Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1864-12-07
.rHE; SUN.
The SUN.
The British Almanac for 1865 contains

The British Almanac for 1865 contains
an interesting exposition Of the present
state of astronomical science, relative TO
the sun. The improvements in the instrl-
ments used in taking observations, and es.
pecially the accurate photographs OF that
fuminary for stereoscpic inspection which
modern art supplies, have secured to l'v-
ing astronomers important advantages
over their predecessors. Notwithstanding
this, however, and despite the large amount
of information we possess, there is still
great degree of doubt, uncertainty, and
ignorance, respecting the character and
constitution of the grand orb which is the.
light, centre and soul Of our planetary sys-
tenn" the glorious King Of Day"
The latest observations show the suns
distance from the earth to be 81 BPS, 500
miles. This is 3S4 times the distance OF
the moon. The diameter Of the sun is
S50,10O miles. To obtain better idea OF
this vast mass, it may be stated that it the
earth could be placed at the suns centre,
and the moon nearly taoice its present dis
lance from the earth, it would yet perform
its monthly revolution within the suns
surface.
The bulk of the. sun is 100000 times
as great as that of the earth. The sun is
600 times as large as all the planets which
it warns and lights, put together Its
weight is 74Q times greater than that of
the combined planets. So much does the
matter employed in lighting up our system
exceed the quantity thus warmed and illu.
minated. "
The apparent figure of the sun is that Of
perfect sphere. This is an anomaly with
the heavenly bodies, the revolution around
their axes having the effect Of making the
equatorial greater than the polar diameters.
Tie sun, though also revolving body, pre-
sents no apprecisble difference, its disc be-
ing perfect circle. Attempts are made
to prove, however, that this regularity of
outline is only apparent, not real.
The solid body OF the sun is supposed to
be enveloped with a luminous atmospheric
matter, called the protosphere. THIS pro-
tosphere is subject to great undulations,
like the waves OF the sea i'll a storm. Its
appearance frequently changes, and there
is reason to believe that it is swept by
greatcurrents, such as are found in the
oceans of the earth. The protosphere is
interspersed with masses Of greater bright
ness than the rest, called taeuIle and also
contains those darker portions called the
suns "spots" A lasge space is taken mp
in the British Almanac in describing the
nature and movements of these faculE and
spots. The facula are supposed to be bill
lows Or mountains, so to speak, Of the pro-
tospheric substance. The spots are either
dePressions, or masses of semi-luminous
matter. The protosphere is seemingly in
state of violent agitation, as if lashed by
cyclopal tempests, and boiling and blazing
with furious fires Luminous prominen-
ces," or PROJECTIONS" composed Of thin
matter, are seen to shoot up like masses of
cloudy fame, forty thousand miles high.
The body of the sun was supposed, by
Sir William Herschel, to be an inhabitable
globe the light and heat being all given
out by the attached protosphere. This idea
is now discarded the nucleus or body it.
self being considered also incandescent.
Ofthe fervor Of the sun, some very in
teresting illustrations are given. The most
vivid flames disappear, and the most in
tensely ignited solids appear as black spots
on the disc of the sun, when held between
it and the eye. OF the quantity Of heat
| emitted by it, Sir John W. Herschel gives
the following illustration :Supposing a cyl
inder Office, As miles in diameter, to be coll
tinually. darted into the sun with the velpc-
ity of light, (here taken to be $4,000 miles
asecond, the heat now radiated from the in
SIN would be sufficient for its lquefaction.
To assist in compromising the Illustration
itself, we remark that the velocity of light
is sufficient to make the circuit ofthe earth
before person could wink that is to say,
the out-fowing heat of the sun, if collected
| and directed, would melt cylinder of ice
forty-ive miles thick, and long enough to
girdle the earth, before a man could snap
his eye!
The calculation is also stated in other
forms. The degree Of heat, or the "poteu-
tial temperature" rs it is called, which
prevails at the SUMS surface, is found by
estimation based on experiment, to be 49,
sS0,ooo degrees, computed by the scale of
fahrenhelt's thermometer. This is tenn
Perature almost inconceivable The oxy-
hydrogen flame produces one of the high
est heats known-in chemistry. In it iron
burns with the utmost readiness and in
deed, all the metals are speedily consumed,
like tow in the flame Of lamp. But the
temperature Of the oxy-hydrogen fame is
only 1850 degrees Of Fahrenheit. The
temperature of the sun is, therefore near:
ly nine hundred times hotter than the oxy-
hydrogen flame, or about ten thousand
times hotter than sron at a uh;te heat T.
What feeds the everlasting fires which
make the sun thus glow with fervor at
once incomprehensible and undiminished I
| Who shall understand and interpret the
blazing miracle that daily wheels around
US, unnotieed by our familiar eyes, and
nnconsidered by those who ask, Where is
the proof of God9