ther is matter, in conjunction
with all that that assumption logically involves.

CHAPTER XIII

AETHER AND STARS AND NEBULAE

ART. 117. _The Starry World._--In addition to the planets and comets
that are found in the heavens, there are other bodies, countless in
their number, which we know as stars. Who has not looked up into the
heavens on some clear night, and noticed how the vault of heaven was
spangled over with points of light, each point representing a huge sun
that exists in far-off space? For it must be remembered that every star
is a sun, which, reasoning by analogy, is the centre of a stellar
system, just in the same way that our sun is the centre of our solar
system. Like our sun, all stars shine by their own light, and the
quality of that brilliancy decides the magnitude of the star, the
magnitude being indicative of the relative brilliancy of a star rather
than its size. So that stars are divided into groups according to their
magnitude, the magnitudes ranging from the first to the sixteenth, and
even beyond. Those of the first magnitude are more brilliant than those
of the second, those of the second more brilliant than those of the
third, each magnitude decreasing in relative brilliancy as the number
which indicates the magnitude increases. There are about sixteen
different degrees of magnitude, in which are classified the millions of
stars that exist in infinite space, but only stars up to the sixth
magnitude are visible to the naked eye, the telescope revealing those
which lie beyond. The total number of stars visible to the naked eye are
about 6000, half of which are visible in each hemisphere.

About 20 stars comprise the group of the first magnitude, which include
all the brightest stars visible, as Sirius, Canopus, Alpha, Arcturus,
Rigel, and Capella.

Those of the second magnitude number about 65, and include the brighter
stars to be found in the constellation known as the Great Bear. Stars of
the third magnitude number about 200, of the fourth magnitude about 400,
of the fifth magnitude 1100, and of the sixth magnitude about 3200.

With the aid of the telescope about 13,000 stars of the seventh
magnitude are revealed to us, and 40,000 of the eighth magnitude, while
of the ninth magnitude over 140,000 are revealed by the telescope. As
the power of the telescope is increased, so the number revealed is
increased also, until by the time