Recent Astronomical Discoveries

A very complete investigation of the sun's pljotospere luis been mude. The discovery whiuh Mr. Niiatnyth announced in 186"2, tbat the zuñe of light elouds wbich surround the nucleus ot tho s'in s oornposed of large portion of matter shaped like willow leaves, eíUíh being some twenty thousand miles long, and cros?ing one auother iu every oopeeivable direct,; on, has been demous strated, and, with ceitain modifications, aacepted. Most persona are aware that recent discoverie-1 h;tvo deteeted an error iq the calculations of the older astronoiners. It has been shown that we are at least -1,000,000 miles nearer to the sun than has been heretofore bplieved, Bearing upon this is a statotnent whicU has been made to the etíeet that the aupposed distance of tbe mooo from the eurth is alao incorrect. Prora a laborioiis examination of lunar obserrationí, made simultaneously at the Cape of Good Hopo and various Europoau obaervatories, Mr. Hngh Breem has found that we are really nearer the inoon than has been c.omputed. The difference hotween the two sets of figures show u that our satellite is twentv-six mile closer to us than was previoualy uuagior ed. Perhap3 the most important discovery, and that whiuh will moat pyominentíy mark the past year in the history of as? tronomical progresa, is that which wai announcod to the Royal Society by Messrs. Huggins and Miller, Thi dlacovery upsets all the dootrines to whioh astrononjers have pinned their faith dar ing the present century. Every one ia familiar with the term Nehulcr, an expressiou employed lo desígnate oertain, uiisty ma8ses of matter from which light is emitted, and which cin only bp examined with the aid of the most power ful telescopes. These bodies, which apr penr as shaueless clouds of light at immense distance8 frora the earth, have been_of late years studied and observed b}1 aíl classes of astronomers ; and, mor recent ly, th'ev have been rejarded as being pirr;ly huge clusters of fixed stars, which on account of their enormous distanca from os, appesr blonded togethop Uto a confused maas. Vvatchful obervers concltided aa we Ijavesaid ; and t has been for years the delight of asfcronomers to f' resolve," as the terra i, these nehulas. Sinoe, however, thanfca to the researehes of Funsen and Kircb nff, a new systern of chemieal analysjs, by moana of which we can toll from the light, vvhifh a body cmits what is the nntnre of its compo-fition, and sinoe thirt method has beun put in practice in th case of the sun mil fixed stars, showing in them a oonstitution closoly reembling tliat of our earth, Messrs. HugSfins and njiHer detenuined to put thp jiht of trio nelu'm toa similar test.- The spectrum aaalv-H of the nebulw light hns been accoirplishod, ancj, wot}; derful to teil, it lias revealud the pregence of only one or two elements, snd these are gases. Henee, the conclusión is iiiovitible thaf the nebuhr, are n}05 probably enoriijous masses of lunnnous gases or vapor. Tliis important conclusión, nhich is ono uf them st romarkable tbat ha bet-n tw rt '""g time rr'v" ed al, brings astrotiomcra back, in somo degree, tp thp peuuíiar viewg of Laplare, as expressud in his '' Nobular Hypothesis." L2 i'-audidaie tor oíÜjh cali at the íesiduuce of a guntleinaii to sollcit hid vote : üandidate - "Madum, ií yoijr hushand aboutV" ,. jJ-uly_'Yes, sir : ho has gone ín híiul a dead (Jojj ijy md h will bu hack dirtctly." Oandidate-í "Sheep killing dog, Ï , rcokon, madam ?" Eieroe spoken urehia - "No sir, jest barked himself to doath at candiejateq ; so pap said."