8 T A 



S T A 



STAPODIA, nr The Brothfrt, in Geography, two iflets 

 fn the Grrcian Archipelago ; 6 milt-s E. of Mycone. N. 

 lat. 37' 32'. E. long. 36^42'. 



STAPi'EN, a place of Iceland, farther along the coaft 

 towards the W. than Sradarltad (which fee) ; fituated on 

 the brow of a range cf curioufly columnar rocks, large in- 

 fiilated mafVe; of which tl^rd in the fea, i:i various lingular 

 fornr;. Stappen, like Bui^erftad, is a trading ftation, and 

 confilU of a merchant's houfe, two or three ftore-houfe=, 

 and a few cottages, inhabited by fifhermen. Trie coall in 

 the neighbourh od of Stappen is very remarkable ; prcfent- 

 ing, for an extent of about two miles, flriking and beau- 

 tiful columnar appearances, both in the cliffs which form 

 the (hore, and in the numerous infulated rock-: which appear 

 at different diltances from the land. The rantfcs of columns, 

 which m general are about 50 feet high, and perfectly re- 

 gular in their forms, are varioufly broken, in conlcquciice of 

 their expofure to the action of the f'a. In iome places 

 large caves have been formed ; and in two of thefe the light 

 is admitted by fiflures in the roof, producing a very fingn- 

 lar and llriking effeft. In general, the columns have a ver- 

 tical polition ; but in different places they are difpofed in 

 bundles upon one another in all diredfinns. In feveral in- 

 ftances they appear diverging from a centre ; and they af- 

 fume, in ftiort, every form wtiich fuch rocks can be ima- 

 gined to take. About a mile and a half W. of Stappen, 

 there is a curious perforated rock, forming a det.iched arch 

 of conCdera'jle magnitude, the view through which is fmgu- 

 larly pifturefque, comprehending in the foreground many 

 of the infulated mafles of columnar rock, and in the dif- 

 tance, the fine range of mountains which itretches along the 

 peninfula towards the ealt. On the beach at Stappen were 

 feveral fharks, that had been taken for the fake of the oil 

 of the liver, and the llcin. Of the fkin fhoes were made ; 

 and fome parts of the flefh were occalionally fmoked, and 

 ufed as food by the natives. But what they ef^.eem a de- 

 licacy, prefents a moil horrible odour to ilrangers. Mac- 

 kenzie's Travel? in Iceland. 



STAR, Stella, in AJlrommy, a general name for all 

 the heavenly bodies. 



I The liars are diftinguilhed, from the phenomena of their 

 motion, &c. into fixed and erratic. 



Stars, Erratic, or Wandering, are thofe whofe diftances 

 and places, with regard to each other, are continually 

 changing. Thefe are what we properly call planets. 

 Though to the fame cUfs may likewife be referred what we 

 popularly call hlming liars, or comets. 



Star.s, Fixed, called alfo, by way of eminence,_y?arj, are 

 thofe which have been generally obfcrved to keep the fame 

 diftance with regard to each other, or becaufe (except fome 

 few) they do not appear to have any proper motion of 

 their own. 



The principal points that have come under the confider- 

 ation of allronomers concerning the fixed (tars, arc, their 

 dijlance, magnitude^ number, nature, and motion. 



Stark, Diflance of the Fixed. The fixed liars are bodies 

 exceedingly remote from us ; indeed lo remote, that we have 

 no dillance in the planetary fyllem to compare to them. 



Their immenfe dillance is argued hence, that they have 

 no fenfible parallax, that is, that the diameter of the earth's 

 orbit bears no fcnlible proportion to it ; but th'y arc f'-en 

 the very fame in all the points of it. M. Hnygcns (Cof. 

 raotheor. lib. iv.) attempts to determine the diflaixe of the 

 flars, by making the aperture of a telefcope fo fm.ill, at 

 that the fun through it appears no bigger th.n Sirins. 

