The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-08-19

rectangular in Shape, and three to four
digitS high, the upper third part being di
vided irregularly into tongues of light,
formed by asSemblageS of rays. Between
these larger masses the circumference of
the lunar orb was filled up by radiate lines
of brilliant light, extending on an average
Il digit and half in height, of l25, 900 miles
from the suns surface. 1t was noticeable
that this continuous band was the most
narrow on the lower left hand side (South-
west by sOuth) averaging about twO-thirds
of the width elsewhere, and was badly
broken on its entire outline, rs if the rcgu
larity were interfercd with by the action
of the string of bcad-like prOtuberances
jutting up through the interior portion OF
its volume.
The full amount of this irregularity was
not perceptible with the naked eye, but the
general distribution Of long and short rays
was the same To the unaided vision the
narro,r-"- POI lions or tho ee-o,,n ,,-o~o ri,i
bic and bright but the tongue-like extern
siOns faded out into nOthingnesS, whereas
the telescope gave a definite outline all
around, except at the summit of the first
named protrusiOn. We do not claim that
the relative lengths of the different por-
tons were exactly as laid down here they
were estimated at the instant, and trans
ferred to paper directly; but the time al
lowed for observation Qess than three
minuteS) was SO short that it can scarcely
be considered possible to reproduce every
part of the outline with untailing accu-
racy.
AS stated in the letter from Des MOines,
the images of the corona taken in the
camera by DR.. Curtis, of the United States
Navy, do not show so great a breadth OfOut-
line as is here represented, probably for the
reason that the light of the outer portions
was too faint, by comparison, to fix an
image on the plate, while the more brilliant
portions were burning their impress on the
apparatus. The photographs show the
corona to be least broad in the region of
the prOtuberances, and have preserved the
impress of as much of its breadth rs cor
responds to distance of 105 900 miles from
the suns body, whence we may conclude
that the philosophers extends to at least
that distance, while the observations of
Prof Lane show that at three-fourths of
/ that distance it possesses enough of il
Illuminating power to light up the moons
surface to an extent sufficient to cause a
reflection of its rays through distance of
2:}S, 600 miles.
A legitimate conclusion from this and
tailed in our reports, is that the solid body
OF the sun is surrounded by selflumi-
nous atmosphere of at least one hundred
thousand miles in thickness, or one fourth
part of his radius this giving the image
fixed in the camera, and that outside of
the light (photO) sphere is ii non luminous
envelope or atmosphere shining To us by
means of the light received from the inte-
rior shell, which it reflects to our ewes
This nOn-luminOuS envelope or atmosphere
must be at least GOO, 900 miles i'm thickness,
and perhaps twice that amount, us its
density must decrease with the distance
till it loses its reflective power 1t is not
impossible that the prolOngatiOn i'm the di-
rection a b, gives rise to the phenom-
enon known as the ZOdiacal light, and rises
sufficiently near the orbit of Mercury to
cause the disturbances i'm his movements
which have been ascribed To Il mythical
belt of planetoids.
THE PROTUBERANCES.
These are represented on the diagram
IN black; their apparent color was il pink
red. The instant that the last film of light,
with its middle at ID, had vanished, leaving
the sun in utter darkness, and simulta-
neOusly with the outflash of the corona,
the line of prOtubcrances extending from
W ID dlSo DuiSI upon lHc NltW- TIC OHt
ut the lowest point was the largest All
saw the upper portion, which occupied
about 16 degrees on the moons disc, and
projected $4,000 miles from the suns edge,
or fully one-haf the average height of
the photosphere. Dr. IIilgard saw and
described the lower, or pendant portion,
which was estimated to be 100000 miles
long, by 10000 miles wide, making a total
protrusion of 900 miles. The protuber-
ance at l., and the one Immediately below
it, were also visible to the naked eye
they were rectangular, and were estimated
at 10000 miles high, with bases of five and
eight degrees on the circumference. The
photograph showed the three more fanci-
| fully shaped ones near the eastern quar-
ter, which were also more faint i'm outline.
seeming as if one part lay far behind the
other, which crosses il i'm the diagram.
Hence the cross-shaped figure at b was
probably made up of two Independent
protuberances, the horizontal portion "
ing several hundred miles farther from
the eye of the spectator than the part
which seemed to stand nearly upright In