouring forth in all directions a never-ceasing stream of heat. This radiation of heat is productive of very momentous consequences. Let us study them, for instance, in the case of the sun.

Our great luminary emits an incessant flood of radiant heat in all directions. A minute fraction of that heat is intercepted by our earth, and is, directly or indirectly, the source of all life, and of nearly all movement, on our earth. To pour forth heat as the sun does, it is necessary that his temperature be enormously high. And there are some facts which permit us to form an estimate of what that temperature must actually be.

It is difficult to form any numerical statement of the actual temperature of the sun. The intensity of that temperature vastly transcends the greatest artificial heat, and any attempt to clothe such estimates in figures is necessarily very precarious. But a.s.suming the greatest artificial temperature to be about 4,000 Fahr., we shall probably be well within the truth if we state the effective temperature of the sun to be about 14,000 Fahr. This is the result of a recent investigation by Messrs. Wilson and Gray, which seems to be ent.i.tled to considerable weight.