IN STARRY SKIES

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 105, 30 October 1931, Page 14

IN STARRY SKIES

LUMEN ACCIPE ET IMPERTI

(By "Omega Centauri.") We have seen how completely sight transcends all other senses. Without it we should be utterly unconscious of all but our most immediate surroundings. Sight discloses to us tho existence of a universe of marvellous grandeur and of inconceivable immensity. It is no wonder that radiation is taken as a symbol of every kind of physical, mental, moral, or spiritual enlightenment. Let there be light. Thus to everyone tho Wellington College motto, "Lumen accipe et importi," makes its own appeal. The artist, the writer, the statesman, the scientist, the explorer, and all who work for the welfare of humanity, must ever strive to hand on to their successors, not. only the light that they have received, but, if possibio, a little more. The triumphs of tho past bring inspiration for the future. Our fathers toiled long through the darkness, To win us the blessings of light., By tho sweat of tho brow oft they triumphed, And wo must continue- the fight. Notwithstanding their brilliant achievements, There aro millions of heights still to ' climb, Endless powers of Nature to harness,

Vast fields to explore in brief time. So through all the days before us, . Like our sires in ages gone, Let us in the causo of progress Take the light and hand it on. Some led by the lure of endeavour, Took their lives in their hands and sped far Over ocean or wilderness, ever Making knowledge their bright guiding star. They discovered new lands o'er tho waters, They founded new nations therein, They made the grain grow in the desert, Thus lightening the lot of their kin. So, through all the days before us, Like our sires in ages gone, Let us help in pioneering, Take the light and hand it on. Some seeking perfection of beauty, Made loveliness live in our sight, They welcomed hard tasks as their duty, And steadily pressed towards • the light. By the power of inspiring exaniplo, They taught us the value of art, In portraying the glories of Nature. Can we, in our turn, do our part? Yes, through all the days before ua, Like our sires in ages gone, Let us in the cause of beauty, Tako the light and hand it on. Some taught us the magic of language, In rousing tho spirit of men, And brought untold pleasure to millions By the pathos that flowed from the pen. By their eloquence hard hearts were softened, By their power great nausns were won, They directed tho conduct of nations, Let us follow where they have begun. And through all tho days beforo us, Like our sires in ages gone, Let us seek our nation's welfare, Take the light, and hand it on. Some seeing in Nature unfolded, A hint of the reign of a plan, Discovered the marvels of Science, And raised the whole outlook of man. Some freed tho mind from its errors, Some made the. body more whole, Some bestripped death of its terrors, Each valiantly pressed towards his goal. So through all the days beforo us,

Like our sires in ages gone, Lot us in the ctuiso of knowloilyo, Take the light anil hand it on. Some made their innrk in the playground, Winning many si game that seemed j lost, For famous fifteen or eleven, Never counting the personal cost. When tho Empire itself wan in danger, They hastened to answer its call, And in countless grim struggles in Europe, They valiantly risked and gave—all. So Mi rough nil the days before us, Like our sires in ages gone, Let us,.in the cause of freedom, Take the light, and hand it on. In the literal as well as tho figurative sense tho work of an astronomer is defined by this motto. He is continually striving to procure more and more powerful instruments to collect and analyse the faint radiation that roaches us from the most distant parts of space. Tho giant mirrors or lenses collect tho feeble light and build up_ from it a luminous picture of the distant object. The eye, which all too soon grows weary, is replaced by the patient photographic plate, which goes on, hour after hour, receiving and storing up the almost insensible impression made by radiation, which lias been weakened by spreading through inconceivable vastness of space in a, journey which has lasted some millions of years. Thus the astronomer, with his powerful appliances, receives the light, stores it up, and hands it on. But that is but a small part of his work. He must for ever study the records that

he accumulates, so that he may leave for his successors some more or less coordinated knowledge and not a mere jumble of unrelated facts. This persistent effort to understand the universe has had a most profound influence on the development of the intellectual powers of man. And it is full of hope for the future. The problems of cosmology, and still more those of cosmogony, arc insolvablo. But although 110 finality can be attained tliere is a glorious prospect of endless progress. The imperfect glimpses wo can get of tho glorious truths of Nature amply ropay for any effort that may bo expended, and our realisation of the grandeur and the mystery of the universe is enhanced by every fresh discovery. It is less than a hundred years since the first accurate estimates were made of the distances of a few o£ the nearest stars. Bince then the rate of xn-ogrcss has been phenomenal. The galaxy has been sounded approximately to its farthest depths, and the positions with regard to it of millions of external systems is now a common subject of discussion. Wonderful pictures of such systems have been impressed on photographic plates by light which has travelled for millions of years. But, whilst the discoveries already made are so astounding, every star and every nebula oilers countless problems for future research. The photograph reproduced to-day was taken with the CO-inch reflector at Mount Wilson on 11th, August, 1021. It shows an irregular nebula, N.G-.C. 281,: in Cassiopeia. The exposure was 3hr 30min. The wonderful glowing cloud of luminous gos is Keen through a sparkling screen of stars. Its surface is broken in places by dark patches of cosmic dust, and there appears to be evidence of much obscure matter around the brilliant cloud. During tho course of the exposure a meteor Sashed across the field of view, arid left a wonderfully straight luminous trail. By its nearness to us this tiny spark was.able to make a clearer impression on the plato in a fraction of a second than most of the stars did in 3i hours. We see. then in this small picture of a tiny portion of the galaxy iho streak made by the meteor raised to incandescence in the atmosphere, the images of some thousands of suns, a vast cloud of luminous gas, and much dark obstructing matter in space.