AMONG THE STARS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6485, 13 May 1899, Page 8

AMONG THE STARS.

.&N EVENING WITH A TELESCOPE. THE CANTERBURY COLLEGE INSTRUMENT. There are two thoughts that strike a student when he first begins to be interested 1 in astronomy, and they are thoughts that are constantly evident in the writings of the greatest astronomers. One is expressed in the exclamation of Schroeter when he first viewed a portion of the Milky Way through a telescope : " What omnipotence !" The other, equal with the first in the in- j fluence 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 standards that must be used in astronomy. Most people have at some time or other looked through a telescope at the moon and the giant planet Jupiter, moved ptobably 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 his elbow to explain the significance of what he sees, that he begins to have some conception of the mysteries of the heavens. A chance remark 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 student. It is for tliis reason that a visit to*he equatorial telescope at Canterbury Collfige is at once instructive and interesting. The observer does not merely gaze at the Sfte*' lites of Jupiter, and regard them as fixed objects. He learns that the four small bright objects which he sees beside the great cloud-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 tihe other of the planet, sometimes obscured as they pass through the shadow of their gr«** centre, sometimes completely eclipsed as their course lies behind it. When a representative of the "Lyttelton Times mounted the many steps that lead to t*e dome above the biological laboratory a* the Collet he found the small round room almosb°in darkness, and Mr W. Kiison, who has charge of the telescope, had just brought the largest of the earth's neighbours fairly into the field of view. The "defimtoon, Mr Kitson was explaining, was good ; the rim of the planet was very distinct, ami the four satellites were clearly visible. There was another moon* he said, in this Jovian system, but it -was so small and so close to the planet thafc it could only be seen with a very much* larger instrument. Indeed, it had not been discovered until 1892.Then the dome was moved round in order that another of the " show objects " of the southern heavens might be examined. Meanwhile, there was- an opportunity of inspecting the telescope itself. The uses of the various pieces of mechanism, the screws and clamps, and the graduated circles were all explained in turn, and Mr Eatson showed, too, how it could be directed to any point in the, neavens or towards any star, without even opening the dome, or searching the sines beforehand with the naked eye. But the most interesting of all 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. , "We are too late now," said Mr Kitson, "to see the most glorious of all the heavenly objects, the great nebula of Orion," and 'he pointed to the bright constellation which was just setting. There was, however, 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. Cruets," ■as it is called, would imagine that it consists of two stars, or suns, very close together, and, probably belonging to one solar system. Yet the teleBcope speedily revealed the two brilliantlyflashmg points of light. In the same constellation 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 wjrth which it had been christened, the "Jewel Cluster." Close to the 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 Ceutauri, was the next to claim attention. The telescope showed it to be a fine double-star, but that, Mr Kitson explained, was not what made it of special interest. Alpha Centauri is, as far 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 half years to travel from that stax to us." There was still another "show object" to be examined in the southern heavens. This was a dim, misty star just below the lesser Magellan. Cloud. "We call it '47 Toueani ' " said Mr Kitson. It was certainly a superb spectacle when once the telescope was properly f ocussed. The whole of the outer field was sprinkled thickly with points of light, and ii the centre was a fine condensed cluster, in which' it was impossible to distinguish separate stars. "It might be another universe," was the comment of one visitor. Prom the platform outside the telescope room it was possible to look at the heavens as a whole, and one naturally wondered if there were many of these bidden beauties to be 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 it. 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 n'ost 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, ami meanwhile Mr Kitson chatted pleasantly- of the telescope. He pointed to a brass plate, let into the wall of the room, the inscription on which said that the instrument had been presented to the Board of Governors of Canterbiuy College by Mr James Townsend. It had been bought for Mr Townsend by Sir George 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 Tupman, of the expedition, made his observations at Bumham." " No," he said in answer to a question, " it is not being used at present for scien- , tine work. Indeed, there are practically no appliances here for such work. We have not even an astronomical clock. It would be possible, perhaps, for students to make use of the instrument to help them in their ■work, but I believe there a,re 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 of the universe. Then the instrument is here ready to be used should some special occasion arise, and I have 110 doubfc that in the future it will be used for scientific work in connection wifch t'ae College." The clouds hud by this time completely covered the sky, so that observations were ab an end for that evening at least. The dome was, therefore, closed, and the tele- | scope fixed and covered carefully, lest dust I should get into some of the more* delicate pieces of mechanism. Cupboards and doors wore securely locked, and an " evening with the stars" had come to a close. .