A new instrument designed to investigate the center of the Milky Way galaxy has been announced by Gerhard R.P. Miczaika, Lecturer on Astronomy.
The device, an infra-red stellar photometer, picks up and records electrically infra-red radiation with wave lengths three to four times longer than those of visible light. The Milky Way is lens-shaped, and ordinary visible light cannot penetrate the great clouds of interstellar dust that obscure the galactic center.
With the photometer, Miczaika pointed out that astronomers could pick up emissions from unseen stars, which send out great amounts of infra-red light.
Basically, the stellar photometer is a new application of lead sulphide cells, and the photoelectric effect upon which it depends is similar to that in an ordinary exposure meter. The chief mechanical difference lies in what Dr. Miczaika describes as a "chopper," which eliminates background light.
Because of the filtering of light, the photometer can be used equally as well in the daytime or at night. This quality will also enable the astronomers to investigate more closely the nature of "sun-spots," without interference from the visible light of the sun.