Part 10

There is also another very important advantage in placing the telescope in a high latitude; in the middle of winter the nights are very long there; if we could get within the Arctic. Circle itself, there would be nights when the hours of darkness would number twenty-four, and we could substitute complete circles for our broken arcs. This would, indeed, be most favorable from the astronomical point of view; but the essential condition of convenience for the observer renders an expedition to the frozen Arctic regions unadvisable.

But it is at least possible to place the telescope as far north as is consistent with retaining it within the sphere of civilized influences. We can put it in that one of existing observatories on the earth which has the highest latitude; and this is the observatory of Helsingfors, in Finland, which belongs to a great university, is manned by competent astronomers, and has a latitude greater than 60 degrees.

Dr. Anders Donner, Director of the Helsingfors Observatory, has at its disposal a fine photographic telescope, and with this some preliminary experimental "trail" photographs were made in 1895. These photographs were sent to Columbia University, New York, and were there measured under the writer's direction. Calculations based on these measures indicate that the method is promising in a very high degree; and it was, therefore, decided to construct a special photographic telescope better adapted to the particular needs of the problem in hand.

The desirability of a new telescope arises from the fact that we wish the instrument to remain absolutely unmoved during all the successive hours of the photographic exposure. It is clear that if the telescope moves while the stars are tracing out their little trails on the plate, the circularity of the curves will be disturbed. Now, ordinary astronomical telescopes are always mounted upon very stable foundations, well adapted to making the telescope stand still; but the polar telescope which we wish to use in a research fundamental to the entire science of astronomy ought to possess immobility and stability of an order higher than that required for ordinary astronomical purposes.

It is a remarkable peculiarity of the instrument needed for the new trail photographs that it is never moved at all. Once pointed at the pole, it is ready for all the observations of successive generations of astronomers. It should have no machinery, no pivots, axes, circles, clocks, or other paraphernalia of the usual equatorial telescope. All we want is a very heavy stone pier, with a telescope tube firmly fastened to it throughout its entire length. The top of the pier having been cut to the proper angle of the pole's elevation, and the telescope cemented down, everything is complete from the instrumental side; and just such an instrument as this is now ready for use at Helsingfors.

The late Miss Catharine Wolfe Bruce, of New York, was much interested in the writer's proposed polar investigations, and in October, 1898, she contributed funds for the construction of the new telescope, and the Russian authorities have generously undertaken the expense of a building to hold the instrument and the granite foundation upon which it rests. Photographs are now being secured with the new instrument, and they will be sent to Columbia University, New York, for measurement and discussion. It is hoped that they will carry out the promise of the preliminary photographs made in 1895 with a less suitable telescope of the ordinary form.

THE MOON HOAX

The public attitude toward matters scientific is one of the mysteries of our time. It can be described best by the single word, Credulity; simple, absolute credulity. Perfect confidence is the most remarkable characteristic of this unbelieving age. No charlatan, necromancer, or astrologer of three centuries ago commanded more respectful attention than does his successor of to-day.

Any person can be a scientific authority; he has but to call himself by that title, and everyone will give him respectful attention. Numerous instances can be adduced from the experience of very recent years to show how true are these remarks. We have had the Keeley motor and the liquid-air power schemes for making something out of nothing. Extracting gold from sea-water has been duly heralded on scientific authority as an easy source of fabulous wealth for the million. Hard-headed business men not only believe in such things, but actually invest in them their most valued possession, capital. Venders of nostrums and proprietary medicines acquire wealth as if by magic, though it needs but a moment's reflection to realize that these persons cannot possibly be in possession of any drugs, or secret methods of compounding drugs, that are unknown to scientific chemists.

If the world, then, will persistently intrust its health and wealth into the safe-keeping of charlatans, what can we expect when things supposedly of far less value are at stake? The famous Moon Hoax, as we now call it, is truly a classic piece of lying. Though it dates from as long ago as 1835, it has never had an equal as a piece of "modern" journalism. Nothing could be more useful than to recall it to public attention at least once every decade; for it teaches an important lesson that needs to be iterated again and again.

