What Froude says of history is true also of astronomy: it is the most impressive where it transcends explanation.

The name, “coal-sacks,” given to these strange voids is hardly descriptive.

We appear to be situated near its center, but its periphery is evidently far away in the depths of space.

What has been said about the motion of Sirius brings us to another aspect of this subject.

We begin with the familiar figure of the “Great Dipper.”

Temporary stars are the rarest and most erratic of astronomical phenomena.

A hill may have been built up by a glacier, while a mountain may be the product of volcanic forces or of the upheaval of the strata of the planet.

The story of the first scientific observation of the corona and the prominences is thrillingly interesting, and in fact dramatic.

It is called “The Zodiacal Light,” because it lies within the broad circle of the Zodiac, marking the sun’s apparent annual path through the stars.

That Day of Wrath, O dreadful day,
When Heaven and Earth shall pass away,
As David and the Sibyl say

The possession of the spectroscope has enabled astronomers during later years to study the chemical composition of comets by analyzing their light.

The fragments of a comet had struck the earth.

One cannot but regret that the moon, if it ever was the seat of intelligent life, has not remained so until our time.

Certain other difficulties have also to be met; as, for instance, the relative coldness of the climate of Mars.

Atoms, therefore, which grow old in consequence of the diminution of a part of their intra-atomic energy gradually lose their stability.