THE CYCLE OF THE ETERNAL HEAVENS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXI, Issue 15210, 22 January 1910, Page 3

THE CYCLE OF THE ETERNAL HEAVENS.

, TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Mr O’Daniels. in his views that aggregation of suns appears the only conceivable outlook, is face to face with the greatest difficulty in accepts ing the cyclic character of the cosmos. Even Lord Kelvin took a long time" to surmount the difficulty. The essential character of the wonderful third body is that it possesses a store of energy that may ho scores of times the amount of its own gravitating power. If ’ we imagine two very dense star clusters that , are attracting one another, the combined gravitational pull on a given star may be vastly greater than the pull of any individual pair, were such a pair alone. Hence were a single pair of the star cluster to collide completely it would develop so much heat energy that the coalesced mass might lie completely dissipated. The same idea holds in the formation of the great central furnace of a pair of interpenetrating cosmic systems made up of ipany millions of stars. It is the bulk attraction added to the individual attraction that supplies the dissipating power. . But at the very base of the whole idea- lies the e,scaping power of the light gases due to their high kinotel. Most of the elementary atoms aro over a hundred times heavier than- the mass of -an atom of hydrogen, yet at - the same temperature this light atom has the same energy as the heaviest of all. Hence, it has a kinetol or power of escape of over a hundred times the mean of all matter. It must largely escape cosmic | systems, gradually lose speed and linger j i’n the parts of space where there is the least matter. Thus there are two aggregating tendencies in Nature, the one this tendency of hydrogen to get to where matter is least distributed, possibly levitation may serve as a name tor it/ and gravitation—the tendency of the heavy atoms to aggregate in old cosmic systems where matter is densest. It is in the great cosmic event, the coalescence of the young and old systems, that we must look for the fusion of vast dead suns and the supplying systems with their needed light gases. During everv year of the period of coalescence of systems during their maturity and even in decay, many agencies are sending matter out of systems, so that by the time a cosmic system is effete, although it. was made by the coalescence of two systems, its final state is not necessarily of greater mass than was one of the two original systems that, went to the building .of its period of maturity. This is the naked skeleton of the idea : when fully clothed it is a complex idea of surpassing beauty. I wish to form schools of acute thinkers to study all the wonders unfolded in this fascinating study. Before 'I leave Christchurch I should

r rr ~ r f like to get together those interested to t discuss all the many difficulties. _ T should be pleased if Mr O’Daniels - would call, that we may talk over the s nice points hLs questions involve. —I x am, etc.,, A. IV. BICKERTON.