While I was still lost in the immensity of the cathedral spaces, Stella approached. She embraced me, but in a more restrained manner than that to which by now, I had become accustomed. In type she of course, resembled the blonde litheness of Acquilla, but with a more ascetic maturity in her expression. “You come in good time, Bogardus,” she exclaimed. “For you will witness a sight no one in your day could ever have dreamed of--the most magnificent spectacle in creation--the explosion of a sun twenty thousand light years away.” “Good heavens, where?” I exclaimed, looking about me hastily. “Oh, there is no hurry,” said Stella, smiling at my excitement. “We have a good three quarters of an hour ahead of us.” “But how can you tell?” I cried staring at her incredulously. “Oh, the breaking up of a solar system is an every day spectacle with us.” “Explain to Bogardus first,” said Acquilla, “how greatly we have extended our vision of the known astral world since his day.” “But first explain,” I objected, “why there are so many observatories. Why more than one? Acquilla tells me there are at least seventy.” “Seventy-three and there ought to be twenty times that number,” replied Acquilla shaking her head. “You see, Bogardus, with the immense range of the modern telescope which the discovery of the high-magnification of inter-stellar radioactivity has brought us, the field of sight has become so vast that one of these great telescopes can cover no more than the space occupied by our sun in the firmament. It is true that with the great stations in Europe and Asia, not to speak of ours in Arizona and the West, over three thousand telescopes are concentrated on a minute observation of the stars--but what an inadequate patch that represents!” “Then how many stars are in your vision now?” “There is no mathematical figure that can give any adequate estimate,” said Stella. “Roughly speaking, there are a hundred million stars of a size greater than our own sun which we can place under accurate observation and see as clearly as you saw Mars.” “And you can measure the distances?” “Certainly, but the computation is so intricate, that it requires ten years steady application of our finest mathematicians.” “Why? Some new theory of relativity?” I said, brightening up. “Oh, all the old parallaxes were wrong,” replied Stella. “The Einstein theories which seemed so revolutionary in your day have all had to be adjusted to the new theory of Ir-relativity--yes, a truly complex computation.” “Can it be expressed in any words that will give us a glimpse at least of its character?” said Acquilla curiously.