CHARTING THE UNIVERSE 



Nor can we suppose that in the cosmic scheme it is 

 an important member of the galaxy. Certainly if 

 size and brilliancy are to be taken as tests of im- 

 portance, our sun makes but a mediocre showing. 



Take for example, by way of illustration, a com- 

 putation made recently by the Dutch astronomer 

 Professor Kapteyn. He estimates that of the million 

 and a quarter stars visible with a hand glass having 

 a one-inch lens, there are about 27 stars that are from 

 1,000 to 100,000 times as bright as the sun; there are 

 1300 others that are more than a hundred times as 

 bright as the sun; 22,000 that are more than ten times 

 as bright; and 140,000 that match the sun or do not 

 greatly exceed him. Thus, of our relatively near 

 neighbors (using terms now in an astronomical sense) 

 there are at least 100,000 stars which if brought as 

 near to us as the sun would quite outshine him, 

 some of them outmatching him thousands of times 

 over. But on the other hand within the same radius 

 of distance there are more than a million other stars 

 that must be classed as less bright than the sun; half 

 a million of them very much less bright. So on the 

 whole we may feel that our luminary is a fairly repre- 

 sentative star, though distinctly nothing to boast of. 



It will be understood that this computation of Pro- 

 fessor Kapteyn's has to do only with a comparatively; 

 small number of stars lying relatively near to us. 

 Specifically the stars in question are those that lie 

 within a distance of about 560 light-years, that is to 

 say the distance that light would travel in 560 years. 

 When we reflect that light travels 186,000 miles per 

 second, it will be clear that the distances contemplated 



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