AMONG THE STARS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11890, 13 May 1899, Page 11

AMONG THE STARS.

EVENING WITH A’TELESCOPE. THE CANTERBURY COLLEGE INSTRUMENT. ■ There are two thoughts that strike a stu‘dent when he first begins to be interested in astronomy/ and they are thoughts that are constantly evident in the writings of the greatest astronomers. One is expressed ,in the exclamation of Scbroeter when he first, viewed a portion of the Milky Way through a telescope; “ What omnipotence!” The other, equal with the first in the influence that it exercises over the mind of man is inspired by a' sense of the littleness of man, of the earth, of the 'sun, indeed;, of the whole ‘ solar system, when measured by the stan’dards" that must be used in astronomy. Most people have at some time or other decked througha telescope at the moon and the giant planet Jupiter, moved probably more by curiosity than by.a.desire to learn. This in itself is useless as far as education is concerned; it is when the -sight-seer has a,guide at Ids .elbow to explain the significance of what sees, that be begins -to have some conception of the mysteries Of the heavens. . A chance remark I from the guide as to the distance of a star or the origin’of-a cloudy light may transform a curious spectator into an eager r - student. : . ' It is for this reason that a. visit to the 'equatorial telescope at .Canterbury College is at once instructive and interesting, ine ‘ observer does not merely gaze_at the sa e - hies of Jupiter, and. regard them as faxed fObiects. ''.-.He . learns, that the four, small bright, objects which he sees beside the great cioud-streaked globe are in reality moons; , that. they, are, not fixed, but alter their relative positions from time to time, ■appearing now on one side, now on the other of the planet, sometimes obscured as. they pasS Hfarougli the'-shadow of their -great centre, sometimes completely eclipsed as their . course'lies behind it. . When a representative of the “Lyttelton Times mounted the many steps that lead to the ’ dome above the biological laboratory at the College: he found the small round room, almost in'darkness, 'and Mr W. Kitson, who has charge of the telescope, had just brought the largest of the earth's fairly . into the field of view. The “definition, Mr Kitson, was explaining, was good; the rim of the planet was very distinct, and the four-satellites were clearly visible. There" WAs another moon, he said, in uus Jovian system, but if was so small and so close ,to the ■ planet that it cqnld only be seen with a very much larger instrument. Indeed, .it had not been discovered runtil 1 892 -- j • ’ Then the dome was moved round in , order "that another of the “show objects of the-jGllfcbfn heavens might be examined. Meanwhile/there was an opportunity of inppetiting the telescope itself- The .uses of the Various pieces of mechanism, the screws and clamps, and the graduated , circles were oil explained in turn, and Mr Kitson ■ 'showed, too, how it could be directed to any point ’ in the heavens or towards any stair, without even opening the dome, 'or searching the skies beforehand with the -naked-eye. But the most interesting of oil the mechanical attachments was the “clock” by which the telescope was made to follow, the object towards which it was directed, in its course across the heavens. . 1 “ We are too late now,” said Mr Kitson, “to see the most glorious of all the heavenly objects,, the great nebula of Orion, and hfe' pbinted .to the bright constellation which was just setting. ■ There: was,_ how- ( ever, more than enough to be'seen in the allotted hour.' The best known of the constellations of the south is probably the Southern Cross.- Few people, looking even carefully at the brightest of the five stars, “Alpha Cruqis,” as it is called, would imagine that it consists of two stars, or 'guns,' yery close together, and probably belonging to one solar system. Yet the telescope speedily revealed the two brilliantlyflashing points of light. In the same con- . tetellatio'n' is ,a very faint star known as “Kappa Crucis,” and the telescope, was next directed towards -it. ' -It was difficult to believe that a star that was practically insignificant beside magnificent suns like the dog-star Sirius, could contain such a wealth - ‘of 'hidden' treasure. Seen through the telescope it appeared, as if the most brilliant sapphires and rubies, with diamonds of the first water,' had been scattered" with lavish hand over the field of view. There could be but one opinion, that Kappa Crucis deserved the name with which' it had been christened, the “Jewel Cluster.” Close to the l Southern Cross are two bright , stars, often called the Pointers. These are Alpha and Beta, of the constellation Centaur. The brighter of the two. Alpha Cehtauri, was the next "to claim attention. The telescope ahowed it to be a -fine double-star, but that, T Mr Kitson explained, was not what made it of special interest. Alpha Centauri is, as fat as is at present known, the. nearest Star to the, solar system. “ You can put its distance down roughly at eighteen billions of miles,” he said., “or, to put it in another way, light takes about three and a yeats to travel from that star to us.” There was still, another “ show object” to he examined in the southern heavens. Tbiq was a dim, misty star just below the lesser Magellan Cloud. “We call it ‘47 Toucani ’ ” said Mr Kitson. It was certainly a superb spectacle when once the tele- . scope was properly focussed. The whole of the outer field was sprinkled thickly, with points of light; and iA the centre was - a fine condensed cluster, in which it was impossible to distinguish separate stars. “It might he another universe,” was the comment of one visitor. Prom the platform outside the telescope room it was possible to look at the. heavens as;* and. one naturally wondered if there were inany.of these hidden beauties to he found. \ A bright star, in the East, below the constellation Scorpio, attracted some ■ attention by reason, of the greenish tinge of its light. Without commenting on the remarks of his guests, Mr. Kitson directed the' telescope towards this; new object of interest, and invited the visitors to look at jt. A first glance revealed, the definite shape and absence of scintillation that mark a planet, and a clearer view showed ,a bright * circular body surrounded by ‘a luminous : ring. It was Saturn, in many respects the most interesting of all the members of the solar system. Clouds now began to gather, and Saturn and Jupiter were blotted out. There seemed a chance, however, that the sky would once more become clear, and, meanwhile Mr 1 Kitson chatted pleasantly of the telescope. He pointed to a brass plate, let into tlie wall of the room, the inscription on which said that the instrument had been presented ■to the Board of Governors qf Canterbury College by Mr James Townsend. It had been bought for Mr Townsend by’Sir Georgte Airy, Astronomer Royal. “It was used here in 1882,” said Mr Kitson, “when observations were taken of the transit of Venus - in conjunction with the English expedition. I myself was in charge of Mr Townsend’s telescope 'in Christchurch, and Colonel Tupihan, of the expedition, made his observations at Bumhain.” , "

“No,” lie said in answer,to a question, “ it is not being used at present for sdentific Work. Indeed, there are practically Ho appliances here for such. work. We have riot even an astronomical clock. It would be posable, perhaps, for students to make use of the instrument to help them in their work, bpt I believe there are no students at the College who do practical astronomy. The public, however, take some interest in the telescope, for the available tickets of admission are nearly-always made use of. An evening such as we are now spending has an educational value. One learns something of the movements of the heavenly bodies, and something, too, of the depths o i the- universe. Then the instrument is here ready to bo used should some special occasion arise, and I have no doubt that in thjffuture it will he used for scientific work in 66ime>ction with the College,” The dotfila had by this time completely covered the 'sky, so that observations were at an end for that evening at least. Thedome was, therefore, closed, and the telescope fixed and covered carefully, lest dust Bhwrid get into some of the more delicate oleosa of mechanism. Cupboards and loon were securely locked, and an “ evenAC 'With the stars” had coine to a dose, j