On November 13, 1833, Sir John Herschel embarked on the Mountstuart Elphinstone, bound for the Cape of Good Hope. He took with him a collection of astronomical instruments, with which he intended to study the heavens of the southern hemisphere, and thus extend his father's great work to the south polar stars. An earnest student of astronomy, he asked no better than to be left in peace to seek the truth in his own fashion. Little did he think that his expedition would be made the basis for a fabrication of alleged astronomical discoveries destined to startle a hemisphere. Yet that is precisely what happened. Some time about the middle of the year 1835 the New York _Sun_ began the publication of certain articles, purporting to give an account of "Great Astronomical Discoveries, lately made by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope." It was alleged that these articles were taken from a supplement to the Edinburgh _Journal of Science_; yet there is no doubt that they were manufactured entirely in the United States, and probably in New York.

The hoax begins at once in a grandiloquent style, calculated to attract popular attention, and well fitted to the marvels about to be related. Here is an introductory remark, as a specimen: "It has been poetically said that the stars of heaven are the hereditary regalia of man as the intellectual sovereign of the animal creation. He may now fold the zodiac around him with a loftier consciousness of his mental supremacy." Then follows a circumstantial and highly plausible account of the manner in which early and exclusive information was obtained from the Cape. This was, of course, important in order to make people believe in the genuineness of the whole; but we pass at once to the more interesting account of Herschel's supposed instrument.

Nothing could be more skilful than the way in which an air of truth is cast over the coming account of marvellous discoveries by explaining in detail the construction of the imaginary Herschelian instrument. Sir John is supposed to have had an interesting conversation in England "with Sir David Brewster, upon the merits of some ingenious suggestion by the latter, in his article on optics in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia (p. 644), for improvements in the Newtonian reflectors." The exact reference to a particular page is here quite delightful. After some further talk, "the conversation became directed to that all-invincible enemy, the paucity of light in powerful magnifiers. After a few moments' silent thought, Sir John diffidently inquired whether it would not be possible to effect a _transfusion of artificial light through the focal object of vision_! Sir David, somewhat startled at the originality of the idea, paused awhile, and then hesitatingly referred to the refrangibility of rays, and the angle of incidence.... Sir John continued, 'Why cannot the illuminated microscope, say the hydro-oxygen, be applied to render distinct, and, if necessary, even to magnify the focal object?' Sir David sprang from his chair in an ecstasy of conviction, and leaping half-way to the ceiling, exclaimed, 'Thou art the man.' "This absurd imaginary conversation contains nothing but an assemblage of optical jargon, put together without the slightest intention of conveying any intelligible meaning to scientific people. Yet it was well adapted to deceive the public; and we should not be surprised if it would be credited by many newspaper readers to-day.

The authors go on to explain how money was raised to build the new instrument, and then describe Herschers embarkation and the difficulties connected with transporting his gigantic machines to the place selected for the observing station. "Sir John accomplished the ascent to the plains by means of two relief teams of oxen, of eighteen each, in about four days, and, aided by several companies of Dutch boors [_sic_], proceeded at once to the erecting of his gigantic fabric." The place really selected by Herschel cannot be described better than in his own words, contained in a genuine letter dated January 21, 1835: "A perfect paradise in rich and magnificent mountain scenery, sheltered from all winds.... I must reserve for my next all description of the gorgeous display of flowers which adorn this splendid country, as well as the astonishing brilliancy of the constellations." The author of the hoax could have had no knowledge of Herschers real location, as described in this letter.

The present writer can bear witness to the correctness of Herschel's words. Feldhausen is truly an ideal secluded spot for astronomical study. A small obelisk under the sheer cliff of far-famed Table Mountain now marks the site of the great reflecting telescope. Here Herschel carried on his scrutiny of the Southern skies. He observed 1,202 double stars and 1,708 nebulæ and clusters, of which only 439 were already known. He studied the famous Magellanic clouds, and made the first careful drawings of the "keyhole" nebula in the constellation Argo.

Very recent researches of the present royal astronomer at the Cape have shown that changes of import have certainly taken place in this nebula since Herschel's time, when a sudden blazing up of the wonderful star Eta Argus was seen within the nebula. This object has, perhaps, undergone more remarkable changes of light than any other star in the heavens. It is as though there were some vast conflagration at work, now blazing into incandescence, and again sinking almost into invisibility. In 1843 Maclear estimated the brilliancy of Eta to be about equal to that of Sirius, the brightest star in the whole sky. Later it diminished in light, and cannot be seen to-day with the naked eye, though the latest telescopic observations indicate that it is again beginning to brighten.

Such was Herschel's quiet study of his beloved science, in glaring contrast to the supposed discoveries of the "Hoax." Here are a few things alleged to have been seen on the moon. The first time the instrument was turned upon our satellite "the field of view was covered throughout its entire area with a beautifully distinct and even vivid representation of basaltic rock." There were forests, too, and water, "fairer shores never angels coasted on a tour of pleasure. A beach of brilliant white sand, girt with wild castellated rocks, apparently of green marble."

