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Article THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE HEAVENS. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Architecture Of The Heavens.
marked by astronomers , he determined , from a multitude of carefull y computed observations , to be the result of some general law of nature , not the accident of blind chance , or even appearance to human power of sight , mechanically aided . " Casual situations , " says Herschel , " will not account for these multiplied phenomena ; and , consequently , their existence must be owing to some general law of nature . " This " law he found out to be the mutual gravitation of bodies towards each other ;
and he adds , that these stars are , for the greater part , in actual proximity , and that they arc endowed with orbitual motion , revolving one around the other . Catalogues of these stars have been since made , amounting to several thousands , but as yet they offer only the basis whereon , ultimately , will be erected some elements leading to a determination of the vastitude of the perceptible portion of the universe . Reader , again we entreat of you , to pause and dwell upon the
discoveries thus unfolded—remembering that man has lived during nearly six thousand years , and that with all the knowledge and science which have been his throughout that seemingly vast period , it is only the other day , that lie has ventured into the regions beyond what he had imagined infinite—think then what sum of knowledge may be reserved for future discovery—for some yet to come Herschel , to whom these glorious and engrossing discoveries of the works of THE GKEAT AIICIUTECT , will seem , but as to us appears the knowledge of the Chaldeans , who
thought the only use of these mysterious systems was to aid helpless , day-existing , vain man , in learning the events of his fleeting hours . Reader , if these leaves be in your hands at the hour when night unveils glimpses of the majesty of universe , quit your chamber , and looking up to those dim and distant specks , acknowledge your own nothingness , and that HE alone , whose will brought them into existence at the foundations of time is worthy of adoration . Hear how our
author writes , and learn the truth of the words that the fool ( alone ) is wise in his own conceit , when he sayeth there is no God . " In the silence of warm midnight , " observes Professor Nicliol , " that noble curtain stretched out above me , and the idea present and impressive of its orbs obediently pursuing their stupendous paths , I confess there is a solemnity which sometimes falls upon the spirit , not unlike the feeling of the patriarch , when be heard that low rushing wind , believing it to
be the audible footsteps of his Creator !" The periods in which these binary stars revolve around each other have been calculated , by their angles of jiosition ; the star f Ursa JVJ . ijor , was the first which fell under the observation of the elder Herschel iu iTfif , and the successive angles it has since formed with its relative star have been so far ascertained by Strove , South , and the younger Herschel , ns to leave no doubt that the period of its orbitual revolution is somewhat upivardsof 5 S years . It lias also been ascertained of Castor , that its period of revolution is more than 2 i 0 vears ; while that of 7 Leonis is estimated at 1200 .
We have then this fact established , that suns revolve around suns ; each of them , no doubt , the centre of such a universe as ours lias been imagined . This gives us another step in approach to a knowledge of Infinite Power . Sir William Herschel predicted , and with truth , as the inquiries of later observers have proved , that the curves in which these systems revolve round each other were elliptical , precisely as our planets proceed around our sun—this mode of revolution is the result of gravitation , and thus we have established a general law for all of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Architecture Of The Heavens.
marked by astronomers , he determined , from a multitude of carefull y computed observations , to be the result of some general law of nature , not the accident of blind chance , or even appearance to human power of sight , mechanically aided . " Casual situations , " says Herschel , " will not account for these multiplied phenomena ; and , consequently , their existence must be owing to some general law of nature . " This " law he found out to be the mutual gravitation of bodies towards each other ;
and he adds , that these stars are , for the greater part , in actual proximity , and that they arc endowed with orbitual motion , revolving one around the other . Catalogues of these stars have been since made , amounting to several thousands , but as yet they offer only the basis whereon , ultimately , will be erected some elements leading to a determination of the vastitude of the perceptible portion of the universe . Reader , again we entreat of you , to pause and dwell upon the
discoveries thus unfolded—remembering that man has lived during nearly six thousand years , and that with all the knowledge and science which have been his throughout that seemingly vast period , it is only the other day , that lie has ventured into the regions beyond what he had imagined infinite—think then what sum of knowledge may be reserved for future discovery—for some yet to come Herschel , to whom these glorious and engrossing discoveries of the works of THE GKEAT AIICIUTECT , will seem , but as to us appears the knowledge of the Chaldeans , who
thought the only use of these mysterious systems was to aid helpless , day-existing , vain man , in learning the events of his fleeting hours . Reader , if these leaves be in your hands at the hour when night unveils glimpses of the majesty of universe , quit your chamber , and looking up to those dim and distant specks , acknowledge your own nothingness , and that HE alone , whose will brought them into existence at the foundations of time is worthy of adoration . Hear how our
author writes , and learn the truth of the words that the fool ( alone ) is wise in his own conceit , when he sayeth there is no God . " In the silence of warm midnight , " observes Professor Nicliol , " that noble curtain stretched out above me , and the idea present and impressive of its orbs obediently pursuing their stupendous paths , I confess there is a solemnity which sometimes falls upon the spirit , not unlike the feeling of the patriarch , when be heard that low rushing wind , believing it to
be the audible footsteps of his Creator !" The periods in which these binary stars revolve around each other have been calculated , by their angles of jiosition ; the star f Ursa JVJ . ijor , was the first which fell under the observation of the elder Herschel iu iTfif , and the successive angles it has since formed with its relative star have been so far ascertained by Strove , South , and the younger Herschel , ns to leave no doubt that the period of its orbitual revolution is somewhat upivardsof 5 S years . It lias also been ascertained of Castor , that its period of revolution is more than 2 i 0 vears ; while that of 7 Leonis is estimated at 1200 .
We have then this fact established , that suns revolve around suns ; each of them , no doubt , the centre of such a universe as ours lias been imagined . This gives us another step in approach to a knowledge of Infinite Power . Sir William Herschel predicted , and with truth , as the inquiries of later observers have proved , that the curves in which these systems revolve round each other were elliptical , precisely as our planets proceed around our sun—this mode of revolution is the result of gravitation , and thus we have established a general law for all of the