Stars are like individuals

1. Sirius, or α of the Great Dog.
2. Canopus, or α of the Ship.
3. Capella, or α of the Charioteer.
4. Arcturus, or α of the Herdsman.
5. Vega, or α of the Lyre.
6. Proxima, or α of the Centaur.
7. Rigel, or β of Orion.
8. Achernar, or α of Eridanus.
9. Procyon, or α of the Little Dog.
10. β of the Centaur.
11. Betelgeuse, or α of Orion.
12. Altaïr, or α of the Eagle.
13. α of the Southern Cross.
14. Aldebaran, or α of the Bull.
15. Spica, or α of the Virgin.
16. Antares, or α of the Scorpion.
17. Pollux, or β of the Twins.
18. Regulus, or α of the Lion.
19. Fomalhaut, or α of the Southern Fish.

Stars, you will think, are like individuals: each has its distinct characteristics: no two are comparable. And indeed this reflection is justified. While human vanity does homage to Phœbus, divine King of the Heavens, other suns of still greater magnificence form groups of two or three splendid orbs, which roll the prodigious combinations of their double, triple, or multiple systems through space, pouring on to the worlds that accompany them a flood of changing light, now blue, now red, now violet, etc.

The Heavens are full of surprises, on which we can bestow but a fleeting glance within these limits. They present a field of infinite variety.

Who has not noticed the Milky Way, the pale belt that traverses the entire firmament and is so luminous on clear evenings in the Constellations of the Swan and the Lyre? It is indeed a swarm of stars. Each is individually too small to excite our retina, but as a whole, curiously enough, they are perfectly visible.

Now this Milky Way is a symbol, not of the Universe,[Pg 79] but of the Universes that succeed each other through the vast spaces to Infinity.

Our Sun is a star of the Milky Way. It surrounds us like a great circle, and if the Earth were transparent, we should see it pass beneath our feet as well as over our heads. It consists of a very considerable mass of star-clusters, varying greatly in extent and number, some projected in front of others, while the whole forms an agglomeration.