INCALCULABLE SPACE

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 July 1936, Page 14

INCALCULABLE SPACE

DISTANT UNIVERSE A new “catalogue” of the distances and movements of 100 “universes” outside and beyond our sun’s system of stars has been issued by the Mount. Wilson Observatory, United States, home of the world’s largest telescope. Carrying knowledge of exact movement further into space than ever before, Hie catalogue conveys the astonishing information that the most distant, universe yet surveyed in this way is moving away from our own at a. speed of 24,000 miles a second. These observations, made on the lOOin and 60in. telescopes at Mount. Wilson, are taken to provide further confirmation of the theory that the universe as a whole is expanding, as frequent'v discussed by Sir James Jeans, Sir Arthur Eddington and other astronomers. The distance of the fastest moving universe is given as 1,400,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles. To travel this distance light would take 230,000,000 years. The group of universes to which this universe belongs is so distant that only the brightest specimens can be observed in the lOOin. instrument. The distances of the others —150 of them can be photographed—cannot be mastired. In another similar “cluster” there are some 200 different universes. The distance of one of the brightest is believed to be about the same, although the measurement is in this case less certain. For the measurement of the speed of movement of still more distant members of the groups of universes astronomers will have to wait for the- new 200 in telescope—and even its range will he limited compared with the universes awaiting catalogue.