The focus itself is splitting asunder under
the intolerable strain, and in a little while, as time is reckoned in
the Cosmos, it will be gyrating into stars. And then look at the
cyclonic rain of already finished stars whirling round the outskirts
of the storm. Observe how scores of them are yet involved in the
fading streams of the nebulous spirals; see how they have been thrown
into vast loops and curves, of a beauty that half redeems the terror
of the spectacle enclosed within their lines -- like iridescent cirri
hovering about the edges of a hurricane. And so again are suns born!
Let us turn to the exquisite spiral in Ursa Major; how different its
aspect from that of the other! One would say that if the terrific coil
in Triangulum has all but destroyed itself in its fury, this one on
the contrary has just begun its self-demolition. As one gazes one
seems to see in it the smooth, swift, accelerating motion that
precedes catastrophe. The central part is still intact, dense, and
uniform in texture. How graceful are the spirals that smoothly rise
from its oval rim and, gemmed with little stars, wind off into the
darkness until they have become as delicate as threads of gossamer!
But at bottom the story told here is the same -- creation by gyration!
Compare with the above the curious mass in Cetus.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99