A New Celestial Measure.

Manawatu Herald, 21 May 1896, Page 3

A New Celestial Measure.

Astronomers are pron "•fling a new measure for celestial distances namely, a '* telegraphic " one, which, considering the fact that the human mind can hardly realise the enormous distances between the celestial bodies, appears quite practical. Instead of measuring them as here-, tofoie, it is now proposed to do so by stating the time it would take a telegraphic message to go from one celestial body to another, the standard being the second, in which an electric cuarent goes seven times round our earth. At this rate a telegraphic message would reach the moon in one second, while it would require nearly eight minutes to reach the gun. A message to our nearest fixed star— a in Centaur — would travel four years j but there are fixed stars, which are just visible, but which would not yet have received the news of the discovery of America, if a message to that effect had been sent at the time. Other stars are so far distant that they cannot be seen from our earth, although photography reveals their existence, and which even now could hardlyhave received the message < f the | Birth of Christ. The foregoing] computations show once more how infinitesiinally small our eartli is, compared with the measureless dis« tanoos in the universe.