The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-18
Photographs Next Field.

SNA tSt0s
Eyerybody IS familiar with the reyela-
tons OF tle K-rays concerning secret
and invisible things concealed in boxes
or behind metallic screens OF hidden in
the bodies OF men and animals. saws
Garrett P Serviss. in the New York
Journal To see cur own skeletons while
yet clothed vita flesh. and TO trace the
progress. OF diseases and the presence OF
foreign substances in the organs and
cavities OF our living bodies-these seem,
az first sight. 70 be the browning Won
ders Of photography. SGt at night in the
o5servatoriss, photography achieves even
greater marvels in its revelations Of the
secrets Of the star depths.
So rapid have been the strides OF a.
Economical photography Of late that the
time seems NOW TO have GENE Tor max
ing. with It's aid. great ch2rt-like pic
lures Of the invisible heavens! At re-
cent meeting Of the Royal Astronomical
Society. in London. il was suggested thar
photography now places il in our power
TO sound the depths Of space beyond the
reach of any telescope. and 70 make
what might oe likened 70 typographical
maps. showing the real forms OF the uni
verse These photographs would far
transcend the limits OF vision. BY vary
ing the time and the circumstances Of
the exposure of his seusitized plates. the
astronomer is enabled 30 bring out invisi-
bic things a. easily as the operator with
the X-rays can do il. He hnds the skel-
eton aebulous matter too tenuous 70 az
feet our organs Of sight. A photograph
ic telescope Is marvellous instrument,
endowed with powers which make the
wonderful eye OF man seem comparative
~ a simple AFFAIR. With such q telescope
the extent of revelation depends up0n
the time that the lens is left uncovered
Turned on the great Hebulous cloud that
glows under the sparkling star belt Of
Orion. il produces IN one minute, pic
ture that fills the mind with astonish-
ment. The stars that the eye sees have
become mere splashes Of light; the bright
er parts of the nebula, also Invisible 10
the eye. are blurred with over-exposure,
but all around have seemingly sprung in
TO existence vast currents. splrals and
eddies of glowing matter, as inextricably
intermingled as the foam streaks IN the
Niagara whirlpool Substance enough TO
make ten thousand suns Is scattered
there, in a Wild swirl OF chaos. covering
a space so broad that the solar system
would be lost in It as a drop in the
ocean!
Let the Geographic telescope gaze an
hour instead of only a minute, and IL
'penetrates far beyond its former revela-
tions. Now the great eddies of the nenu-
lous clouds are lost in a blaze Of light
but wide around other currents of the
mystic werld-stufT are seen setting In
from other billions OF miles toward the
centers of condensation. Again increase
the time of exposure. and the nebular
wonder expands. until at length that en-
tire region of the sky which contains the
constellation Orion is seen to be en-
braced in one mighty cyclonic whirl OF
glowing gases and incandescent vap0rs
making the beholder CINE that the
finger OF omnip0tence has been dipped
into a stagnant corner of space and has
just stirred il with the impulse OF new
creation. These things are hidden from
the eye when it Is aided by the telescope
Photography Is needed TO reveal them
Such pictures are photographs OF the liv-
ing and growing universe; and, armed
with the power TO make them, the as
tronomer becomes the veil OF the firma-
ment. He uncovers the secrets OF its
strength and its weakness. The great
nebulous clouds, expanding and growing
more complicated as his Photographic
revelation penetrates deeper and deeper.
show him where the centers Of fresh life
lie, and the dark gaps that his pictures
contain interspersed among the hlirghte-
legions tell where there IS atrophy and
death
What the new Photographic telescopes
do with nebulous clouds they do also with
stars. The eye. aided by the telescope.
penetrates a certain distance into the
vast deeps where lie the more distant
stars, like gems on the bed OF the sea.
and can look no further. But the as
Economical photograph begins whore the
eye leaves off, and shows that what the
latter mIstook for the bottom is really
only the gloom Of. infinite distance and
incalculable depth, and its pictures reveal
millions upon millions of unseen stars
glittering in the void beyond while those
that seemed TO the eye to repose an the
very floor Of immeasurable profundity
start out In the photographs suspended
brightly in mid-abyss.
This penetrative power Of astronomical
photography is capable Of another appli-
cation. The solar system is swiftly rush
ing through space with a dizzy velocity
in comparison with which the fight Of a
cannon shot is as the lettering 81 a THE
tie down. II there is any peril awaiting
US in consequence If this notion II is
invisible and undetected. Collisions Of
solid bodies apparently do occur in the
heavens, but they are extremely rare. The
greatest danger, IL danger there can be.
WOuld no QOuDL arse from cur passage
through or into a nebulous cloud such
a cloud might have no damaging effect
upon the earth, or II might. on mingling
its gases with the air we breathe. cause
a worldwide epidemic that no medicine
and no skin could combat The chances
Of such an occurrence may be regarded
az indnitesimal. and at any rate ~ hu-
man power could prevent an encounter
OF that kind II the earth were destined
20 experience f.; bat II its coming could
be f0retold al al. Astronomical photo
graphy would offer the best means 81
prediction, because photographs show
innumerable nebui0us cIouds In the heav-
ems which telescopes alone DO not reveal
II has lately been suggested that tho
entire universe may be su enormous
spherical mass in revolution upon Itself
q gigantic drop Of crystalline ether. be-
gemmed ana studded with stars. II ~.
it, organic structure must become one -
the highest studies 81 the human Din6
and the penefrative pgWer q photo
graphy must prove among TIRE most ef-
feclive means q unfolding rs secrets.