There was animal life as well; "we beheld continuous herds of brown quadrupeds, having all the external characteristics of the bison, but more diminutive than any species of the bos genus in our natural history." There was a kind of beaver, that "carries its young in its arms like a human being," and lives in huts. "From the appearance of smoke in nearly all of them, there is no doubt of its (the beaver's) being acquainted with the use of fire." Finally, as was, of course, unavoidable, human creatures were discovered. "Whilst gazing in a perspective of about half a mile, we were thrilled with astonishment to perceive four successive flocks of large-winged creatures, wholly unlike any kind of birds, descend with a slow, even motion from the cliffs on the western side, and alight upon the plain.... Certainly they were like human beings, and their attitude in walking was both erect and dignified."

We have not space to give more extended extracts from the hoax, but we think the above specimens will show how deceptive the whole thing was. The rare reprint from which we have extracted our quotations contains also some interesting "Opinions of the American Press Respecting the Foregoing Discovery." The _Daily Advertiser_ said: "No article, we believe, has appeared for years, that will command so general a perusal and publication. Sir John has added a stock of knowledge to the present age that will immortalize his name and place it high on the page of science." The _Mercantile Advertiser_ said: "Discoveries in the Moon.--We commence to-day the publication of an interesting article which is stated to have been copied from the Edinburgh _Journal of Science_, and which made its first appearance here in a contemporary journal of this city. It appears to carry intrinsic evidence of being an authentic document." Many other similar extracts are given. The New York _Evening Post_ did not fall into the trap. The _Evening Post's_ remarks were as follows: "It is quite proper that the _Sun_ should be the means of shedding so much light on the _Moon_. That there should be winged people in the moon does not strike us as more wonderful than the existence of such a race of beings on the earth; and that there does or did exist such a race rests on the evidence of that most veracious of voyagers and circumstantial of chroniclers, Peter Wilkins, whose celebrated work not only gives an account of the general appearance and habits of a most interesting tribe of flying Indians, but also of all those more delicate and engaging traits which the author was enabled to discover by reason of the conjugal relations he entered into with one of the females of the winged tribe."

We shall limit our extracts from the contemporary press to the few quotations here given, hoping that enough has been said to direct attention once more to that important subject, the Possibility of Being Deceived.

THE SUN'S DESTINATION

Three generations of men have come and gone since the Marquis de Laplace stood before the Academy of France and gave his demonstration of the permanent stability of our solar system. There was one significant fault in Newton's superbly simple conception of an eternal law governing the world in which we live. The labors of mathematicians following him had shown that the planets must trace out paths in space whose form could be determined in advance with unerring certainty by the aid of Newton's law of gravitation. But they proved just as conclusively that these planetary orbits, as they are called, could not maintain indefinitely the same shapes or positions. Slow indeed might be the changes they were destined to undergo; slow, but sure, with that sureness belonging to celestial science alone. And so men asked: Has this magnificent solar system been built upon a scale so grand, been put in operation subject to a law sublime in its very simplicity, only to change and change until at length it shall lose every semblance of its former self, and end, perhaps, in chaos or extinction?

Laplace was able to answer confidently, "No." Nor was his answer couched in the enthusiastic language of unbalanced theorists who work by the aid of imagination alone. Based upon the irrefragable logic of correct mathematical reasoning, and clad in the sober garb of mathematical formulæ, his results carried conviction to men of science the world over. So was it demonstrated that changes in our solar system are surely at work, and shall continue for nearly countless ages; yet just as surely will they be reversed at last, and the system will tend to return again to its original form and condition. The objection that the Newtonian law meant ultimate dissolution of the world was thus destroyed by Laplace. From that day forward the law of gravitation has been accepted as holding sway over all phenomena visible within our planetary world.

The intricacies of our own solar system being thus illumined, the restless activity of the human intellect was stimulated to search beyond for new problems and new mysteries. Even more fascinating than the movements of our sun and planets are all those questions that relate to the clustered stellar congeries hanging suspended within the deep vault of night. Does the same law of gravitation cast its magic spell over that hazy cloud of Pleiades, binding them, like ourselves, with bonds indissoluble? Who shall answer, yes or no? We can only say that astronomers have as yet but stepped upon the threshold of the universe, and fixed the telescope's great eye upon that which is within.

