34 To the River Plate and Back 



ern heavens which come much nearer forming " crosses," 

 and one of these groups is known as the "False Cross. ' 

 Only one of the stars of the four composing the Southern 

 Cross is of the first magnitude; two are of the second 

 magnitude, and the fourth is a star so small that it is 

 scarcely visible except on very clear nights. During 

 the greater part of our time at sea only three of the 

 stars could be seen without a glass, and the constellation 

 suggested a 'triangle' rather than a 'cross.' We 

 soon grew tired of looking at Crux australis. 



But if the Southern Cross was a disappointment, the 

 heavens above us were not. There were remarkably 

 fine displays of the zodiacal light just after sunset; 

 and when the afterglow had faded, the skies seemed to be 

 fairly palpitating with stars. Some of these are ex- 

 tremely brilliant. Alpha Centauri, one of the " pointers ' 

 of the Southern Cross, is the fixed star which is nearest 

 to our solar system. It is four and four-tenths "light- 

 years" distant from us. That is to say, it takes light, 

 traveling at the rate of 186,327 miles a second, four 

 and four-tenths of a year to come to us from it. Sirius, 

 the Dog-star, is approximately eight and eight-tenths 

 "light-years" distant from us, almost exactly twice as 

 far away. Alpha Centauri is twenty-five and a half 

 trillions of miles from our sun. It would take a rail- 

 way train, traveling with the speed of the Twentieth 

 Century Limited, and making no stops, fifty-two mil- 

 lions of years to go from our sun to Alpha Centauri. 

 There does not appear to be any danger of an immediate 

 collision with the nearest fixed star. I am glad I have 

 seen it. The outlook is reassuring, and I can go to 

 bed at night and sleep peacefully. 



'The Clouds of Magellan,' stray universes, widely 

 separated from the Milky Way, which they resemble, 



