Evening star., 1928-12-30
BY DON GLASSMAN.

Il gold, belong to anybody who
can mold $4,000 pounds of COM
mon sand into 200-inch rejecting
mirror for the worlds greatest tele-
scope.
A small order. Run your car down
20 the beach and fill up with granu-
lated quartz. Experiment at home in
your furnace. If results are favorable,
notify the International Education
Board, New York, to send four fiat
cars and regiment of soldiers-youn
I, need all that. Your feat will mark the
elimination of an alchemist's dream
transmutation of sand into gold.
What John D. offers you, and the rest
of us, too, is a chance to trade $4,000
pounds of sand for 18,400 pounds OF
gold A boon for man wrapped in
a gray, sour mood. A horse trader
would swap with the oil king in mid
stream.
But to date Mr.. Rockefeller and gen.
tlemen of the board sit listless on their
money bags The field marshal of
finance broods in his tent like Gen.
Alexander. No more honest men to
lure with mountains of gold. Five
million eagles, and not one promotion
salesman offering to sell the Panama
Canal instead of $4,000 pounds of mere
sand.
But Mr.. Rockefeller's vision dwarfs
y.
of Macedonia vanquished cities, fort
resses and dynasties, the oil baron's
gold will probe the unplumbed depths
of space; invade, explore and conquer
whole galaxieS: measure. describe ana
photograph such infinitudeS of time and
momentum as never veXed the hard
heads of Alexander, Caesar and Antony.
AL the conquered kingdoms in human
history are as pin point in Mr.. Rocke-
feller's celestial DOMAIN.
Yesterday the National Association
9or the Advancement of Science, meet
ing at Columbia University, New York,
heard DR.. Walter S. Adams, director
of the Mount Wilson Observatory,
Carnegie Institution of Washington,
discuss plans for constructing and pos
abilities of the new telescope.
The greatest difficulty and cost of
the project lies in connection with the
kefiecting mirror, which concentrates
light rays of the eye piece. Its diameter
will be approximately II feet; area, 240
square feet; weight, 25 tons. The
present disk at Mount Wilson is only
400 inches in diameter. But 200
Inch reflector will bring into range of
measurement stars at least ten times
Fainter than can be studied at present.
A site for the 200-inch telescope has
hot yet been chosen. Probably it will
be built on a mountain top in the
balny weather zone of Southern Cali
fornia or Arizona. Besides the large
mirror, many smaller auxiliary ones
will be necessary. The problem OF
transporting them to an 8,000-foot
level will be fraught with immense
difficulties; the least shock of injury
may mar the highly polished surface.
But in the instance of the 200-inch
disk the problem is of such magnitude
that 1t may be necessary to bring the
factory to the mountaintop observa-
tory and cast the mold almost on the
spot 1t will be used.
HERETOFORE all large refectors
Il were cast out of glass, but its Woe
sul deficiency for high-powered work
will disqualify 1t for. Mr.. Rockefelier's
disc. Nothing but the pureSt, whitest
natural quartz will be fused in the
melting pot and poured into the mold.
1T is expected that the great bulk OF
the new disc will not be totally free
from impurities and air bubbles. But
The surface layer will be poured out
of crystal quartz crucible and ground
10 a perfect paraboloidal surface that
will be accurate to the order or one
ave hundred thousandth of an inch.
No one can approach discussion OF
khis amazing telescope without losing
pne,s self in superlatives, infinitudeS,
kuphuisms and neologisn1s. It en-
broiders a poets imagination, 1t ex-
hausts our language and enhances our
sad insignihcance. Where the 100
inch scope brought 10000 600 stars
and many nebulae into range, the 200
inch device will gather TO itself four
times as much starlight, increase visual
range to a distance of 1000, 600 light
wears and prove the existence OF more
than 1000, 100000 new stars, countless
kalaxies nebulae and cosmic Kingdoms.
: Not since an apple fell on Isaac New
tons Uranium and gave birth to the
theory of gravitation has there been
such stimulus to astronomy and star
gazers.
"Of numerous lines of investigation
In which we can feel certain the ZOO
kn.h disk will extend our knowledge"
DR.. Adams said "I shall speak in de-
tail of only three.
"There can be little doubt that the
instrument will add some hundreds OF
millions of new stars which can be
photographed and measured for bright
ness It is already known that the stars
of our system, estimated at some thirty
billion in number, are not equally
ecattered in space, but thin out with
Increasing distance. least rapidly in the
direction of the Milky Way and most
rapidly at right angles to it. Increased
hight-gathering power of the new tele-
scope will carry us much nearer to
boundaries of our system and improve
knowledge of our island universe, of
which our sun forms an insignificant
: member.
For analyzing light from faint stars
The instrument will prove invaluable. A
stars spectrum gives us information,
not only regarding its constitution and
surface temperature, but also regarding
motion, distance, luminosity and state
of matter composing It. 1t is difficult
ht present to photograph spectrums
q 900 times as bright as the limiting
brightness of stars which may be seen
bn direct photographs of the sky.
What motion does this universe of
stars have? What motions have in
dividual stars? Clusters of stars? And
how about faint stars which are our
nearest neighbors in the CELESTIAL
vault?
But in the realm of nebulae, or star
clouds, We find the telescopes richest
6leld of investigation, since the largest