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The Open Court of Inquiry. THE EDITOR . THE MYSTERY OF THE STARS. Astronomers Industriously Endeavoring to Solve Problems by Photography. “ An in d icatio nof th ew ay in wh ich suchs tu d ie s as th ese are beginning- to disclose the secret of th esun ’s cons titu tio n , and to g iv ea clue to the cau ses wh ic hw ill even tu a lly put an end to its career asag iv erof li ght an d heat, may be fo un d in the fact thata resem blance has been d etec ted b etw een some of the sp ectroscop ic phenomena observed in sun sp o ts and th osewh ic h are ch ara c te ristic of sta rsknown to be in a lm ost the la st s ta gesof so la r decay. So th ea stro nomer mays tu dy th ese sig n ific ant th in gs on the sun so mewhat as aphy sic ia n stu d ie s the first marksof an in cu ra b le d isease in apatient ’s sy s te m . “ But th es tu dyof the sun itse lf does not by anymeanscons titu te the en tire w o rk of this re ma rk ab le ob serv ato ry . Thats tu dy alone wou ld not suffice to solve th ep ro b lem of so la revo lu tio n . O th ersunsmust also be stu d ied . The compa ra tiv eme th od is as v alid in as tr onomy as in ana to my . In co nsequen ce of this broad p ro g ra mof in ves tig a tio n , co ve rin g th ewho le field of so lar ands te l la r life, th ev is ito r to then ew So lar Ob serv ato ry finds that the labo rs of the a stro nome rs the re do not cease with the go in g dow nof the sun . Atnight he may see th eg re at beam ofsunl ig ht re placed by a lo ng ra y from astar —from S iriu s, th es te lla r god ofanc ie ntEgyp t, or from A rc tu ru s , who se sp le ndor glow s in the B ook of Job. Th is, too, is caught by the coelostat, reflected in to the second m irro r, th ence tr ansm itte d in to th eda rk in te rio rof th ebu ild in g , se ntb ack from the fa rth er end by the concave th ird m ir ror, and finally brought to a focus on the sl it of a sp ec tro g ra ph , wh ic h is enclosed in a la rg econs ta n t-te mpe ra tu re chamber at on e side of th ebu ild in g . “ But th es tu dyofa star, after all, d if fers in some respects v ery w id ely from that of the sun . In s te ad of th eb ro ad d is k wh ic h the la tte rp resen ts, th eb rig h te st star sh owson ly as ab rillia ntpo in tof lig h t. By no m ean s, atp re sent devised, can thatpo in t be m ag n ified in to ameasu r ab le im ag e. The co nsequ ence is that the ra yofstar li ght tr ansm itte d from the m irro rs to th espec tro g ra ph rep resen ts the ra d ia tio ns from th een tire surface of the star, andnot from anypa rtic u la r po rtio n of that surface. The in fo rm a tio n that it g iv es relates to th econd itio nof th es ta r as aw hole. But even this gen eralized in fo rm a tio n is of th eh ig hest va lu e for compa riso nw ith that derived from the m o re detailed s tu d y o f the sun . “ Thev iew s in th econ ste lla tio nSagg i- ta r iu s sh ow , ata glance, the relativ e p ro po rtio nsof th ep ic tu re an d th eamount ofde ta il wh ic h each exh ib its . O bjects that are m ere sp eck s in th esma lle st p ic tu re are m ag n ified in the la rgest one to suchad eg ree th atmanyof the ir d etails are clea rly revealed. Th is is no ta b le in the co n densed star-clo ud in th eupper partof the field. In the la rg estpho to graphh ere sh own , the ric hne ss andcom p le x ity of th ebackg ro und , orb ed wo rk of th eM ilk yW ay , is really m arv elo u s. Da rk gaps an d la nesappear in tersp ersed among the th ic k ly crow ded assem b lag es of sta rs, an d th estr ik ingapp lic ab ility