Star-swarms, which are also characteristic features of the Galaxy,
differ from star-clouds very much in the way that their name would
imply—_i.e.,_ their component stars are so arranged, even when they are
countless in number, that the idea of an exceedingly numerous
assemblage rather than that of a cloud is impressed on the observer’s
mind. In a star-swarm the separate members are distinguishable because
they are either larger or nearer than the stars composing a “cloud.” A
splendid example of a true star-swarm is furnished by Chi Persei, in
that part of the Milky Way which runs between the constellations
Perseus and Cassiopeia. This swarm is much coarser than many others,
and can be seen by the naked eye. In a small telescope it appears
double, as if the suns composing it had divided into two parties which
keep on their way side by side, with some commingling of their members
where the skirts of the two companies come in contact.
Smaller than either star-clouds or star-swarms, and differing from both
in their organization, are star-clusters. These, unlike the others, are
found outside as well as inside the Milky Way, although they are more
numerous inside its boundaries than elsewhere. The term star-cluster is
sometimes applied, though improperly, to assemblages which are rather
groups, such, for instance, as the Pleiades. In their most
characteristic aspect star-clusters are of a globular shape—globes of
suns! A famous example of a globular star-cluster, but one not included
in the Milky Way, is the “Great Cluster in Hercules.” This is barely
visible to the naked eye, but a small telescope shows its character,
and in a large one it presents a marvelous spectacle. Photographs of
such clusters are, perhaps, less effective than those of star-clouds,
because the central condensation of stars in them is so great that
their light becomes blended in an indistinguishable blur. The beautiful
effect of the incessant play of infinitesimal rays over the apparently
compact surface of the cluster, as if it were a globe of the finest
frosted silver shining in an electric beam, is also lost in a
photograph. Still, even to the eye looking directly at the cluster
through a powerful telescope, the central part of the wonderful
congregation seems almost a solid mass in which the stars are packed
like the ice crystals in a snowball.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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