Page:In the high heavens.djvu/212

 in a very different manner to the corresponding evolution in an equal area of land which is connected with the great continental masses. Is our sidereal system to be regarded as an oceanic island in space, or is it in such connection with the systems in other parts of space as might lead us to infer that the various systems had a common character?

The evidence seems to show that the stars in our system are probably not permanently associated together, but that in the course of time some stars enter our system and other stars leave it, in such a manner as to suggest that the bodies visible to us are fairly typical of the general contents of the universe. The strongest evidence that can be presented on this subject is met with in the peculiar circumstances of one particular star. The star in question is known as number 1830 of Groombridge's catalogue. It is a small star, not to be seen without the aid of a telescope. This star is endowed with a very large proper motion. It would not be correct to say that its proper motion exceeds that of any other known star, but it certainly has the largest visible proper motion of any star of which the distance is known. The proper motion of 1830 Groombridge amounts to over seven seconds annually. It would take between two and three centuries to move over about eighteen hundred seconds, a distance in the heavens equal to the apparent diameter of the moon. The distance of this star is much greater than might have been anticipated from its very large proper motion. The estimates of the distance present some irregularities, but we shall probably be quite correct in assuming that the distance is not less than two hundred billions of miles. This star is indeed ten times as far from us as Alpha Centauri, which is generally