*
[footnote] * Bessel, 'Untersuchung. des Theils der planetarischen
Storungen, welche aus der Bewegung der Sonne entstchen' (An Investigation of
the portion of the Planetary Disturbances depending on the motion of the
Sun) in 'Abh. der Berl. Akad. der Wissensch.', 1824 (Mathem. Classe), s.
2-6. The question has been raised by John Tobias Mayer, in 'Comment. Soc.
Reg. Gotting.', 1804-1808, vol. xvi., p. 31-68.
When we compare our Sun with the other fixed stars, that is, with other
self-luminous Suns in the lenticular starry stratum of which our system
forms a part, we find, at least in the case of some, that channels are
opened to us, which may lead, at all events, to an 'approximate' and limited
knowledge of their relative distances, volumes, and masses, and of the
velocities of their translatory motion. If we assume the distance of Uranus
from the Sun to be nineteen times that of the Earth, that is to say,
nineteen times as great as that of the Sun from the Earth, the central body
of our planetary system will be 11,900 times the distance of Uranus from the
star 'a' in the constellation Centaur, almost 31,300 from 61 Cygni, and
41,600 from Vega in the constellation Lyra. The comparison of the volume of
the Sun with that of the fixed stars of the first magnitude is dependent
upon the apparent diameter of the latter bodies -- an extremely undertain
optical element.
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