Man's Place in the Universe: A Study of the Results of Scientific Research in Relation to the Unity or Plurality of Worlds, 3rd EditionWallace, Alfred Russel
Science
Man's Place in the Universe: A Study of the Results of Scientific Research in Relation to the Unity or Plurality of Worlds, 3rd Edition
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Life; Plurality of worlds; Stars
Mr. J.E. Gore's testimony on this point is very clear. He says:--'Those who
do not give the subject sufficient consideration, seem to think that the
number of the stars is practically infinite, or at least, that the number
is so great that it cannot be estimated. But this idea is totally
incorrect, and due to complete ignorance of telescopic revelations. It is
certainly true that, to a certain extent, the larger the telescope used in
the examination of the heavens, the more the number of the stars seems to
increase; but we now know that there is a limit to this increase of
telescopic vision. And the evidence clearly shows that we are rapidly
approaching this limit. Although the number of stars visible in the
Pleiades rapidly increases at first with increase in the size of the
telescope used, and although photography has still further increased the
number of stars in this remarkable cluster, it has recently been found that
an increased length of exposure--beyond three hours--adds very few stars to
the number visible on the photograph taken at the Paris Observatory in
1885, on which over two thousand stars can be counted. Even with this great
number on so small an area of the heavens, comparatively large vacant
places are visible between the stars, and a glance at the original
photograph is sufficient to show that there would be ample room for many
times the number actually visible. I find that if the whole heavens were as
rich in stars as the Pleiades, there would be only thirty-three millions in
both hemispheres.'
Again, referring to the fact that Celoria, with a telescope showing stars
down to the eleventh magnitude, could see almost exactly the same number of
stars near the north pole of the Galaxy as Sir William Herschel found with
his much larger and more powerful telescope, he remarks: 'Their absence,
therefore, seems certain proof that very faint stars do _not_ exist in that
direction, and that here, at least, the sidereal universe is limited in
extent.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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