The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-11-25
ROBERT BALLS VIEWS.
British Astronomer Interviewed
by Professor Serviss.
TIE DISCOVERIES OF AMERICANS.

They Are the Most Important Of Re-
cent Developments, Declares the
Visiting snvant-Vcfcrs to Profess
or keeirr's NebuIar Contributions
10 the stellar Science.
Sir Robert Ball. astronomer royal for
lreland-he Is an Irishman whose
Celtic wit finds inspiration in the scin-
tillatlon of the heavenly bodies-Lown-
deap professor OF astronomy I'm the
University Of Cambridge England,
and author Of many astronomical
books, writes Professor Garrett p. Ser
viss in the New York Journal, came
here TO attend Yalc's celebration. to
visit some OF our great obscrvatories
and 10 give lectures When he says
that America is now at the head of
astronomical advance, the statement
may be accepted as expressing the
opinion that prevails In the land that
nurtured that great autocrat of as
trouomy. Sir William IIcrschel. The
sccptcr of Hcrschcl with the opening
VI ihN lMtllltlA tfuiNlNt UdN IidNStN
TO the western shore Of the Atlantic.
What in your opinion is the greatest
advance that astronomy has recently
made" Professor Seryiss asked.
1T is what you Americans have
been doing" replied Sir Robert BAH.
1T is the work accomplished by your
Professor Kcclor at the great Lick
obsert tatory in California. | don't
know of anything in astronomy 80
important as what he did a little be-
fore his death, when he took the Cross
ley telescope, which came from Mr.
Commons in England, and with 1t
discovered the nebular wonders Of the
heavens.
I'VE knew before that there were
nobulR, but we did not know how inn
mense was their number. \ few OF
the larger ones, visible with telescopes
had been studied. but they were com
paratiycly rare phenomena among the
muyitudes OF the stars. Then came
Keeler with his Crossley Photograph
ing telescope and suddenly pictured
the nebula for us 10y thousands. From
the sample that he got he estimated
that there must be at least 10000
nebuln within the reach of that tele-
scope.
but the discovery of nebule in such
enormous numbers is not all. Keeler
found, as you know, that about one
half of them are spiral in shape. Now,
that seems to me discovery of inn
mense Importance and significance. |
do not know of anything that can be
compared with It in the recent advance
of astronomy. 1t is particularly inter
esting. because of ;he light that II
throws upon the origin Of the solar sys-
TEN. Ii has n special importance for us
because it tells US something of the be-
clnnings and the manner of formation
Of such systems.
IL remember very we'll" Sir Robert
continued. when there was a disposi-
ton TO dscrcdt the existence of such
things rs spiral nehulT. Fifty years
ago the greatest telescope in the world
was Lord Rosse's, at Parsonstorm, in
IrelaN. And Lord Rosse, with his
greaZelescope, which was the wonder
Of the world at that time, discovered
few nebuln having the form of splrals.
His description and drawings of them
made great deal Of talk. Very few OBJ
servers could have the privilege of see
ing them. There was no other telescope
in existence powerful enough TO show
them, and many persons suspected that
there was some illusion concerned and
refused to believe that such things
could exist spiral shaped nebula
was too wonderful phenomenon to he
readily believed in.
lord Rosse was right, of course and
those things actually did exist, and
gxdually more of them were found.
We began TO discover them by twos
and by threcs. But, all told, the mum
her of them was small, and they seem
ed TO be exceptional phenomena and by
no means characteristic of the sruc-
ture of things in the heavens.
"And thus the case remained for
vears. until suddenly Professor Keeler
comes and astouishos ms with his great
discovery that spiral nebul9 are scat
tered thick I'm space; that they are so
numerous, in fact, that one may almost
say that a spiral ncbula is one Of the
most characteristic objects in the uni
verse. Il seems to be the common plan
on which uchplT are construeted-this
plan Of the spiral"
And you regard this discovery as
lending support to the nebul@ hypoth'
esis de the origin of our solar system
81 most certainly do. / think 1t fur
nlshes very strong evidence in favor
of that theory and goes far to estab-
Ilsh it. With Laplace, as you are
aware. that theory was purely hypo-
thetIcal. | do not suppose that La
Mace bad ever seen nebula. certainly
not a spiral nebula. But think If he
ebuld have seen whit Professor Keel
ef's photographs show-thousands ana
tbousands of such spirals! 1t is over
whelmlng" ~
-. --,,,,, ro,, do NOT think thnt the