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Nature and Distance of the fixed Stars^. 
J’rom the similitude there appears to be be- 
tween them and the Sun, it is generally sup- 
posed by philosophers, that they are not 
placed in the heavens by way of ornament 
only, or to supply us with a faint light in 
the absence of the Moon ; but that each of 
them is placed in the midst of a system of 
planetary worlds, and that it directs their 
motions, and supplies them with light and 
heat, in the same manner that the Sun does 
the several bodies of which our solar sys- 
tem is composed ; in short, that they are so 
many suns, which no doubt have planets 
moving regularly round them, though invisi- 
ble to us. That this is not mere hypothesis. 
Will appear from the following arguments, 
drawn from the analogy they bear to our 
Sun : the Suh shines by its own native light, 
and so. do the fixed stars : the Sun, at the 
distance of the fixed stars, would appear no 
larger than a star ; none of our planets, at 
that distance, could be seen at all : is it not 
probable, therefore, that each of the fixed 
stars is a fixed sun, surrounded by a system 
of planets and comets, which may be again 
furnished with difierent numbers of satel- 
lites, or moons, though invisible to us ? Be- 
sides, as the number of stars is immensely 
great, dispersed through spaces of the uni- 
verse, far beyond the reach of the best te- 
lescopes, and as God has made nothing in 
vain, it seems highly probable that they 
severally serve the purposes of light and 
heat for the planets of their systems ; since 
nothing can be more absurd than to pre- 
tend that myriads of unseen stars were 
made to twinkle in the unknown regions of 
the universe. 
That the fixed stars shine by their own 
light, is thus proved: when viewed through 
a telescope, they appear only as mere lucid 
points, destitute of all sensible magnitude, 
and consequently must be at a vast dis- 
tance; because the satellites of Jupiter 
and Saturn, when viewed through a teles- 
cope, appear of very distinguishable mag- 
nitudes, and yet are invisible to the naked 
eye. Since, then, the fixed stars are at 
such a vast distance, that the best telescope 
has no power to magnify tliem, and never- 
theless shine with a very bright and spark- 
lingi light, it is inferred that they must 
shine with their own proper and nnborrowed 
light ; because, if their light was only bor- 
rowed, they would, like the satellites al- 
ready mentioned, be invisible to the naked 
eye. 
The celebrated Huygens found the bright- 
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est and largest, and consequently the near^ 
est of the fixed stars, viz, Sirius, or the 
Dog-star, to be in appearance 87,664 times' 
less tlian the Sun ; and since the distances 
of objects are greater as their apparent 
magnitudes are lesser, the Dog-star must be, 
distant from Our Earth 2,000,000,000,000, or 
above two millions of millions of English 
miles; which is so very great, that a can- 
non-ball continuing in the same velocity it 
acquires when immediately discharged at 
the mouth of the cannon, would spend al- 
most seven hundred thousand years in pass- 
ing through it : and it is very probable, that 
the fixed stars are equally distant from each 
other, as the nearest of them is from our 
Sun; since, the better the telescopes we 
make use of, the more stars are seen. 
Hence it is very natural to conclude, that 
all the fixed stars are not placed at equal 
distances from us : but that they are every 
where interspersed, at great distances be- 
yond one another, throughout the universe ; 
and that, probably, the different appear- 
ances which they make, in point of splen- 
dour and magnitude, may be rather owing 
to their various distances from us, than to 
any real difference in their magnitudes. 
From what has been said, concerning the 
number, nature, and distance of the fixed 
stars, the hypothesis of a plurality of worlds, 
wherein each fixed star serves as a sun to 
a system of planets, seems rational, worthy 
a philosopher, and greatly displays the wis- 
dom, and redounds to the glory of the 
great Creator and Governor of the uni- 
verse. Under the article Sun will be men- 
tioned some of the speculations of Dr. 
Herschel. 
Star, in heraldry, a charge frequently 
borne on the shield, and the honourable 
ordinaries, in figure of a star. 
Star is also a badge of honour, worn by 
the Knights of the Garter, Bath, and This- 
tle. See Garter. 
Star, in pyrotecbny, a composition of 
combustible matters, which, being thrown 
aloft in the air, exhibits the appearance of 
a real star. Stars are chiefly used as ap- 
pendages to rackets, a number of them be- 
ing usually inclosed in a conical cap or co- 
ver, at the head of the rocket, and carried 
up with it to its utmost altitude, where the 
stars, taking fire, are spread around, and 
exhibit an agreeable spectacle. 
STAR-board denotes the right hand side 
of a ship, when a person on board stands 
with the face looking forward towards the 
head or fore part of the ship. In contra- 
