CHAPTER XI
OUR NEAREST STAR—THE SUN
Stars are suns which lie at such vast distances that they seem no more than twinkling points of light. Through the aid of the spectroscope we have learned a great deal about these stars but so distant do they lie that no telescope on earth can bring them close enough for us to see the outline of a face.
There is one star, however, that lies so near that when it is in the sky its light blots out that of all the other stars. This sun, which classic poets call our "day star," lies only 93,000,000 miles away; the next nearest star is over 200,000 times as far. This distance of 93,000,000 miles is close enough to enable us to examine the face of such a star as ours with comparative ease, indeed, it is close enough to enable us to feel the warmth of the fierce fires which rage upon its surface.
It is not at all a difficult matter to realize the distance from our earth to the sun. A train traveling 60 miles an hour would reach the sun in 176 years; an airplane flying at the rate of 200 miles an hour would reach it in 50 years. Thus the distance seems to shrink as we adjust our rate of speed. A ray of light crosses the same space in about 8 minutes.
The existence of all life upon the earth is absolutely dependent upon the sun.
"It is perceived that the sun of the world, with all its essence, which is heat and light, flows into every tree, and every shrub and flower, and into every stone, mean as well as precious."
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