of the term ‘s ta r-c lo uds ’ to manypa rts of the field is ev id entata glance. W h a t th emean in gof the co mp licated a rra ymay be, what law sunde rlie this spr in k lin g of sunsupon th ebackg ro undof th eun iv erse as if th eyw ere go ld en sa nds stre wn from anA lm ig h ty hand — are ques tio nsno ty et to be answ ered . “ Professor B arn ard, him self, prefers not to sp ecu late upon the su b je c t— at least, not for pub lic a tio n . O ne th inghew ill sa y , how ever, andthat is th atheh as fo und no app earan ces in d ic a tin g th eex isten ce of o th ers ta rry un iv erses b eyo nd this one. In P rofesso rBarnard ’s op in ion, also, the co un tle ss m illio nsof sm all sta rs cons titu tin g th ecloudsof the M ilk yWay are ac tu a lly sma lle r th an the re la tiv e ly fewbrights ta rs scattered among them , an d do not sim p ly lo ok sma lle r on accountof excessiv e distan ce. Y et the ir ac tu ald is ta nce is, of course, en o rm o u s. “ No less mys te rio us th an the ‘star- c lo uds ’ are th evastn eb u lo sities spread over la rg e areas in th eM ilk yWay an d its n eig hbo rh ood . Th ese fa in tly g lo w in g and appa re n tly ga se ous m asses, with the ir su gges tiv e , ten tacle-lik eex te ns io n s, flu ngout for b illio ns of m iles on all sides, as if they were feelin g for stars, are fo un denve lo p in gnoton ly sin g le stars, but also s ta r-g ro up s. In so m e cases th ey co v er a rea of incred ible ex te n t. “ O n e o f P ro fesso r Barnard ’s finest pho to g ra phs , m ade, how ever, before he went to MountW ilso n , sh owsag re at clo udofs ta rs in the co n ste lla tio nS ag- g ita riu s (w h ich seem s to be th eGo lconda of the heavens), an d in it appear tw o da rk holes, in one ofwh ic hsh in esa lone sta r. Theda rk la nesc ro s sin g this s ta rry cloud, an d the re ma rk ab le row sof sm a ll sta rs that seem to form ex te ns io nsof th ese lanes b eyo n d th ebo rd er of the cloud, am aze them in d of the th ough tf ul beholder. “ Why sh ou ld suns fall in to ra nk in suchamanne r? Th ese s ta rs are re a lly su nde re d from one ano th erby im mense d istan ces. Y et th ey clearly form acon nected sy stem , the ir ra y s are b rillia n tly in te rm in g le d , an d the im ag in a tio ncom m its no offence aga in st essen tial truth in p ic tu rin g the ir row s an d circ lin granks as stre e ts of liv in g lig h t. “ The finest re su lt ofP rofessor Ba r nard ’s wo rk on th eM ilk yWayw ill be to p roduce apho to g ra ph ic cha rt of all that po rtio nof it visib le from our la titu de s, an d th es tu dyof su chachartmay fu r n is h th ekey thata stro nome rs h av e sought for cen tu rie s to th eo rg an ic struc tu re of th eun iv erse. “ At the tim eofmyv isit, M r. G. G. A bbot, P ro fesso rLangley ’s asso ciate in so la r research at Wash in g to n , arriv ed on th emoun ta in to co nduct there dur in g the summeran in ves tig a tio nof the su spected changes in the ra d ia tio n of th esun to wh ich th eex tra o rd in a ry cold summerof tw oy ears ago, ando th er recen tc lim a tic eccentricities, are su ppo sed to have been due. Thep ecu liar advan ta gesof the lo cal ity are lik e ly to aid g re a tly this im po rta nt in qu iry , wh ich , in its na tu re , is ofv ital in te re st to th ewho le w orld, for no th in g s trik eshome lik e in co n stan cy , whe th er in them oods ofahumanbe in gorofa sun . ” — Ex tr ac ts from article by Pr o cessor Garrett P. Se r v is s, in the A u g u s t Cosmopolitan. >?<?