About 2,000,000 of these extra-galactic nebulae are visible in the
great 100-inch telescope. In general, they appear to be scattered
with a tolerable approach to uniformity through space, their average
distance apart being something of the order of 2,000,000 light-years,
although here and there this uniformity is broken by clouds and
clusters of nebulae. For instance, the sky is remarkably rich in
nebulae in the constellations of Virgo and Coma Berenices. Here a
cloud of about 300 nebulae is collected, according to Shapley, within
a space having only from 5 to 10 times the dimensions of the galactic
system, at a distance of some ten million light-years from the sun. The
same region of the sky appears also to contain three other and more
remote clouds. Shapley has suggested that our galactic system, the
Andromeda nebula and other near nebulae may constitute a similar cloud.
THE REMOTEST DEPTHS OF SPACE. Hubble estimates that the most distant of
the 2,000,000 nebulae revealed by the 100-inch telescope must be about
140 million light-years away from us. This is the greatest distance
which the human eye has so far seen into space. The 220,000 light-years
which formed the diameter of the galactic system seemed staggeringly
large at first, but we are now speaking of distances some 600 times
greater. For all but a 500th part of its long journey, the light by
which we see this remotest of visible nebulae travelled towards an
earth uninhabited by man. Just as it was about to arrive, man came into
being on earth, and built telescopes to receive it. So at least it
appears when viewed on the astronomical scale. Yet even this last 500th
part of the journey covers the lives of 10,000 generations of men,
through all of which, as well as through 500 times as great a span of
time, the light has been travelling steadily onward at 186,000 miles a
second.
There are so many faint nebulae at the very limit of vision of the
100-inch telescope, that it seems certain that a still larger telescope
would reveal a great many more. The 200-inch telescope, which it is
hoped will shortly be built, having twice the aperture of the present
100-inch, ought to probe twice as far into space, and so may perhaps be
expected to shew about eight times as many, or 16 million, nebulae.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE
So far every increase of telescopic power has carried us deeper and
deeper into space, and space has seemed to expand at an ever-increasing
rate. We may well ask whether this expansion is destined to go on for
ever: are there any limits at all to the extent of space?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account