SUPER-TELESCOPE

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1787, 27 July 1926, Page 7

SUPER-TELESCOPE

PEEPS INTO THE PAST.. Imagine a super-telescope which would not only penetrate fori our eyes the remotest confines of the universe, but would turn back the pages of his. itory. Heretofore improvements in telescopes have merely pushed back the veil farther an d farther. Galileo, with his small telescope, possessing, an objective 'lens 2Jin. in diameter, multiplied the number of visible stars a hundredfold. The large telescopes of the present time have multiplied the number of visible stars'a hundred thousand fold. But why be satisfied with just seeing celestial bodies and their details? (asks Dr. M. Luckiesh, in the Scientific American). Why not imagine the super-telescope which would give us a view of the past history of the earth at any page we desire; one that would provide us with a motion picture of the ages? Such a super-telescope appears possible and even probable. Why not imagine that some day the telescope will have its magnifying power enormously increased'by the introduction of a link consisting of electrical magnification? Surely this is plausible, possible, and perhaps iprobable. Having such an instrument, what shall we do with it? The nature of the so-called "canals" on Mars wouild be settled. Next, we might search the remote regions for other galaxies. This would indeed be wonderful, but would it compare with seeing our own past ages in actual motion pictures? What would compare with the thrill of witnessing Caesar leading his legions into battle, or Cleopatra in royal splendour upon the Nile? What thrills there would be in viewing the unwritten pages of our history—our earliest human ancestors in their pursuits, or the huge reptiles of the bygone ages in deadly combat. Having 'this super-telescope, with its enormous magnifying power, we merely take advantage 1 of the finite velocity of light. Of course, to most of us iight seems to travel from one place to another instantly, because its velocity (186.000 miles a second) is so great. Nevertheless, when viewed in terms of stellar distances, light travels relatively slow 1 - ly. It takes eight minutes to come from the sun to us. In other words, we see events' on the sun eight minutes after they have occurred. If we searched the celestial bodies near the earth for a minute mirror—a facet of a crystal or a plane surface of molten material —we would see ourselves in that mirror if it were properly oriented (and if we waited long enough). By means ofj other minute mirrors oriented at slightly different angles we could see other parts of the earth. If w© viewed a mirror surface on Polaris, or a body about equi-distant, we would see events which actually took place there 75 years ago, because it takes light 75 years to reach us from such a distance. By choosing the pro'per mirror we could witness by reflection, events which took place on our earth 150 years ago. If we could do this now we might see the Revolutionary War beginning; we might see battles actually being fought which are now famous in. our history. Rigel is 466 light years away. If we could sit on that star with our electrical telescope we would have to wait 33 years before we could see Columbus with his tiny ships approaching the shores of America for the first time. From a mirror as far away as the small Magellan cloud we would see far into and perhaps beyond the old stone age. Recent measurements indicate that certain celestial bodies are 1,000,000 light years away. In a mirror on one of these earth events which took place 2,000.000 years ago might be witnessed. All this appears possible, barring adverse atmospheric conditions. At least these paragraphs give us a vivid picture of the finiteness of the velocity of light. They stimulate the imagination and help us to gain an idea of stellar distances, and their relation, to time in terms- of earth events. When thought of in terms of electrical magnification this supef-telescope appears to be*, scientific possibility. Who can say that our children, or even some of us, may not witness the great motion picture of the ages? Written history may have its gaps filled, and its errors corrected. But better still, future human beings may see the happenings with their own eyes, and the countless centuries of unwritten history which have heretofore been concealed from human eyes may be revealed.