>#' THE CELLULAR COSMOGONY. The Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury Con tains a Review of the System. Aswe briefly sta te da few days ag o in ‘ ‘L iverpo olD ay by D ay , ’ ’ a sm a ll knot of people in L iverpool are ta king deep in te re st in what is knownss “ Ce llu la r Co sm o go ny , ” wh ich comp rise s the belief that th eea rth is a con cave sp h ere. I t is pe rh aps well to s ta te that th ewho le h earted Eng li shadhe re n ts to the th eo ry could be in d icated by th ed ig its ofone h an d , but the leader of the sect [in L iv e r pool] c la im sa co n sid erab le numberof h alf-h earted sy mpa th iz e rs. The th eo ry co m es from the U n ited S tates, the lan d o f new beliefs an d a Sb a j t o 12
THE MYSTERY OF THE STARS. Astronomers Industriously Endeavoring to Solve Problems by Photography. “ Anindicationofthewayinwhich suchstudiesasthesearebeginningto disclosethesecretofthesun ’s constitu tion , andtogiveacluetothecauses whichwilleventuallyputanendtoits careerasagiveroflightandheat , may befoundinthefactthataresemblance hasbeendetectedbetweensomeofthe spectroscopicphenomenaobservedinsun spotsandthosewhicharecharacteristic ofstarsknowntobeinalmostthelast stagesofsolardecay . Sotheastronomer maystudythesesignificantthingson thesunsomewhatasaphysicianstudies thefirstmarksofanincurabledisease in apatient ’s system . " Butthestudyofthesunitselfdoes notbyanymeansconstitutetheentire w o r k o f t h i s remarkable observatory . Thatstudyalonewouldnotsufficeto s o l v e the p r o b l e m ofsolarevolution . Othersunsmustalsobestudied . The comparativemethodisasvalidinas tronomyasinanatomy . Inconsequence ofthisbroadprogramofinvestigation , coveringthewholefieldofsolarandstel l a r l if e , the visitortothenew S o l a r Observatoryfindsthatthelaborsofthe astronomerstheredonotceasewiththe goingdownofthesun . Atnighthe mayseethegreatbeamofsunlightre placedbyalongrayfromastar — from Sirius , thestellargodofancientEgypt , orfromArcturus , whosesplendorglows intheBookofJob . This , too . iscaught bytheccelostat , reflec te dintothesecond mirror , thencetransmittedintothedark interiorofthebuilding , sentbackfrom thefartherendbytheconcavethirdmir ror , andfinallybroughttoafocusonthe slitofaspectrograph , whichisenclosed inalargeconstant - temperaturechamber atonesideofthebuilding . " Butthestudyofastar , afterall , dif fersinsomerespectsverywidelyfromthat ofthesun . Insteadofthebroaddisk whichthelatterpresents , thebrightest starshowsonlyasabrilliantpointof l i g h t . Bynomeans , atpresentdevised , canthatpointbemagnifiedintoameasur ableimage . Theconsequence is thatthe rayofstarlight transmitted f r o m the mirrorstothespectrographrepresents theradiationsfromtheentiresurfaceof thestar , andnot fromanyparticular portionofthatsurface . Theinformation thatitgivesrelatestotheconditionof thestarasawhole . Buteventhisgen eralizedinformationisof the h i g h e s t valueforcomparisonwiththatderived f r o m the m o r e detailed s t u d y o f the s u n . " TheviewsintheconstellationSaggi - tarius show , ataglance , therelative proportionsofthepictureandtheamount ofdetailwhicheachexhibits . O b j e c t s thataremerespecksinthesmallestpic turearemagnifiedinthelargestoneto suchadegreethatmanyoftheirdetails areclearlyrevealed . Thisisnotablein thecondensed star - cloudintheupper partofthef ie ld . Inthelargestphoto graphhereshown , therichnessandcom plexityofthebackground , orbedwork oftheMilkyWay , isreallymarvelous . Darkgapsandlanesappearinterspersed amongthethicklycrowdedassemblages ofstars , andthestrikingapplicabilityof theterm ‘s tar - clouds ’ tomanypartsof thef ie ld