Cleveland County herald., 1921-04-21
SEA OF CALCIUM
 IS SKY MYSTERY
Cornell University's New Dean of Astronomy Is Studying
 Big Puzzle.
SCIENCES VIEWS CHANCE
Theories of Evolution of Heavenly Bodies Reverse of Few Years Ago -Spectroseope Astronomers
 Greatest Aid.

Seattle, Wash.-S. L. Boothroyd pro- lessor of astronomy at the University of Washington, who leaves this June t0 become the dean of astronomy at Cornell university, has been adding his bit. and an important bit it may prove, ID mans knowledge of his earths big .3foaers, the stars.
 Many stars which to the naked eye ef through small telescopes appear as single stars are in fact two stars. cir "i ag about each other
 q is these double stars that Profes- .sal. i5aathroyd has been Investigating, lsal4 O. his work has been done at the University of Washington and part at ke D6in.aon government observatory 4saf Victoria, B. c.
 Studies Double Stars.
 Professor Boothroyd has been study ng the Spectra of two double stars just barely visible to the naked eye. One is known as Boss No. 4602" and the other as I'll. k. No. SS03." They are so far away that even big telescopes cannot separate the two stars that com pose them. The two stars which ap- pear as one and are called the Boss No. 4602 are at least 3,000000 miles apart perhaps much farther, and still they are so far away that they seem one star in the telescope.
 The spectroscope is perhaps the as. tronomer's greatest aid. It is simple little contrivance of lenses and a three cornered bit of glass that makes bean of light into a rainbow. The rainbow is divided by dark lines, and these dark lines are the pets of the astronomers Each combination of lines tells tht story of some one of the eighty-odd chemical elements present in the body producing the light. The brilliance Of the spectrum and it's lines indicate the heat radiated by the star, Professor Boothroyd states.
 "One of the double stars 1 have been observing, explained Doctor Booth royd. lis floating in sea of calcium Calcium is a rare metal on earth i'm. agine an atmosphere of metal so hot il is vapor and extending more than B. 000000 miles! I am paying close al tention to this calcium atmosphere. Il may give us the clue to the solution o. several mysteries in connection witt double stars
 Theories come and go on the birtl and life of stars, according to ProfeS sor Boothroyd Today's best hypothesis of the evolution of the stars is almos the exact reverse of the one which hele sway few years ago.
 Only Hazard Guess.
 "The best astronomers hardly hav( theory" said the Seattle astronomel They dare not They only hazard 5 guess as to the order of certain things in the life of a star. The most likely nebulous vapor and dead as a tiny shrunken old sun.
 We now believe that somewhere bits and scraps of eosmic dust, the remnants of old stars and all the litter and trasf of the universe collects and, after mil lions of years. becomes nebula. A nebula looks like knot of cotton tC the eye and like a cloud in the tele scope. It is made up of tiny asteroids from the size of a brickbat to perhaps the size of a miniature planet.
 "Why this universal rubbish collects to form a nebula no man can even guess. But when the pebula has be come large, gradually the bits work to- ward the center Heat is generated Its generation might be said to result from the friction of the particles. Rap idly the heat increases and the whole mass becomes hot. In the course of a few million years we have a great blaz ing sun, huge beyond mans best and biggest dreams"