THE WONDERFUL UNIVERSE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1922, Page 6

THE WONDERFUL UNIVERSE.

AN ILLUSTRATED LECTURE. (STRIKING FACTS AND PICTURES. Those who attended the astronomical lecture on the wonders of the universe, delivered by the Rev. Oscar Blundell at the Empire Theatre, New Plymouth, last night were "well rewarded, for what the lecturer had to say was of an abswbingly interesting nature and provided an intellectual treat- The value Of the lecture was enhanced by a very fine set of slides, thrown on to the screen. There was a good attendance of the public, the charge for admission going towards a fund for improved instrumental equipment at the New Plymouth observatory. Turning to the stellar regions the constellation of Orion, which, besides stars, consists of nebulae —strange filmy objects which shine with a bright white light—was dealt with. The vastness of space, which <nir minds are entirely unable to grasp, was pointed out. A globular star cluster, one of the grandest known and containing 10,000 suns, was shown, the lecturer stating that its light took 20,000 years to reach our earth.

The sun formed the subject of the lecturer’s next remarks, the earth appearing absurdly small when compared in size with the sun. The sun warms ns and lights us, prevents our wander- i ing away into space and getting lost, said Mr* Blundell. Sun spots, which should properly be called sun storms, as they are vast cyclonic movements, are exceedingly brilliant, but appear dark when compared with the great luminosity of the sun. The lecturer, dealing with eclipses, mentioned that the sun would be totally eclipsed in September of this year. It would not be visible in New Zealand, but observations would be made in Western Australia. A solar eclipse was the grandest and most enthralling wonder of nature. The solar system, with the sun in the centre and the planets and satellites revolving round it. were explained. Mars was then referred to and Venus, the beautiful evening star. He explained the meaning of Mars “in opposition,” and stated that the planet would be in opposition, even nearer than at present, in 1925. Mr- Blundell criticised the idea of canals on Mars, which he said appeared to exist owing to a subjective made on the mind. There were two schools of thought in the matter —those who claimed canals existed and those who maintained there were none. The lecturer proceeded to claim that the latter school was correct. Comets, and their curious elliptical orbits, were dealt with, reference being made to the great comet of recent time —Halley’s (1910). As a comet approached the sun it seemed to become agitated and its “tail” lengthened, extending in some cases to millions of miles. Which ever way the comet goes its “tail” is always projected away from the sun. The beautiful comet of ISSS was shown on a particularly fine slide, showing two tails, one straight and the other gracefully curved. A photo of Edmond Halley, who calculated when the comet that came to bear his name would come back into our view, was shown, the lecturer describing him as one of the greatest of EnglishmenFine drawings were shown to explain the peculiar structure of comets, Our next-door neighbor, the moon, was next surveyed. The craters standing out in relief were admirably shown at full moon, new moon and at the last quarter.