isevidentataglance . W h a t themeaningofthecomplicatedarraymay be , whatlawsunderliethissprinklingof sunsuponthebackgroundoftheuniverse asiftheyweregoldensandsstrewnfrom anAlmightyhand — arequestionsnotyet tobeanswered . " ProfessorBarnard , himself , prefersnot tospeculateuponthesubject — atleast , notforpublication . Onethinghewill say , however , andthatisthathehas foundnoappearancesindicatingtheex istenceofotherstarryuniversesbeyond thisone . InProfessorBarnard ’s opin ion , also , thecountlessmillionsofsmall s t a r s constituting the cloudsofthe MilkyWayareactuallysmallerthanthe relatively f e w b r i g h t s t a r s scattered amongthem , anddo notsimplylook smalleronaccountofexcessivedistance . Yettheiractualdistanceis , ofcourse , enormous . " N o l e s s mysterious thanthe 's tar - clouds ’ arethevastnebulositiesspread overlargeareasintheMilkyWayand itsneighborhood . Thesefaintlyglowing an d apparently g a s e o u s m a s s e s , w i t h theirsuggestive , tentacle - likeextensions , flungoutforbillionsofmilesonallsides , asifthey w e r e f e e l i n g forstars , are foundenvelopingnotonlysinglestars , butalsostar - groups . Insomecasesthey coverareaofincredibleextent . " O n e o f Professor Barnard ’s f i n e s t photographs , made , however , before h e wenttoMountWilson , showsagreat cloudofstarsintheconstellationSag - gitarius ( whichseemstobetheGolconda oftheheavens ) , and i n itappeartwo darkholes , inoneofwhichshinesalone s t a r . Thedarklanescrossingthisstarry cloud , andtheremarkablerowsofsmall starsthatseemtoform extensionsof theselanes b e y o n d the borderofthe cloud , amazethemindofthethoughtful beholder . " Whyshouldsunsfallintorankin suchamanner ? Thesestarsarereally sunderedfromoneanotherbyimmense distances . Yettheyclearlyformacon nectedsystem , theirraysarebrilliantly intermingled , andtheimaginationcom mitsnooffenceagainstessentialtruth in picturingtheirrowsandcirclingranks asstreetsoflivinglight . " Thefinest resultofProfessorBar nard ’s workontheMilkyWaywillbe to produceaphotographicchartofallthat portionofitvisiblefromourlatitudes , andthestudyofsuchachartmayfur n i s h the k e y t h a t astronomers h a v e soughtforcenturiestotheorganicstruc tureoftheuniverse . " Atthetimeofmyvisit , Mr . G . G . Abbot , ProfessorLangley ’s associatein solarresearchatWashington , arrivedon themountaintoconductthereduringthe summeraninvestigationofthesuspected changesintheradiationofthesunto whichtheextraordinarycoldsummerof twoyearsago , andotherrecentclimatic eccentricities , aresupposedtohavebeen d u e . Thepeculiaradvantagesofthelocal ityarelikelytoaidgreatlythisimportant inquiry , which , initsnature , isofvital interesttothewholeworld , fornothing strikeshomelikeinconstancy , whether inthemoodsofahumanbeingorofa sun . ” — Extracts f r o m articleby Pro fessor Garrett P . Serviss, i n the A u g u s t Cosmopolitan. # THE CELLULAR COSMOGONY. The Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury Con tains a Review of the System. Aswebrieflystatedafewdaysago in " LiverpoolDaybyDay , ” asmallknot ofpeopleinLiverpoolaretakingdeep interestinwhatisknownas " Cellular Cosmogony , ” whichcomprisesthebelief thattheearthisaconcavesphere . I t isperhapswelltostatethatthewhole heartedEnglishadherentstothetheory couldbeindicatedbythedigitsofone hand , buttheleaderofthesect [ inLiver pool ] claimsaconsiderable numberof half - heartedsympathizers . Thetheory c o m e s f r o m the U n i t e d S t a t e s , the l an d o f n e w b e l i e f s an d a 9 9 12
The Flaming Sword · Vol. 19, No. 10 · Aug 15, 1905 · PDF pp. 23-24