CHARTING THE UNIVERSE 



tervals of years reveal these shifts of position even 

 more tangibly; particularly when two photographs 

 are viewed through a binocular apparatus, as the 

 stars that have changed position then seem to stand 

 out of the picture. 



In so far as the changed position is due to the back- 

 ward drift of which we are speaking, it is obvious 

 that the projected lines of seeming motion of various 

 stars will converge, like the rails of a car track, to a 

 vanishing point that marks the antapex of the sun's 

 flight. In this way we gain a pretty clear notion as 

 to the direction of movement of the sun relatively to 

 the other stars. It appears that we are moving almost 

 directly away from the present position of Sirius, the 

 brightest star in the heavens ; and that we are aiming 

 at a point which chances to lie about fifteen degrees 

 southwest of the well-known bright star Vega in the 

 constellation Lyra. 



Sirius is brilliant in the southeastern sky, while 

 Vega is only less conspicuous in the northwest, on any; 

 clear night in winter; so the most casual observer 

 may gain a fairly clear notion as to the general direc- 

 tion of our flight through space. 



It may be of interest to add that Vega is coming 

 toward us almost as fast as we are moving toward 

 him, so that each night we are nearer to him by about 

 2,000,000 miles than we were the night before. But as 

 some thirty light-years of space separate us, the time 

 when we shall meet is not to be scheduled among 

 events of the near future. And even as they pass each 

 other, it appears that the two stars will not be near 

 enough together for appreciable mutual effect. This 



43 



