Astronomy and the Bible;

(^248) ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
Hechosethelong,finewinternights,whenthestars
were shiningbrilHantly. Herschelstood atthe eye-
pieceofthetelescope whilethepanoramaofthesky
movedslowly across the field of his telescope. By
thismeans,heexaminedastripoftheskyaswideas
hisinstrument witheach rotation of theearth. All
thatwasnecessarytoobtainanewstripforviewwas
toelevateorlowertheglassslightly,andtherotation
oftheearthrolledanewstripacrosshisglass.
"AstotheconstitutionofthenebulainOrion. We
seethatitconsistsinpartofstars,makingup,perhaps,
in number for their deficiency in size. These stars
arebathedinandsurroundedbyastupendousmassof
glowinggas,partlyconsistingofthatgaswhichenters
solargelyintothecompositionofourocean,namely,
hydrogen. Thewidedistributionofthissubstance,the
lightestofalltheknownelements,isoneofthemost
strikingfactsinthematerialconstitutionoftheuni-
verse."
—
''TheStoryoftheHeavens,"pages461,462.
Thenebula inOrionisoneofthemostremarkable
intheheavens. Ever since thebeginning of astro-
nomicalresearch, ithasbeenviewedwithincreasing
interest. Ithaselicitedtheadmirationofallwhohave
hadtheprivilegeofseeingit,andtheaweofallwho
have evergainedevena slight intimationof itsdis-
tanceandmagnitude.
Thenebulaisthemostbeautifulintheentire sky.
By means of photographs, and the largerlenses of
moderntelescopes,itisfoundtoextendmuchfarther
outintospacethanwasatfirstsupposed. Streamers
oflight havebeenobservedthat beforewereunseen