Evening star., 1938-03-03
There are windows in the sky.

There are windows in the sky.
Through them astronomers look out
on the whole vast expanse of the 30000,-
0ooooo-star Milky Way galaxy into the
great beyonds of outer space, where, hun
dreds of millions of light years apart,
other galaxies of similar size are found.
At least it seems that way. Studies
by both Harvard University and Car
negie Institution of Washington astron-
omers show that limited areas in the
southern sky seem particularly rich in
these outside star systems. There are
three possible explanations. One is that
there is less starlight coming from these
areas so that the very dim light coming
from the infinite outer fields of space
does not have so much competition in
reaching the Photographic plates at
tached to telescopes. Another is that
there is less cosmic dust in those direc-
tions through which the incoming light
must make its way A third is that there
are actually more outer galaxles located
in the line of sight of these areas.
Drs. Bart j. Box and Eric M. Lindsay
of Harvard University Observatory have
lust reported to the National Academy
of Sciences here their efforts to deter
mine which of these possibilities offers
the correct explanation. First they
analyzed actual counts" of stars of the
Milky Way system in those areas. They
found that the numbers did not differ
notably from those in nearby regions
through which no extra galactlc systems,
or very few, could be seen. This appar-
emily does away with the hypothesis OF
the light competition.
They report other Investigations which
indicate that there is no particular diff
ference in the density of coSmlc dust
clouds between these window regions
and those adjoining them. That is, the
light from the Milky Way star system
seems to come through about as strongly
from one as from the other.
This leaves as the strongest probability
that in these particular directions man
is looking out on especially thickly pop
ulated regions of outer space-regions OF
super -galaxies. 1t is known that gal
axies have tendency to congregate.
Thus the Milky Way system is only one
of a family of five or six separated from
each other by distances of less than
million light years. Two of the other
members of this cosmic family are the
Clouds of Magellan in the southern sky.
This group, however, would be minute
compared with some of the aggregations
of star clouds seen through the galactic
windows.
One other possibility is that there is
ontl1o11u Shc1l of ErL&
terial almost entirely surrounding the
Milky Way galaxy, but with few clear
areas in it, like panes of glass in
window. In this case the areas would
actually be "galactic windows" This
suggestion is so fantastic, however, that
they hesitate to stress it unless the
metagalactic hypothesis can be shown
to be false.
xA
There is something good to be said
about most things-even volcanoes.
They are responsible for some of the
deposits, geologistS of the United States
Geological Survey told the Geological
Society of Washington q few nights ago.
The S375,OO0,OOO in gold which has
been mined in the celebrated Cripple
Greek district of Colorado, for example,
has all come from the crater of an ex-
tinct volcano. 1t erupted about 25,OOO,-
600 years ago. The gold was deposited
in fractures and assures of the crater.
Also in Colorado veins related to the
Silverton Volcano in the San Juan
Mountains have produced $270OOO 900
worth of gold and silver. It erupted at
about the same time as the Cripple
Greek eruption forming a broad, low
dome covering an area of more than
1000 square miles. More than $50 cubic