The analogies deduced from the
relatively larger mass of those planets in our solar system that are
attended by satellites, and from the fact that Struve has discovered six
times more double stars among
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the brighter than among the telescopic fixed stars, have led other
astronomers to conjecture that the average mass of the larger number of the
binary stars exceeds the mass of the Sun.*
[footnote] *M??dler, 'Astron.', s. 476; also in Schum, 'Jahrb.', 1839, s.
95.
We are, however, far from having arrived at general results regarding this
subject. Our Sun, according to Argenlander, belongs, with reference to
proper motion in space, to the class of rapidly-moving fixed stars.
The aspect of the starry heavens, the relative position of stars and
nebullae, the distribution of their luminous masses, the picturesque beauty,
if I may so express myself, of the whole firmament, depend in the course of
ages conjointly upon the proper motion of the stars and nebulae, the
translation of our solar system in space, the appearance of new stars, and
the disappearance or sudden diminution in the intensity of the light of
others, and lastly and specially, on the changes which the Earth's axis
experiences from the attraction of the Sun and Moon.
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