Most Important Astronomical Problems for the Coming Year Explained by Harvard Observatory

Major astronomical problems for the coming year, as explained by the Harvard Observatory, the clearing house for all information on the stars in the western hemisphere, include the study of the bottom star of the "W" in the Cassiopeia which is expected to explode at any time now.

Already the star has given one or two preliminary "pops", and observers believe that this is significant of further developments. The installation of the new 200-inch telescope at the Mt. Wilson Observatory in California is expected to help crack this problem as well as that of what lies beyond the edge of the universe. It is thought that the nebulae which can be perceived through present telescopes are embryonic solar systems.

Another problem is that of flakes of fire on the sun, which last only three minutes but which are 2000 miles in diameter. These have been discovered with infra-red photography which has also enabled observers to see the "red nebulae" and the Roman candles shooting out from the sun which were pictured for the first time in 1936.

Still another question which it is hoped 1937 will uncover is that of the tiny dust particles floating through space, which account for many of the unusual qualities of light. They range in size from one ten thousandth of an inch to one ten millionth.

More important than all the others perhaps which astronomers in 1987 hope to discover is the question of the gas which fills the atmosphere. Mt. Wilson has reported that it contains titanium, hitherto unknown. During the year, it is hoped to discover how the gas got there, its purpose said its composition.