telescope alone can separate them to the eye. In 1803, after twenty years of observation, William Herschel discovered that some of these couples were revolving around each other with various angular velocities. The son of William Herschel continued this work, and many years later, he discovered that the laws of motion of these double stars are the same as those that prevail in the the solar system.[A] This result indicated not only the universality of the law of gravitation, but also the probability that all heavenly bodies are in motion.

[Footnote A: History of the Inductive Sciences, Whewell, 3rd ed. Vol.
I, pp. 467-469.]

[Sidenote: The invention of the spectroscope laid the foundation of the new astronomy.]

Then, early in the nineteenth century, a new method of research began to be developed, which was destined to form a new science of astronomy. It had long been known that white light when passed through a glass prism is broken into a colored spectrum, with colors similar to those observed in the rainbow. Now it was discovered that when white light passes through vapors of certain composition, dark lines appear in the spectrum, and that the position of the lines varies with the chemical composition of the vapors. By the application of these principles, it was shown, towards the middle of the last century, that the chemical composition of the heavenly bodies may be determined. Later,it was discovered that by noting the positions of the dark lines in the spectrum, it could be known when a star or any heavenly body is moving, as also the direction and amount of its motion. These unexpected discoveries led to a study of the heavens from the spectroscopic point of view, which has resulted in a marvelous advance in the science of astronomy.

[Sidenote: All heavenly bodies are in motion.]

It has been determined that all heavenly bodies are in motion, and that their velocities are great compared with our ordinary conceptions of motion. Most of the stars move at the rate of about seven miles per second, though some have a velocity of forty-five miles, or more, per second. Many stars, formerly thought to be single, have been resolved into two or more components. The rings of Saturn have been proved to consist of small bodies revolving about the planet in obedience to Kepler's law.[A] Clusters of stars have been found that move through space as one body, as possible counterparts of the planetary system.[B] It has been demonstrated, further, that the sun itself, with its planets, is moving through space at a very rapid rate. Professor Simon Newcomb, perhaps the greatest astronomer of the day, says, "The sun, and the whole solar system with it, have been speeding their way toward the star of which I speak (Alpha Lyrae) on a journey of which we know neither the beginning nor the end. During every clock-beat through which humanity has existed, it has moved on this journey by an amount which we cannot specify more exactly than to say that it is probably between five and nine miles per second. The conclusion seems unavoidable that a number of stars are moving with a speed such that the attraction of all the bodies of the universe could never stop them."[C] In brief, the new astronomy holds that all heavenly bodies are in motion, and that the planetary system is but a small cluster of stars among the host of heaven. Further, it has weighed the stars, measured the intensity of their light, and determined their chemical composition, and it affirms that there are suns in the heavens, far excelling our sun in size and lustre, though built of approximately the same elements.

[Footnote A: See C. G. Abbott, Report of Smithsonian Institution, for 1901, pp. 153-155.]

[Footnote B: Light Science for Leisure Hours, Proctor, pp. 42-52.]

[Footnote C: The Problems of Astronomy, S. Newcomb, Science, May 21, 1897.]

[Sidenote: The solar system is only one of many.]

Sir Robert Ball expresses his views as follows: "The group to which our sun belongs is a limited one. This must be so, even though the group included all the stars in the milky way. This unnumbered host is still only a cluster, occupying, comparatively speaking, an expressibly small extent in the ocean of infinite space. The imagination will carry us further still—it will show us that our star cluster may be but a unit in a cluster of an order still higher, so that a yet higher possibility of movement is suggested for our astonishment."[A]

[Footnote A: The Story of the Sun, R. S. Ball, pp. 360, 361.]

Another eminent astronomer expresses the same idea briefly but eloquently: "It is true that from the highest point of view the sun is only one of a multitude—a single star among millions—thousands of which, most likely, exceed him in brightness, magnitude and power. He is only a private in the host of heaven."[A]

[Footnote A: The Sun, C. A. Young, p. 11.]

And still another student of the stars propounds the following questions: "Does there exist a central sun of the universe? Do the worlds of Infinitude gravitate as a hierarchy round a divine focus? Some day the astronomers of the planets which gravitate in the light of Hercules (towards which constellation the solar system is moving) will see a little star appear in their sky. This will be our sun, carrying us along in its rays; perhaps at this very moment we are visible dust of a sidereal hurricane, in a milky way, the transformer of our destinies. We are mere playthings in the immensity of Infinitude."[A]

[Footnote A: Popular Astronomy, C. Flammarion, p. 309.]

[Sidenote: Scientists believe that heavenly bodies are inhabited by living, thinking beings.]

It is not strange that men who have learned to look at the universe in this lofty manner should go a step farther, beyond the actually known, and suggest that some of these countless heavenly bodies must be inhabited by living, thinking beings. Sober, thoughtful truthseekers, who never advance needlessly a new theory, have suggested, in all seriousness, that other worlds than ours are peopled. For instance, "What sort of life, spiritual and intellectual, exists in distant worlds? We can not for a moment suppose that our little planet is the only one throughout the whole universe on which may be found the fruits of civilization, warm firesides, friendship, the desire to penetrate the mysteries of creation."[A]

[Footnote A: The Problems of Astronomy, S. Newcomb.]

Such, then, is in very general terms the view of modern astronomy with reference to the constitution of the universe. Most of the information upon which this view rests has been gathered during the last fifty years.

[Sidenote: Joseph Smith taught that all heavenly bodies are in motion.]

Joseph Smith was doubtlessly impressed with the beauty of the starry heavens, and, in common with all men of poetical nature, allowed his thoughts to wander into the immensity of space. However, he had no known opportunity of studying the principles of astronomy, or of becoming familiar with the astronomical questions that were agitating the thinkers of his day. Naturally, very little is said in his writings that bears upon the planetary and stellar constitution of the universe; yet enough to prove that he was in perfect harmony with the astronomical views developed since his day.