CHAPTER III

THE STARS, SUNS OF THE INFINITE

A Journey through Space

We have seen from the foregoing summary of the principal Constellations that there is great diversity in the brightness of the stars, and that while our eyes are dazzled with the brilliancy of certain orbs, others, on the contrary, sparkle modestly in the azure depths of the night, and are hardly perceptible to the eye that seeks to plumb the abysses of Immensity.

We have appended the word "magnitude" to the names of certain stars, and the reader might imagine this to bear some relation to the volume of the orb. But this is not the case.

To facilitate the observation of stars of varying brilliancy, they have been classified in order of magnitude, according to their apparent brightness, and since the dimensions of these distant suns are almost wholly unknown to us, the most luminous stars were naturally denoted as of first magnitude, those which were a little less bright of the second, and so on. But in reality this word "magnitude" is quite erroneous, for it bears no relation to the mass of the stars, divided thus at an epoch when it was supposed that the most brilliant must be the largest. It simply indicates the apparent brightness of a star, the real brilliancy depending on its dimensions, its intrinsic light, and its distance from our planet.

And now to make some comparison between the different orders. Throughout the entire firmament, only nineteen stars of first magnitude are discoverable. And, strictly speaking, the last of this series might just as well be noted of "second magnitude," while the first of the second series might be added to the list of stars of the "first order." But in order to form classes distinct from one another, some limit has to be adopted, and it was determined that the first series should include only the following stars, the most luminous in the Heavens, which are subjoined in order of decreasing brilliancy.

STARS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE

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.