Strange to say, Alpha Centauri, like 61 Cygni, consists, not of a single star, but of a pair of stars. It is a two-sun system--whether or no surrounded by planets can not be told. We can only reason from what we see to what we do not see. And as God did not form our earth “in vain,” and did not form our sun “in vain,” so we firmly believe that he did not form “in vain” any one of his myriads of suns scattered through space. What is, has been, or will be the particular use of each one, it would be rash to attempt to say. But that many among them have, like our own sun, systems of worlds revolving round them, we may safely consider very probable. [Illustration: STARS WHOSE DISTANCES ARE BEST KNOWN. (See Table.)] The two suns of the Alpha Centauri double-star are separated by a distance about twenty-two times as great as the distance of the earth from the sun, yet to the naked eye they show as a single star. Here again one is much smaller than the other; and the smaller revolves round the larger in about eighty-five years. It is believed that the two together would form a sun about twice as large and heavy as our sun. This belief is strengthened by the great brilliancy of Alpha Centauri. Our own sun, placed at that distance from us, would shine only one-third as brightly as he does. STARS WHOSE DISTANCES ARE BEST KNOWN. +--+--------------------+----------+------------------+ | | NAME OF STAR. |MAGNITUDE.|DISTANCE IN MILES.| +--+--------------------+----------+------------------+ | 1| Alpha Centauri, | 1.0 | 25 trillions. | | 2| 61 Cygni, | 5.1 | 43 ” | | 3| 2,398, Draco, | 8.2 | 55 ” | | 4| Sirius, | 1.0 | 58 ” | | 5| 9,352, Lacaille, | 7.5 | 66 ” | | 6| Procyon, | 1.3 | 71 ” | | 7| Lalande, 21,258, | 8.5 | 74 ” | | 8| Œltzen, 11,677, | 9.0 | 74 ” | | 9| Sigma Draconis, | 4.7 | 78 ” | |10| Aldebaran, | 1.5 | 81 ” | |11| Epsilon Indi, | 5.2 | 87 ” | |12| Œltzen, 17,415, | 9.0 | 94 ” | |13| 1,516, Draco, | 7.0 | 101 ” | |14| Omicron Eridani, | 4.4 | 101 ” | |15| Altair, | 1.6 | 101 ” | |16| Bradley, 3,077, | 5.5 | 101 ” | |17| Eta Cassiopeiæ, | 3.6 | 118 ” | |18| Vega, | 1.0 | 128 ” | |19| Capella, | 1.2 | 174 ” | |20| Arcturus, | 1.0 | 204 ” | |21| Pole Star, | 2.1 | 215 ” | |22| Mu Cassiopeiæ, | 5.2 | 320 ” | |23| 1,830, Groombridge,| 6.5 | 426 ” | +--+--------------------+----------+------------------+