THE MILKY WAY

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 255, 24 July 1936, Page 7

THE MILKY WAY

Mr. A. C. Gifford’s Lecture A second free lantern lecture on astronomy was delivered by Mr. A. C. Gifford, M.A.; F.R.A.S., at the Concert Chamber of the Wellington Town Hall last night to an audience which more than half filled the hall. The title of the lecture was “The Marvels of the Milky Way,” and with numerous beautiful slides Mr. Gifford expounded the wonders of that conspicuous heavenly formation. With slides made from photographs and diagrams the lecturer dealt with some other branches of astronomy, also, touching on the methods of determining the movements of stars and their distances from the earth by observation and by spectroscopy, and on Bickerton’s theory to explain novae. Among the slides were some especially vivid photographs of star clusters and nebulae. Mr. Gifford pointed out that it was now known, not only that the world was a small planet in the solar system, but also that the solar 'system was only one of millions in the galaxy, and that there were many millions of similar galaxies in the universe, so that the earth, while important to us. was an insignificant object in the whole universe. The lectures have been given under the auspices of the Wellington City Council, on behalf of which Cr./M. F. Luckie thanked Mr. Gifford, saying that he was doing more in Wellington for the cause of astronomy and its encouragement among the people than could anybody else.