Evening star., 1948-07-07
Mount PuIomur Telescope
Opens New Ronee Of Vision

'sSss ~s~sAAs SsSSSSPS
Opens New Ronge Of Vision
Astronomers Are Cropping to Reach
Ultimate Border of Creation
By Thoma, X. Henry
L MOUNT PALOMAR OBSERVATORY. Calf.
Man now can look 5000, ,ooo. 900 900 900 900 900
miles into space.
That is the distance which light. moving a
speed of about $4,000 miles second. crosses
b . billion years.
It may be half way o. . tenth Of the way
genealogical models difYer-to the ultimate bor-
der Of creation where time and space turn back
on themselves.
Such Is the possibility opened by the new 200
inch rejecting telescope on the summit Of this
high peak In the San Gabriel mountains which
doubles the area Of the Cosmos open for ex-
ploration. It was dedicated scientifically at Q
meeting Of the American Astronomical Associa-
ton on Mount Palomar last week after 20 years
Of planning and building.
Is-Year Research Planned.
A ten-year program Of research Is outlined. It
Is program Of back-breaking work for the
Mount Palomar staff The first use to which the
new telescope will be dedicated u to reduce to
hitherto unimaginable precision the basic yard
sticks Of creation. Distances In space are de-
termined largely by stellar magnitudes. A star
Of the flrst magnitude Is one which Is visible
without much effort to the naked eye. Thence
the stars are classified, in order Of decreasing
luminosity down to about the 18th magnitude,
although only to the 14th with much assur-
ance. With the new telescope 1t Is expected to
extend the magnitude scale to 225 and TO gradu-
ate it into thousandths Of magnitude.
The distance away Of a star can be de-
termined by its apparent magnitude compared
to its true magnitude, which can be determined
by astronomical techniques Thus distances
may be estimated with considerable accuracy.
Five patches in the Milky Way galaxy. which
includes all the visible stars will be set up as
reference systems. Type and.magnitude of all
the stars in these regions will be determined.
Thenceforth any other section Of the heavens
will be compared with one Of these patches,
with photographs taken under identical con-
ditions Of temperature, wind direction etc.
Two-Year Task Ahead.
This probably will require about two years.
With their more precise means Of measurement
established, the astronomers will move beyond
the billion-star Milky Way galaxy, Of which
the solar system is part, to the neighboring
galaxies Of approximately the same size There
are IA Of these within a few million light years
OF each other and OF the Milky Way. The
nearest, the great galaxy in Andromeda, is
only 100000 light years distant and can be
seen as patch Of light with the naked eye
under good seeing conditions. These IA. with
the Milky Way, constitute a family of uni
verses" Individual stars now can be picked
out in them. There are 16 others In this
general region Of space which are not con-
sidered part Of the family.
Distances will be determined by stellar mag
nitudes up to about 20, 100000 light years. From
this point outwards 1t is impossible to isolate
stars But with such distances established the
astronomers can turn to another means Of
determining distance-the "red shift"
This is perhaps the most puzzling phenome-
non in creation It has been found that
galaxies grow redder with increasing distance.
This is explained by the assumption that they
are moving away from the position OF the
Milky Way at enormous speeds. The speed
increases with distance at rate of approxi-
Imately 100 miles per second per million light
years 1t would seem to indicate that creation
h flying apart, and has led to some of the
' ,eirdest pictures of space and time.
RI Remote Distance Measure.
with the distances Of the nearer galaxies
r termined by the stellar magnitude method
will be possible to establish very precisely
e amount of the red shift and thus determine
I distance of remoter objects. Beyond
S 100000 light years the astronomers no
dr will be considering individual galaxies,
:, Only families. Aggregations as big as the
M Way with its billions Of stars are far too
e snto be seen as separate objects much be-
yoA half billion light years.
S W the precise movements Of the objects
: w1tiit determined, the astronomers will be
0 In aation to formulate ideas of time, space
g. ana Sstructure of creation.
i 1t Unlikely that the range ever will be
). extene much beyond q billion light years,
u 1t Was,lained. Almost perfect seeing condi-
. lions Essential for these studies. These can
7 be reat at the best, only about 30 nights
. a yearn other nights the great telescope
u can be d for more routine Investigations.
q The loch telescope on Mount Wilson.
largest I've world up to now, could be used
Tor such X about so nights a year. A 400
inch refe. might conceyably be built some
day with ,erto unforeseen advancements in
technlquest 1t would be Of use only about
is nights sar,
d Inc law diminishing returns, considering
= the great : involved, probably fixes the
E. limit OF mapenetration OF the vastness Of
n the universe about q billion light years.
r Ansrs to Questions