 In this ftate he found the fun's diameter to be as i to 27.664 

 of hie diameter, when fcen with the naked eye. Were the 



fun's diftance, then, 27,664 times as great as it is, it would 

 be feen of the fame diameter with Sirius ; fo that, allowiag 

 Sirius to be equal in magnitude with the fun (which is a 

 very reafonable fuppofition), the dillance of Sirius from 

 the earth will be found to be to that of the fun from tlie 

 earth, as 27,66410 1. On which principle, Sirius will be 

 657,020,000 fcraidiameters of the earth diflant from our 

 earth. 



Mr. Jamec Gregory invefligated the diftance of Sirius, 

 by fuppofing it of the fame magnitude with the fun, and 

 of the fame diameter with .Jupiter in oppofition, as may be 

 feen at large in Gregory's Aflr. lib. iii. prop. 47. ^ 



CafTini (Mem. de I'Acad. aim. 1717), from comparing 

 Jupiter and Sirius, when viewed through the fame tele- 

 fcope, inferred, that the diameter of that planet was ten 

 times as great as that of the liar ; aid the diameter of Ju- 

 piter being 50", he concluded that the diameter of Sirius was 

 about 5" ; luppofing then that Sirius is equal to the fun in 

 magnitude, and the di'tance of the fun from iis to be about 

 10,000 diameters of the earth, and the apparent diameter 

 of Sirius being to that of the fun as i to 384, the dillance 

 of Sirius from the earth becomes equal to 3,840,000 dia- 

 meters of the earth. 



Thefe methods of Gregory, Huygens, and Caflini, are 

 conjedtural and precarious, becaule they fuppofe that the 

 fun and Sirins are equal in magnitude, and principally be- 

 caufe they take it for granted, that the diameter of Sirius 

 is determined with fuflicient exadlnefs. 



Mr. Micliell has propofed an enquiry into the probable 

 parallax and magnitude of the fixed flars, from the quan- 

 tity of light which they affi.rd us, and the particular cir- 

 cumltances of their fituation. With this view he fuppofes, 

 that they are, at a medium, equal in magnitude and natural 

 bngiitnefs to the fun ; and then proceeds to enquire what 

 would be the parallax of the fun, if he were to be removed 

 fo far from us, as to make the quantity of the light, which 

 we fhnuld then receive from him, no more than equal to that 

 of the fixed liars. Accordingly, he aflumes Saturn in op- 

 pofition, exclufivrly of his ring, (and when the earth and 

 this planet are at their mean diltaiicet from the fun,) as equal, 

 or nearly equal, in light to the mod luminous fixed liar. 

 As the mean dillance of Saturn from the fun is equal to 

 about 20S2 of the fun's femidiameter«, the denfity of the 

 fun's light at Saturn will confequently be lefs than at hit 

 own furface, in the proportion of the fquare of 2082 (or 

 4,334,724) to I. If Saturn, therefore, was to refleft all 

 the light that falls upon him, he would be lefs luminous in 

 the fame proportion ; and, befides, his apparent diameter, 

 in oppofition, is at moll but 105th part of that of the fun, 

 and, confequently, the quantity of light which we receive 

 from him, muft. be again diminilhed in the proportion of 

 the fquare of 105 (or 11,0251 to i. By nuiltiplying thefe 

 two numbers together, we (hall have the whole of the light 

 of the fun to that of Saturn, as the fquare of nearly 

 220,000 (or 48,400,000,000) to I : and removing the fun 

 to 220,000 times its prefent dillance, he would llill appear 

 .It leall 3s bright as Satnrn, and his whole parallax upon 

 the diameter of the earth's orbit would be lefs than 2": 

 a"d this mull be aMunied for the parallax of the brighteft 

 of the fixed liars, upon the fuppofition that their hght does 

 not exceed that of Saturn. 



By a finnlar computation it may be found, that the dif- 

 tance at which the fun would afford us as much light a« 

 we receive from Jupiter, is not lefs than 46 000 times his 

 jir'-fent dillance, and his whole parallax m that calc, upon 

 the diameter of the earth's orbit, would not be more than 

 9"; the hght of Jupiter and Saturn, as feen from the 



earth, 



