The medium in space is obviously a gas and one of the ways to identify a gas is by spectroscopic analysis. Light from the stars shines through the medium which will show an absorbpsion spectra. Stars show a hydrogen absorbpsion spectra so it is reasonable to assume that hydrogen is the medium which pervades all space, extremely low density, almost nonexistent per cubic metre, but as space is infinite the amount of hydrogen is infinitely great.

There are two things one can say about any substance (1) it will have a temperature, (2) it will have mass.(1) Hydrogen's temperature was detected by Penzias and Wilson with their horn antenna. (2) Hydrogen is the so called dark matter which is massive, but cannot be seen, not because it is dark but because it is invisible.

In freely moving gravitational bodies, we are used to seeing the most dense material at the centre, and the less dense materials graded towards the outer edge, as in the case of the earth. The solar system has the least dense planets at the outer edge and the denser planets towards the centre. It would be strange if the centre of the system was made of the least dense material, it surely is made of the most dense material, which is radioactive as indeed the sun is.

Britain's hydrogen bomb consisted of a small uranium device surrounded by hydrogen, all contained in a lead casing. When the uranium device was exploded it provided the heat and neutrons to create helium from the hydrogen. A similar effect occurs with the sun, it provides the heat and the neutrons to convert the hydrogen from space, which is near its surface, into helium. The sun is a fission reactor and the corona is a fusion reaction.

The presence of hydrogen also resolves Oblers paradox, it is a huge heat-sink which absorbs all the heat generated by the stars.

When a wave moves through a medium it creates friction by its movement and this gradually slows down the wave. The slowdown is not noticeable over a short period of time, but over a long period it can be seen, as in the case of the measurements carried out on the waves in the pacific in the geophysical year. The speed at which light travels is determined by the medium through which it is travelling, and if it is accelerating from one medium into another the wavelength will increase. The further away a star, the slower will the wave be when it reaches earth and the greater the acceleration when it moves into our atmosphere. This means the wavelength will be the greater for the stars which are farther away, i.e. a greater red shift.

grew@ukonline.co.uk