INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.* A STRONOMY (astron, a star; nomos, a law) treats of the Heavenly Bodies-the sun, moon, planets, stars, etc., and, as our globe is a planet, of the earth also. It is, above all others, a science that cultivates the imagination. Yet its theories and distances are based upon rigorous mathematical demonstrations. Thus the study has at once the beauty of poetry and the exactness of Geometry. The great dome of the sky, filled with glittering stars, is one of the most sublime spectacles in nature. To enjoy this fully, a night must be chosen when the air is clear, and the moon is absent. We then gaze upon a deep blue, an immense expanse studded with stars of varied color and brilliancy. Some shine with a vivid light, perpetually changing and twinkling; others, more constant, beam tranquilly and softly upon us; while many just tremble into our sight, like a wave that, struggling to reach some far-off land, dies as it touches the shore. In the presence of such weird and wondrous beauty, the tenderest sentiments of the heart are aroused. A feeling of awe and reverence, of softened melancholy mingled with a thought of God, comes over us, and awakens the better nature within us. Those far-off lights seem full of meaning to us, could we but read their message; they become real and sentient, and, like the soft eyes in pictures, look lovingly and inquiringly upon us. We come into communion with another life, and the soul asserts its immortality more strongly than ever before. We are humbled as we gaze upon the infinity of suns, and strive to comprehend *This Introduction is designed merely to furnish suggestive material for conversa. tion at the first lesson, preparatory to beginning the study. It is not intended for com mittal. Other topics may be found in the Questions given in the Appendix. their enormous distances, and their magnificent retinue of worlds. The powers of the mind are aroused, and eager questionings crowd upon us. What are those glittering fires? What is their distance? Are they worlds like our own? Do living, thinking beings dwell upon them? Are they promiscuously scattered through space, or is there a system in the universe? Can we ever hope to fathom those mysterious depths, or are they closed to us forever? Some of these problems have been solved; others yet await the astronomer whose eye shall be keen enough to read the mysterious scroll of the heavens. Two hundred generations of study have revealed to us such startling facts, that we wonder how man in his feebleness can grasp so much, see so far, and penetrate so deeply into the mysteries of the universe. Astronomy has measured the distance of a few stars, and of all the planets; computed the mass, size, days, years, seasons, and many physical features of the planets; made a map of the moon; tracked many of the comets in their immense sidereal journeys; and, at last, analyzed the structure of the sun and stars, and announced the very elements of which they are composed. Others Observing for several evenings those stars which shine with a clear, steady light, we notice that they change their position with respect to the others. They are therefore called planets (literally wanderers). remain immovable, and shine with a shifting, twinkling light. They are termed the fixed stars, although it is now known that they also are in motion- -the most rapid of any known even to Astronomy-but through such immense orbits that they seem to us to be stationary. Then, too, diagonally girdling the heavens, is a whitish, vapory belt—the Milky Way. This is composed of multitudes of millions of suns- -of which our own sun itself is one-so far removed from us that their light mingles, and makes only a fleecy whiteness. This magnificent panorama of the heavens is before us, inviting our study, and waiting to make known to us the grandest revelations of science. |