Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-12-05
SEEING THE INVISIBLE


""srohcmtrN mHppAnE StlrH beyOn0
the Keacb of the Telescope.
In the Cosmopolitan for September
there Is an interesting discussion by
Camille Flamniarion Of the New Eye
OF Science--tlie sensitive plate OF the
astronomers Photographic apparatus
and OF the international undertaking of
producing by photography a chart OF
the whole heavens. The human eye Is
an admirable instrument, but it's pow
ers are severely limited. II sees slow
~. IL requires for vision compare
lively strong light. and il retains no
record OF what IL has seen The photo
graphic apparatus of the astronomer,
on the other hand, vastly surpasses
the natural eye in thes1 particulars; 1t
sees more quickly, baf. Il sfeadier gaze,
reaches fOrther aDf. 1akes an uner.
ring record of all KS visions. 1t re-
guires but the half-thousandth part of
q second for an observation, and with
In that brief period accurately maps
the whole field In, view. Directed TO-
ward any point In the sky. IL discerns
In the depths of infinite space worlds
the human eyes has never seen, aud
could never see, even with the aid of
the best telescope. What the sensitive
plate does not detect, at the first
glance, IL bch0lds after time. In five
one-fll)ilsandths Of second IL photo
graphs star Of the first magnitude:
in half n second IL includes all smaller
stars TO the sixth magnitude; in thir-
teen minutes II has taken IN all stars
TO the fourteenth magnitude. The hui
man eye Is capable Of seeing all up TO
the sixth magnitude, inclusive of 49,
pta sl...s. H. AL a
may be mapped by the exposure of the
sensitive plate for thirteen minutes is
over forty millions.
Recently a congress OF astronomers
met in Paris 10 arrange for the concert
ed mapping OF the whole heavens,
agreed upon in 1887 Two thousand
years ago IIipparchus made a cata-
logue of 1.022 stars. Present cata-
logues contain over 100000. But the
effort of the astronomical congress is
TO make a Photographic chart which
will contain all the thirty or forty mill
ion stars that can be found with the
light gathered by telescope three and
one-half yards long having an object
/ glass about foot In diameter. The
work has been divided among sixteen
observers situated at different points
of the globe. Each observatory Is to
make 200 plates, and each plate pho
tographs two degrees square. AS many
ms 1927 plates are required to cover
the entire heavens, and the celestial
chart they will be used 10 construct
will represent a sphere having radius
of over three and half yards. Some
| OF the plates are to be exposed TO the
heavens for five minutes; others for
an hour. The shorter exposure will
| give material for chart to contain
2,J00,O00 stars.
| How many will be revealed by the
longer exposure It is impossible TO say
until the 11.027 sections have been
| pieced together and the aggregate
| made up after careful inspection. II
| will doubtless contain many whose ex-
istence has hitherto been unsupported.
| The long exposure will produce a rec
| ord of stars. or suns, SO distant from
| us as TO be OF the seventeenth or eight.
eenth magnitude-stars whose light re-
| quires millions of years to reach us.
| The vast spaciousness Of the universe
| will be evidenced In the minute dots
that reveal to practiced eyes systems
| OF worlds not previously known. Large
| conclusions as to the structure OF the
| physical universe will Perhaps be sug.
gesied by the great chart when COM
| pleted. In itself the chart will be q
| monument TO the patient labors OF sci
ence and of the sentiment of fraterni
| ~ which enables many different ma
| lions and races to cooperate In its pro.
| duction -Baltimore Sun.