The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-03
WARMTH FROM THE STARS.
IRON the London Daily Nexa.l


1t would scarcely be thought by most per-
sons (says our contemporary that the stars
supply the earth with an appreciable amount
Of heat. Even on the darkest and clearest
a multitude Of sparkling orbs, the idea Of heat
is not suggested by their splendor. It will,
therefore. seem surprising to many that men
OF science should assign no inconsiderable por-
distant twinklng lanaps. IL is not many years
since Professor Hopkins, of Cambridge went
even farther, and expressed his boiler that if
the earth's atmosphere were but increased
increased power of retaining the warmth pour
ed upon it from outer space, we might do ~ ith-
out the sun altogether SO far as our heat sup
ts Ssne ana rsndefs fg
the time that the sun is below the horizon, so
he held that the additional layer Of air would
serve to garner the warmth Of the stars in
quantities sufficient for all our requirements.
But until lately all these views, however plau-,
sible they might have seemed, had not been
founded upon facts actually observed. Ithass
cries of the most unexpected kind are daily
rewarding the iabors of our physicists to see
that established as certainty which had be-
fore been founded merely upon considerations
and astronomer. has just published the results
Of series OF inquiries addressed to the actual
measurement Of the heat whloh we receive
from the leading brilliants Of the nocturnal
Ne
which has been made moro or less familiar to
many OF us by the researches and lectures Of
Mr.. Tyndall. was made use Of by Mr.. Huggins
in these Investigations. The instrument was
fixed by Mr.. Huggins' large refractor. 30 that
the image Of q star formed by the eight.inch
object glass might fail upon the surface Of the:
thermopile. 1t will give some token Of the
care required in researches OF the sort to men
tion that the apparatus had to be left attached
to the telescope for hours, sometimes for days,
until the needle whose motion marks the ac-
tion Of heat had come to perfect rest. When
the time came for making an observation, the
shutter Of the dome which covers the tele-
scope was opened, and the teleHcope was turn
ed upon o part or the sky near to some bright
star, but not actually under the star. Then
the change OF positlon had ps6dueeda any eject.
If in four OF dye minutes no oigns, of change
were ehow6, the telescope was moved over
the small distance necessary to bring the iunage
Of the star directly on the face OF the pole.
Almost always the needle bsgan to move as
telescope was then moved slightly away again
from the star; the needle was then seen to re-
turn to its place. In this way from twelve to
twenty observations would be made upon the
Same star, SO that no doubt might remain as
to the motion Of the needle being really due
to the stars heat. III this wayi was found
that the bright Arcturus moved the needle
three degrees in about q quarter Of an hour.
80 did aRegnlus, the leading brilliant OF Leo,
the constellation at present adorned by the
splendor OF rudy Mars: Pollux gave q defec-l
ton Of one and half degree; but. singularly
enough, his twin brother Castor produced no
effect at all upon the needle, The splendid
Sirius gave detection OF only two degrees; bnt
as this star is always low down, and SO shines
through q greater proportion of the denser
heat should not be proportioned to it's bril-
ianCy. ne i-}as III. IlSG