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THE SUN. 67 



THE SUN. 



ALTHOUGH perhaps the moon is the object among the heavenly bodies 

 which presents the subject of most interesting inquiry to the world in general, 

 yet, to the thoughtful and contemplative mind, the Sun is undoubtedly one of 

 vastly superior interest. The sun the fountain of light and life to a family 

 of circumvolving worlds the inexhaustible store of genial warmth by which the 

 countless tribes of organized beings that people these globes are sustained 

 the physical bond whose predominating attraction gives stability, uniformity, 

 and harmony, to the movements of the entire planetary system : to collect to- 

 gether in a brief compass the information which modern scientific research has 

 supplied relating to this body, cannot be otherwise than an interesting and 

 agreeable task. 



DISTANCE OF THE SUN. 



When we direct our inquiries to any object in the heavens, the first ques- 

 tions which present themselves naturally to us are, " What is its distance, 

 magnitude, motion, and position ?" When we say that the distances of the 

 bodies composing the solar system can be measured with the same degree 

 of relative accuracy with which we ascertain the distances of bodies on the 

 ) surface of the earth, those who are unaccustomed to investigations of this 

 I kind usually receive the statement with a certain degree of doubt and incredu- 

 1 lity ; they cannot conceive how such spaces can be accurately measured, or 

 J indeed measured at all. Thus, when they are told that the sun is at a distance 

 i from the earth amounting to nearly 100,000,000 of miles, the mind instantly re- 

 j volts from the idea that such a space could be exactly ascertained and esti- 

 ' mated. Yet, let us ask, why this difficulty? whence this incredulity ? Is it 

 { because the distance thus measured is enormously great ? Greater transcend- 

 ) ently than any distance we are accustumed to contemplate upon our own globe 1 

 j To this we reply that the magnitude of a distance or space does not constitute 

 } of itself any difficulty in its admeasurement. Nay, on the contrary, it is 



