September, 1939
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
SS6
A VIEW OF GOD THROUGH OUR GREAT TELESCOPES [Continued from page 335] the heaven and the earth.” Power was required in that creation, more power than man has the ability to comprehend. Let us see how much of this power we are capable of picturing. We have always considered the earth as a gyeat body, and so it is. It is so large that if its land surface were divided into lots 50x 150 feet, there would be about the same number of them as there have been seconds in a period of 6,000 years, the time regarded by many as embracing man’s history since Adam. We look at the power developed at Boulder Dam and marvel at its greatness. But did you ever consider the power of the sun whose heat raised that water out of the ocean and placed it in the Colorado River behind the dam? The power of the sun is much greater than that of Boulder Dam. Its volume is more than a million times greater than that of the earth, and the sun is giving off so much energy that if we should try to buy the energy it gives off in twenty-four hours’ time, and were to pay one cent a kilowatt for it, we would have to collect enough silver dollars to cover the earth, land and water, more than a mile deep. This giving off of energy has been going on in the sun for an indefinitely long period of time. God created our sun, and into that creation went all of the power the sun has given off in all time past and will yet give off in all future time. No wonder God says the cattle on a thousand hills are His! In what we call our system of stars there are about 10,000,000,000 other stars averaging as large as our sun (the sun is a star). God created them all. It is impossible for man to con ceive of all of the power that went into that creation. This was the extent of our knowledge of the physical universe at the time the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson was constructed. The 100-Inch Telescope Before this time, astronomers told us that the physical universe was one unit, that the spiral nebulae and all other types of astronomical objects were within this system. Soon after the 100- inch telescope came into use, Edwin P. Hubble of Mount Wilson was able to measure the distance to the spiral ne bula in Andromeda, the closest one, and he' found it to be nearly one million light years away. This fact placed it f i r outside our system of stars; in fact, [Continued on page 339]
searching the heavens. For ex ample, the United States Navy lent Captain C. S. McDowell as Super vising Engineer for building the observatory. He will install the mirror in the telescope as soon as Dr. Anderson sends the glass and the auxiliary mirrors from the op tical shop at the California Insti tute of Technology. The spectro graphs and the other instruments are the product of expert work in many fields. I n t h e Scientific American for November, 1936, Cap tain McDowell states: “We have been fortunate in receiving whole-hearted cooper ation from a vast number of engineers and scientists scat tered throughout the nation. This cooperation reminds me of that which was obtained dur ing 1917-1918 on many war problems. Such assistance is very necessary in order that we may make the telescope and the observatory the best that science and engineering of to day can produce.” Similarly, in the matter of pro gressively knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as the infinite God, His people are dependent upon one an other in great measure. Each be liever has his own particular con tribution to make, for each one knows the Saviour in some slightly different aspect. It is in fellowship “with all saints” that the Christian is to “comprehend . . . what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:18, 19). i What the 200-Inch Telescope Will Do Though, as scientists, Dr. Anderson and his associates are cautious about stating what they expect the telescope to reveal, one thing is certain: the telescope will raise new questions for investigation. Dr. Hale declared, in the Scientific American for May, 1936: “Every large télescopé, if effi ciently used under good atmos pheric conditions, not only adds to our knowledge of existing problems but reveals new ones for solution.” Because of the Increased light-gath ering power, as well as the development of new auxiliary apparatus, the volume of space which can be investigated will be greatly increased. It may prove to be fully eight times as great as that within the range of the 100-inch Mount Wilson Telescope, according to Captain McDowell. Of course the question the public most frequently asks regarding the telescope is, “When will it be finished?” Already the dome-shaped observatory on Palomar Mountain, in which the
THE BACK OF THE 200-INCH MIRROR Suspended from a crane in the optical shop at the California Institute of Technology, the giant mirror for Palomar Mountain shows here its ribbed construction which reduces unequal ex pansion during temperature changes. Each of the bands of webbing shown is about four inches wide. The face of the mirror is likewise about four inches thick. The experts in charge chose to aluminize rather than to silver the mirror, as this method makes the lens most efficient. telescope and mounting are to be in stalled, awaits the completion of the mirror. If the work of polishing the great glass continues according to schedule, the year of 1941 should see on the mountain in Shn Diego County such an assembling of scientists, engi neers, and newspaper reporters as the century has not yet beheld. What the telescope reveals will become a nine- days’ wonder to every American who can read—and a continuing source of amazement to those whose Interest is more than temporary curiosity. Infinity has been defined as “that which cannot be numbered.” Over whelmed by the knowledge that even astronomical figures do not exhaust the material creation, the Christian remem bers not only the physical realm but also the infinite mercies of God, and cries out: “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psa. 40:5). “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearch able” !
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