A GALAXY OF SUNS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4961, 12 April 1926, Page 3

A GALAXY OF SUNS.

MILLIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. LIFE-TIME OF THE EARTH. That on entering the year .1926 our world has lived only half a millionth of its allotted span, and that the|re is every reason to believe that the human race has a life-timei of nearly a million billion .more years, were the assertions of Dr. F. R. Moulton, of the University, of Chicago, one of the leading American astronomers, at a meeting in Kans,aisi City pf the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Basing his statement on recent astronomical discoveries, Dr. Moulton said : “Such things as plants, apimals, mountains, and even worlds whose evolution has been considered important,, are trivial, compared with the galaxy of suns. In fact, the birth and destruction of placets are insignificant incidents in the developments .of the system of a thousand million suns of which tour own is a minor number.” Among the newest things in the universe are men who have achieved full huma,n stature within the last 100,000' years (says Dr. Moulton). “Out world will come to an end when our sjun passes close enough to another sun to bring ours into collision with another solar system. From the resultifig debris new planets will be born to start on new million billion year careers. There are millions of other planets thousands of times as old as the e.arth, a,nd it is highly reasonable to suppose that some are inhabited' by beings vastly more, advanced than we are in inteh lect, character, power, social organisation, and 'control, over the forces, of nature. With monumenta.l egotism out predecessors assumed that the human race was the principal purpose ot creation. Modern science shows that not only are other planets of our solar system somewhat similar to the earth —and, too, probably, suited to the abode of some sort of life —but also that hajf of the thousand million suns are similar "to our own s,un. They are the same size, are composed of .the same materials, have the same temperatures, and ■radiate the same amounts: of light; moreover, they pursue their w(a,ys just, as our sun does. It seems probable, therefore, that they, too, have planets. Naturally some of these planets .are very much younger than our earth, and are at stages at which the first steps in evolution are being taken. Others are elder tha,n our earth. It is not asserted that all, or even a large fraction will, ever be suited to the abode of life. In our splar system, apparently, life exists upon only three of the planets—Venus, Earth, and Mars. Nevertheless, the number of inhabited planets might be hundreds of millions.”