THE ROMANCE OF THE HEAVENS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14701, 8 December 1909, Page 3

THE ROMANCE OF THE HEAVENS.

-». However earnestly he may, desire a large audience with which to share the absorbing massage which he has gained from communing with the wonders of the universe, the leciurer upon scientific subjects rarely expects more than a limited gathering of intellects attuned to his own, and rarely is be disapiwintetl in this expectation. Although Professor Bickerton is addressing himself to audiences limited in point of numbers, his 7,eal and bis firm confidence in his mission do not admit of discouragement. His unconventional methods and the simple, often whimsical, terms in which he tells his story make his lecture such as should interest and appeal to a much wider audience. "The Romance of the Heavens" was lrofessor Bickcrton's subject last evenin" in the Early Settlers' Hall. The universe —'•that milky mass of light,"—ho began, was composed of countless suns or stars, many of which were thousands of times the size of the sun, which in turn was more than a million times the size of the earth. i From planet to planet, from constellation to constellation, the lecturer carried his audience, dwelling almost caressingly upon the beauties of the stars that are visible from the earth. Ho had no patience with those who deprecated "generalisations," such as his "partial impact" theory. The Professor gave a brief resume of the personal consequences of Ins discovery, humorously referring to the fact that his promulgation of the "newtheory had earned him the reputation of being a hopeless crank-" perfectly harmless, but an incorrigible crank." Frankly he dreaded ihe mission to the Home Country. But, he continued in the impassioned tones of the enthusiast. " because I firmly behove that tho welfare of the whole race depends upon this message being given I am glad to do the will of the Cosmic Ruler who has chosen me to think I his thought," Travelling again into the majestic belt of 100 millions of suns, reference was made to that "most wonderful eye," the photographic film which had been added to tho telescope, and which, unlike the human eye, did not. tire, but by exposure for hours secured the most, wonderful pictures unfolding the mysteries of heaven. Who amongst them could think of a body a. million times the size of tho earth, or grasp, the sense of the inconceivable distances separating the innumerable heavenly bodies? A great discovery had been made during tho past few years. This wonderful belt of stars it had been discovered, of two majestic streams of stars, in stately procession in opposite directions through each other. Thus if they had these streams of stars proceeding in opposite directions— lllld it was lo be remembered that there wore burnt-out suns even more numerous than the living—when they knew this, and that these bodies wore attracted bjr each other, could they doubt thai there were collisions? And this new generalisation originated with this simple idea that the suns on their onward path sometimes collided not in direct impact, but grazing and that the upshot of the grazing°of 'two bodies travelling at such immense" velocity wias the striking off portions of each other, the two pieces being welded together at such extreme temperature as to cause Ihe birth of a star and tho explosion of a star. It was merely the principle of the flint and steel. Dealing with the possibilities arising out of tho application of the new theory, the lecturer said he hoped to see an absolutely happy world, such as no Utopian had 'over pictured! It could be next year if r>eople only knowhow to go about it. " And it was so simply understood. But first of all they must have the faith, and they must know tho basic principle. Reverting to the period of collision, was it wonderful, continued the lecturer, that the force of an explosion resulting from the colliding of 'bodies travelling at the rate of 400 miles a second should be 50,000 times as strong as dynamite, blowing the fragments into atomic dust. Then one night the observer might see a star where formerly there was none. As ho watched it would grow until it had 10,000 times the brightness ol the sun. Nest night it would be dimmer, and within a month the eye would no' longer discern it, but with "ihe telescope it could be followed until it. became a planetary nebula. In conclusion, the Professor pictured how out of the collision of dying planets and their subsequent fusion with the new vital worlds created as the outcome of the collision new cosmic systems were continually being born, the result being a perpetual renewing in the birth of worlds such as our earth and human beings such as we. The audience showed its appreciation of tho lecture by cordial applause at its conclusion. The series of addresses is being continued on alternate afternoons ami evenings.