Let us then begin by reminding the reader what is meant by the Newtonian law of gravitation. It appears all things possess the remarkable property of attracting or pulling each other. Newton declared that all substances, solid, liquid, or even gaseous--from the massive cliff of rock down to the invisible air--all matter can no more help pulling than it can help existing. His law further formulates certain conditions governing the manner in which this gravitational attraction is exerted; but these are mere matters of detail; interest centres about the mysterious fact of attraction itself. How can one thing pull another with no connecting link through which the pull can act? Just here we touch the point that has never yet been explained. Nature withholds from science her ultimate secrets. They that have pondered longest, that have descended farthest of all men into the clear well of knowledge, have done so but to sound the depths beyond, never touching bottom.

This inability of ours, to give a good physical explanation of gravitation, has led certain makers of paradoxes to doubt or even deny that there is any such thing. But, fortunately, we have a simple laboratory experiment that helps us. Unexplained it may ever remain, but that there can be attraction between physical objects connected by no visible link is proved by the behavior of an ordinary magnet. Place a small piece of steel or iron near a magnetized bar, and it will at once be so strongly attracted that it will actually fly to the magnet. Anyone who has seen this simple experiment can never again deny the possibility, at least, of the law of attraction as stated by Newton. Its possibility once admitted, the fact that it can predict the motions of all the planets, even down to their minutest details, transforms the possibility of its truth into a certainty as strong as any human certainty can ever be.

But this demonstration of Newton's law is limited strictly to the solar system itself. We may, indeed, reason by analogy, and take for granted that a law which holds within our immediate neighborhood is extremely likely to be true also of the entire visible universe. But men of science are loath to reason thus; and hence the fascination of researches in cosmic astronomy. Analogy points out the path. The astronomer is not slow to follow; but he seeks ever to establish upon incontrovertible evidence those truths which at first only his daring imagination had led him to half suspect.

If we are to extend the law of gravitation to the utmost, we must be careful to consider the law itself in its most complete form. A heavenly body like the sun is often said to govern the motions of its family of planets; but such a statement is not strictly accurate. The governing body is no despot; 'tis an abject slave of law and order, as much as the tiniest of attendant planets. The action of gravitation is mutual, and no cosmic body can attract another without being itself in turn subject to that other's gravitational action.

If there were in our solar system but two bodies, sun and planet, we should find each one pursuing a path in space under the influence of the other's attraction. These two paths or orbits would be oval, and if the sun and planet were equally massive, the orbits would be exactly alike, both in shape and size. But if the sun were far larger than the planet, the orbits would still be similar in form, but the one traversed by the larger body would be small. For it is not reasonable to expect a little planet to keep the big sun moving with a velocity as great as that derived by itself from the attraction of the larger orb.

Whenever the preponderance of the larger body is extremely great, its orbit will be correspondingly insignificant in size. This is in fact the case with our own sun. So massive is it in comparison with the planets that the orbit is too small to reveal its actual existence without the aid of our most refined instruments. The path traced out by the sun's centre would not fill a space as large as the sun's own bulk. Nevertheless, true orbital motion is there.

So we may conclude that as a necessary consequence of the law of gravitation every object within the solar system is in motion. To say that planets revolve about the sun is to neglect as unimportant the small orbit of the sun itself. This may be sufficiently accurate for ordinary purposes; but it is unquestionably necessary to neglect no factor, however small, if we propose to extend our reasoning to a consideration of the stellar universe. For we shall then have to deal with systems in which the planets are of a size comparable with the sun; and in such systems all the orbits will also be of comparatively equal importance.

Mathematical analysis has derived another fact from discussion of the law of gravitation which, perhaps, transcends in simple grandeur everything we have as yet mentioned. It matters not how great may be the number of massive orbs threading their countless interlacing curved paths in space, there yet must be in every cosmic system one single point immovable. This point is called the Centre of Gravity. If it should so happen that in the beginning of things, some particle of matter were situated at this centre, then would that atom ever remain unmoved and imperturbable throughout all the successive vicissitudes of cosmic evolution. It is doubtful whether the mind of man can form a conception of anything grander than such an immovable atom within the mysterious intricacies of cosmic motion.

But in general, we cannot suppose that the centres of gravity in the various stellar systems are really occupied by actual physical bodies. The centre may be a mere mathematical point in space, situated among the several bodies composing the system, but, nevertheless, endowed, in a certain sense, with the same remarkable property of relative immobility.