ignifies the expanse of the firmament surrounding our earth, and extending every way to an immense distance.

Heaven, amongst Christian divines and philosophers, is considered as a place in which the omnipresent Deity descends to afford a nearer and more immediate view of himself, and a more sensible manifestation of his glory, than in the other parts of the universe. This is often called the empyrean, from that splendour with which it is supposed to be invested; and of this place the inspired writers give us the most noble and magnificent descriptions. The ancients considered heaven as the residence only of the celestial gods, into which no mortals were admitted after death, unless they were deified. As for the souls of good men, they were consigned to the Elysian fields.

Heaven, amongst astronomers, called also the ethereal and starry heaven, is that immense region in which the stars, planets, and comets are disposed.

Heaven is more particularly used in astronomy for an orb, or circular region, of the ethereal heaven.