Evening Star Newspaper, January 3, 1932, Page 68

Scientists Know That the Whole Universe Is ExpandinginSpace, i O but Will 1t Contract Again>—WillItKeep Pulsating?—Will It IF'inally Come to Rest A el ie e =W ais il Once All a Solid Mass? BY W ATSON DAVIS. guestion in science, the uni- e itself, has the center of the re- ing wel B t and ask wh Giant higher n to the S ‘ stion as the evolution of 1, althoug due to the rising tide of science in philosophy and religion there probably will not be acrimonious debates between the astronomical physicists and the clergy analogous to the evolution controversy that echoed down the years from Darwin to Dayton, Tenn Only when giant telescopes, like the 100-inch reflector on Mount Wilson, Calif.,, swung into action and penetrated the depths of space, and only when Einstein and his fellow workers de- veloped new ways of looking at the cosmos, was it possible to picture correctly the universe. Only then could scientists study the vast ex- panse of space and time that lies beyond the immediate vicinity of the sun and its planet- ary family, which are nearly lost in the im- mensely large group of stars commonly called the Milky Way. HE sun is but a minor star in a great galaxy of stars that number millions. But the surprising discovery of astronomy is that this galaxy, with its milljons of stars, is but one of many such stellar systems which themselves number several millions at the very least. These “island universes” are scattered throughout all observable space as far as the telescope can reach. The frontier of observable space lies about 300,000,000 light years from the earth, and this immense radius of known space can be appreciated when it is known that each light year, the distance tbat light at 186,000 miles a second goes in a year, is six trillion miles. On the photographs taken after many hours of exposure through the large telescopes, the far-distant galaxies appear as nebulae, faint patches of light that powerful telescopes show to be composed of myriads of individual stars. And each nebula, on the average, is actually & hundred million times as bright as the sun, although it may look very faint when viewed from the earth. Only four of them are ordi- narily visible to the unaided eye. That, in rough outline, 1s what is known of the visible universe. Beyond the reach of tele- scopes, the relativity theories of Einstein, and their subsequent developments by other physi- eists and mathematicians, paint the picture of the cosmos. It is a portrait that cannot be visualized ac- tually in mental images that come out of this workaday, three-dimension world. It is a bending of space and fime, finite but bound- less. The whole of the universe can best be portrayed by mathematical equations and, even these are only models and approximations. HERE is no jumping-off place, yet there is & sort of end to the extent of the wni- verse. If you could go on long enough in it you would be likely to get back to where you started. Aside from this relativistic view of the cos- Dr. Albert Einstein. 4bbe Georges Lemaitre. AY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 3, 1932 The spiral nebula on the constellation of the Great Bear. One theory holds that the entire .unir('rsv was contained in a compact mass like that sketched at the upper left. Then expansion began much like an exploding radium atom, giving birth eventually to many millions of great star systems like the one in the photograph. diagram at the right. mos, which physicists have become somewhat accustomed to in the dozen years and more that have elapsed since Einstein’s theories received attention, there is one other interesting con- dition to be noted. The universe seems to be expanding at a very rapid rate. In fact, it is almost explod- YXans Newes How the stars keep shifting. Three sketches showing the “Big Dipper” con- stellation, as it looked 200,000 years ago, as it looks today, and as it will look 200,000 years wm the future. ing. The distat nebulae are rushing away at tremendous speeds, amounting 0 some 1,200 miles per second for the most distant of the galaxies. This speed of recession is computed from a reddening of light that is found in the spectra of the nebulae. The redder the light, the fast- Sir James Jeans. er the nebulae are traveling away from the earth. And it so happens that the most dis- tant nebulae are those that have the redder light, so that the flying to pieces of the cosmos is accelerated as its outer visible boundaries are approached. HIS idea that the universe is exploding has not won its way easily, as it means that the whole universe is only about 10 times the age of the earth itself. And that greatly em- barrasses the astronomers who have been as- suming that the stars have existed many bil- lions of years before the earth and the other planets were born of a glancing collision of the sun with another star. It is a comparatively easy matter, knowing the speed of expansion, to figure the time in the past when the galaxies must have been crowded together; that is, about when the uni- verse must have started expanding or had a beginning of some sort. So long as the evidence for an expanding universe rested entirely upon the information brought by the red-shift of the spectra of the galaxies, there was some doubt that the uni- verse actually is flying to pieces. But when, added to this astronomical observation, there came the evidence given by mathematics, firmly rested upon Einstein’s successful theories, there was added another indication of the reality of the expansion. A priest-professor at the University of Lou- vain, Belgium, Abbe Georges Lemaitre, about three years ago published his brilliant solution of the expanding universe, but the sclentific world did not discover it until about a year and & half ago. Prof. Albert Einstein had already proposed a solution of the problem which presupposed a universe at rest and quite full of matter as universes go. Dr. Willem de Sitter, the brilliant Dutch astronomer, had built & model universe which, although non-static like the real uni- verse, was also quite empty. These revolve as Dr. Richard C. Tolman. in the BBE LEMAITRE built a cosmos that ex- pands, just as Edwin Hubble and Milton L. Humanson at Mount Wilson Observatory find that the universe really seems to be ex- panding; and it is a non-statie, going concern, just as it should be. The Lemaitre thecry was enthusiastically sponsored by Dr. de Sitter, despite the fact that it supersedes his mocdel universe just as a 1932 automobile supersedes a 1931 model. Dr. de Sitter recently said: “Lemaitre’s theory not only gives a complete solution of the difficulties it was intended to solve, s solution of such simplicity as to make it appear self-evident, once it is known—like Columbus’s famous solution of the problem of how to stand an egg on its small end—it also incidentally contains the answer to some ques- tions of long standing, such as what becomes of the energy which is continually poured out into space by the stars: it is in fact used up by the work done in the expansion of the universe. There cannot be the slightest doubt that Le- maitre's theory is essentially true, and must be accepted as a very real and important step toward a better understanding of nature.” HE reality of the expansion of the universe was given further support by the recent demonstration by Sir Arthur Eddington, the eminent British astronomer who brought Ein- stein’s theories to the attention of the world through his eclipse observations just after the War. Sir Arthur goes to the laws governing the conduct of the smallest particles of matter, the electrons, and from the wave equation of the electron, the fundamental equation of the modern quantum theory, combined with the curvature of space, he derives a value for the rate of recession of the nebulae that corre- sponds closely with that determined from as- tronomical observations. Another “universe maker” is Dr. Richard C. Tolman of the California Institute of Tech- Continued on Tenth Page Edwin Hubble.