TRANSLATORY MOTION. 139 



than amongst the telescopic fixed stars, have led other astro- 

 nomers to conjecture, that the average mass of the larger 

 number of the binary stars exceeds the mass of the Sun.* 

 We are, however, far from having arrived at general results 

 regarding this subject. Our Sun, according to Argelander, 

 belongs, with reference to proper motion in space, to the class 

 of rapidly moving fixed stars. 



The aspect of the starry heavens, the relative position of 

 stars and nebulaB, the distribution of their luminous masses, 

 the picturesque beauty, if I may so express myself, of the 

 whole firmament, depend in the course of ages conjointly upon 

 the proper motion of the stars and nebulae, the translation of 

 our solar system in space, the appearance of new stars, and 

 the disappearance or sudden diminution in the intensity of 

 the light of others, and, lastly and specially, on the changes 

 which the Earth's axis experiences from the attraction of the 

 Sun and Moon. The beautiful stars in the constellation of 

 the Centaur and the Southern Cross, will at some future time 

 be visible in our northern latitudes, whilst other stars, as 

 Sirius and the stars in the Belt of Orion, will in their turn 

 disappear below the horizon. The places of the North 

 Pole will successively be indicated by the stars /3 and a 

 Cephei, and d Cygni, until after a period of 12,000 years, 

 Vega in Lyra will shine forth as the brightest of all possible 

 pole stars. These data give us some idea of the extent of the 

 motions which, divided into infinitely small portions of time, 

 proceed without intermission in the great chronometer of the 

 universe. If for a moment we could yield to the power of 

 fancy, and imagine the acuteness of our visual organs to be 

 made equal with the extremest bounds of telescopic vision, and 

 bring together that which is now divided by long periods of 

 time, the apparent rest that reigns in space would suddenly 

 disappear. We should see the countless host of fixed stars 

 moving in thronged groups in different directions ; nebula 

 wandering through space, and becoming condensed and dis- 

 solved like cosmical clouds ; the veil of the Milky Way sepa- , 

 rated and broken up in many parts, and motion ruling supreme 

 in every portion of the vault of heaven, even as on the Earth's 

 surface, where we see it unfolded in the germ, the leaf, and 



* Madler, Astron., s. 476 ; also in Schum. Jahrb., 1839, s. 95. 



