The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-22
NEBULAR THEORY.
PROF. RITcHEY SECURES POS.
 TIVE EVIDENCE.
Photographs of Nova at Different Times Show Startling Changes in the Surrounding
 Nebulosity.

Chicago Special
 Prof. c. w Ritchey, of Yerkes observ- atory, is reported to have made dis himself and the observatory world-fa- nous. The discovery, in brief, is the proof of what Is known as the nebular theory, and Professor Ritchey appears to have reduced to matter of certitude what has heretofore been merely a bril- liant hypothesis. It is claimed thas he has done this In obtaining photographic evidence of evolution among the planet
 inc Ysrkes Observatory Is part of the University of Chicago, though located at Williams Bay. Lake Geneva. WIsconsin. It was endowed by the fnuiti-millionaire T Yerkes, of this city. who Is at present in London seeking to revolutiOni7e Brit ish methods of urban ffansportation.
 Professor Ritchey's observations, ls claimed. not only prove the. truth of the celebrated nebular theory of creation an nounced by the famous Frenchman, La Place, and of the wideiy-entertained be- lief that the solar system: and even star years of slow evolution from great bodies of gaseous matter floating in the tncon- ceivable abysses of space, but also prove that a nebula, with star M Tor ,t,tr nn, of light 1t ernits. and that these cnanses the compass of few hours.
 ,Astrohomers have long believed that the nebulae were the matrixes of solar systems and star clusters like our own, but no observers had been able to see the slightest sign of change In the struc- ture. This has now been done py 5ro, s,, preparing for the technical journals an announcemeift of his discovery.
 The celestial object upon which fro- lessor Ritchey has mads ais observations is the mysterious star Nova Of Perseus, which suddenly appeared last February in the northern sky. blazing with strange light In q place where there had been no star before. Its light rapidly increased nitude. Then it gradually faded away. until now it is only of the sixteenth mag nitude. At present it Is altogether invis- ible to the unalded vision.
 On the night of September 20 Profes- sor Ritchey photographed Nova of Per seus by means of the twenty-four-inch reflector at the observatory, The nega- tive disclosed the fact that the star was surrounded by nebula--a fact which had been previously shown by another observer Hut on the plate made by Professor Ritchey. after an exposure or three hours and fifty minutes. there were two fairly dense wisps of nebulosity to- ward the west, with a curve to the north merging into the conVoiutions of the ne- bula. This was startling tact, put Fro- lessor Ritchey waited patiently for favorable night to secure another nesa-
 The Iooked-Sor opportunity. came Wed- nesday night, November 13, when for seven hours Professor Ritchey exposed his plate to the light of the mvsterious star. When he looked at the negative he observed a fact in which he at once recognized the proof so long. sought and 90 ardently wished for hy observers ey- erywhere The spots of density in the west field of the nebula had moved. Never before had this amazing fact been found, and Professor Ritchey, who at once saw the immeasirable import ance of the discovery he had made, was 1 rrn filled hnYnnd Vords.