Ecstacy' of Astronomy.,

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18342, 30 May 1931, Page 13 (Supplement)

Ecstacy' of Astronomy.,

SIR JAMES JEANS is one of those rare scientists, who have the gift of clear and attractive writing. In “ The Stars In Their Courses,” takes his readers up in a ‘‘magic roclcei’’ through l space on Ails to the various members of our solar system. A close-un view of the moon shows its sur°f® nnsist “largely of vast flat deserts, shotvins no sign of cultivation or life of any kM Scattered over the greater part of it are circular elevations which look like he rims of oraters of extinct volcanoes, whicn is what they probably are. . . Four we larger than Devonshire, while the largest of all, Maurolycus, would just Include the " h °\Vhen'his “magio rocket” reaohes the sun, it- discovers there a Stupendous Power Factory. -Here and 'there wo see dark yawning oavities looking rather like the craters of voloanoes in .rSpUon.helohlng out hre and mattpr from the sun’s Interior, on eartn we call thTm sunspots; now that wo are near them, we can see that whatever else they may be they are not spots; many 0 them Aviso big that our whole earth could fall Into them like a hard boiled egg Into a How the planets were made is explained in striking language: “We may notice a particular star, our sun, meeting with an unusual accident. A second star approaches it more closely than any star has ever before done, and raises tides higher than Ime ever been raised before 'tides like huge mountains of fiery gas travelling over the sun’s surface. Finally . . . the gravitational null of the second star becomes so gioat that the crest of the tidal wave is dtawn off and itself condenses into drops. These drops are the planets, and one ot the smaller 'Of them is our earth.” On his visit to Mars, the author takes tho extremely conservative view' that the So-called Canals Are Imaginary and that there is no real evidence of life there. Once more he disregards Professor

Through Space in a “ Magic Rocket”

Pickering’s conclusions, though he admits that during the planet’s winter “a w'hite snow cap undoubtedly forms round the North Pole.” His final verdict Is: “That tno life ■which exists on our earth is the only life in the sun’s family, although other stars far out in space may include inhabited planets in their families." Tho universe is a thing of vast distances and of almost incomprehensible magnitudes, if 'our modern astronomers are right. The sun and its planets are part of a gigantic star system known as the Galactic System. The number of stars in this is enormous: It is almost 'certainly greater than 100,000 million; that is to say, there are almost certainly more than 60 Stars for Each Man, Woman and Child living on earth. It may well be twice and perhaps even three and five times this number.” On the finest night the best eyesight can only see about 3000 stars. Yet astronomy “has discovered ttiat even this huge system is only one of a vast number of somewhat similar systems. The present situation may be perhaps summed up in the three statements: “The earth is only one member of the sun’s family. “The sun’s family Is only one member of the Galactic System. “The Galactic System 'is only one member of the system of star-cities in space.” There are at least “tw r o million starcities," sundered by terrific distances. “On an 'average, light or a wireless message takes something like two million years to travel from one star-city to tho next nearest city in space. Wo Realise What Ephemeral Beings We Are. in the universe, when we rellect that to flash a signal from one star-city to the next and to get an answer back requires 00,000 times the span of a man's life.” The author is convinced that the! universe is expanding, and by so doing is “travelling ilie road from birth to death, just as we all are,"