LECTURE ON ASTRONOMY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 April 1919, Page 5

LECTURE ON ASTRONOMY.

BY. MR. J. T. WARD, OP WANGANUI. If the attendance at the lecture given in the assembly hall of the Boys' High School last night was any indication of the real interest taken locally in the subject of astronomy, it appears tolerably sure that the object for which Mr. J. T. Ward came to New Plymouth—namely to arouse sufficient interest in the science to enable a society to be formed here—will be realised. The assembly hall was filled on both floor and gallery, and, while the students of the High School predominated, there was also very good representation of the general public. There was a large contingent of students from the Girls' High School in the audience.

The Rev. 0. Blundell, who takes a very keen interest in the subject, presided, and, in introducing the speaker, said he was the director of the Wanganui Observatory, and had a good part in the establishment of that valuable institution. Mr. Blundell said ho hoped the day would come when New Plymouth would have«such an observatory, and if it should be established in connection with the school so much the better.

Mr. Ward, on rising to give his lecture on the telescope and its revelations, was given a very hearty reception, after acknowledging which he plunged into bis. great theme with the abandon of an enthusiast, and dealt with matters of immeasurable immensity with the utmost ease to himself, though it could not have been quite with the same ease that the uninitiated followed him. Mr. Ward had a particularly fine set of lantern slides showing Views of the stellar universe, which made his lecture of much more interest than it would otherwise have been. He commenced by saying how just a debt was owed to the discoverer of the telescope (and the microscope), and that but for these instruments the knowledge of the physical world would be very limited indeed. Mr. Ward proceeded to give the story of the birth of the telescope as far hack as the year 1610 in the town of Middleburg, in Holland, and traced Its development right up to modern time. showing an excellent view of the Lich Observatory, and several of its wonderful telescope—3o inches in diameter and 57 feet in length—which, he said, was probably the finest of its kind in the world. He also stated that a 100-inch telescope had been erected in another part of California, but no word had yet come of any work having been done with it. It was expected that by its aid a hundred million new stars would be added to the photosphere. The lecturer dealt with various aspects of astronomical research, sun spots and their influence on plant systems, stating that at. the present time there were nine considerable centres of disturbance distinctly visible in the sun. He showed views of many different spots, the immensity of which is almost incomprehensible. The dark centres (or umbra) of the spots measured thousands of miles across, some of those at present visible being calculated to meanre 99,000 miles across. The intense activities of the sun and the theories as to the sun's energies were also dealt with.

Mr. Ward passed to the subject of eclipses, in connection with which some exceedingly fine studies were screened, showing,, the brilliant effect of the coronal rays He likewise showed a fine representation of the Aurora Borealis.

The section of the lecture which dealt with the moon was one of the most interesting, the slides, many of which were made from photographs of models very carefully made by Havmith, of steam hammer fame, being particularly fine. The pictures of the high mountains and peaks were wonderfully produced, the shadows of some of these prominences reaching from 40 to SO miles in length. The many wonderful craters on the moon's surface were also the subject of some particularly fine pictures, one crater, the lecturer stated, being 57,000 miles in diameter.

Mr. Ward proceeded to a study of some of the plants, of which further photographs were shown, as were also pictures of the famous comet of 1882 and of Halley's Comet, the view of the latter being one lent by Mr Blundell of a picture of the comet taken from Auckland.

Some wonderful views of star fields were exhibited, and the immensity of the universe may be somewhat imagined when it is realised that what appears to the naked eye as the smallest speck of light is revealed by the telescope to be a group of some 00,000 stars, each probably the centre of a stellar system in the universe.

Notwithstanding the fact that it was impossible to comprehend the full meaning of all that Mr. Ward said and showed, the lecture was listened to with close attention throughout, and, at its conclusion, on the motion of Mr. M. Fraser, a very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr, Ward.

The lantern was operated, by Mr. W. H. Moyes, of the High School, the slides being splendidly screened. , At the conclusion of the lecture the chairman invited those interested in the formation of an astronomical society to remain behind. A good number stayed, and it was ultimately decided to call a meeting, with the idea of establishing such a society and securing an observatory for New Plymouth. Mr. Ward offered to do anything in his power to assist the project.