192 GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE STARS 



By Burton Holmes. From Ewing Galloway 



Here, in the Court of Honor in front of the science building, light from Arcturus, 



which had left the star forty years ago, set off the lights of the Century of 



Progress. The illuminated board which secured the starlight from one of the 



co-operating observatories is seen in the center of the picture. 



it would require 500,000 tons to reach the nearest star, 

 and to reach the North Star, it would take over 55,000,000 

 tons. 



How Starlight Opened the Century of Progress Exposi- 

 tion. In 1933 the World's Fair in Chicago was opened 

 officially by an electric current set up by light from the 

 star Arcturus. The light from this star, which reached 

 the earth in 1933, left Arcturus 40 years earlier, or about 

 the same time that the previous World's Fair had been 

 held in Chicago. It is interesting to know how this 

 starlight was used. Light from the star was collected 

 by a large telescope and focused on the interior of a 

 photoelectric cell. Photoelectric cells are capable of 

 transforming light energy into electrical energy, and this 

 cell transformed the light from Arcturus into a current 

 of electricity which was amplified and sent by wire from 



