Science: High Lights

Astronomer Harlow Shapley, director of famed Harvard Observatory, last week looked back instead of up. Shapley’s choice of the top ten astronomical developments of the past year included:

¶ Calculation of the orbit of the asteroid Eros by Dr. Eugene Rabe of the University of Cincinnati Observatory. This led to the discovery that the earth is 1/10th of 1% nearer the sun than previous calculations had placed it (92.9 million miles).

¶ The number of known “radio stars” was about tripled (to 50), mostly the result of work by Australian and British electronics scientists. These unseen celestial objects, which radiate on wave lengths between those of light and commercial radio bands, broadcast static picked up on earth by microwave instruments.

¶ Dr. Gerard P. Kuiper’s closeup of Pluto with the 200-in. Hale telescope on Palomar Mountain, which revealed the planet to be 3,550 miles in diameter (a previous estimate: about twice this size) and the second smallest planet in the solar system (TIME, June 12).

¶ The discovery by Shapley and his Harvard colleagues of the periodic flare-up of Proxima Centauri, the star nearest the earth (25 trillion miles). These explosive flashes double the intensity of the star, which is normally 10,000 times brighter than the sun.