Abstract
WHAT BECOMES or THE STARLIGHT?—This is the title of an interesting article by Prof. H. N. Russell in the Scientific American for August. Prof. Russell points out that, on the old conception of boundless space, by far the larger portion of the energy poured forth from the stars would seem to be dissipated in the form of ever-widening and ever-weakening waves. On the conception of re-entrant space, the waves would, after making the circuit of space, go over the same ground again. The question is examined whether the wave energy, which is now considered to come from the annihilation of matter, may possibly be built up into matter again. It is shown that this involves some difficult conceptions. The energy required to form a hydrogen atom would be spread through some 400 cubic feet of space. A reference is made to Dr. Millikan's suggestion that the cosmic rays investigated by him result from the union of 28 hydrogen atoms to form a silicon atom; “it is not easy to see how the 28 electrons and 28 protons can all get to the same place at the same time.” But it must be remembered that knowledge of the structure of the atom is only a quarter of a century old, and it is to be hoped that the future may reveal solutions of these difficult but fascinating problems.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 122, 327 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/122327a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/122327a0