The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1873-06-19
THE HEAT OF THE SUN.

ton. The new facts lead to new fancies
From each height greater heights appear
The solution ofone problem brings Others
into view.
1t is not many years since he grand
doctrines of the conservation If energy
became recognized as one Of the fanda
mental traths OF science Philosophy had
half realized that force could not be ere
ated, but the experimental proof was
wanting. It remained for Rumford and
Davy, Mayer and Joue HeImhol'z aud
Clsusius, TO place the doctrine fairly upon
its feet as one Of the mightiest, facts OF
the universe It's establishment revolu.
tionized some departments OF thought.
Theories about mysterious fuids and i'm
po1deraole agencies were banished for
ever from the domain Of physics. And
men were soon taught to look upward to
the sun as the main source of all the &C.
tive, physical energy which makes the
earth habitable planet, We now know
that without the suns light and heat, no
life could exist ON earth. Not breath
could be drawn, not motion made, not a
flower developed from its seed. The wind,
the currents of ocean, the evaporation of
water, the formation OF rain, bail, and
snow, all would cease Earth would be-
come dead and dreary waste. The very
rivers would no longer run, and the seas
would be frozen solid. What subject then,
could be more fruitful Of speculations than
the sun? It's heat must be measured, its
Temperature determined. it physical char
acter made our. Much of this work has
been done, yet vastly more remains to be
accomplished. Let Us look at some of
the results thus far obtained, and glance
ut few problems which the future has
yet tn solve. We will coDfne ourselves
to the one object of solar heat.
Three great cardinal questions at once
arise before us: What is the temperature
of the sun? How much heat does it emit
in given time? And from what source
is its energy derived? Each of these
problems involves the consideration OF
minor ones, and is the center of the most
fascinating speCulations.
The first of these questions Is still fal
from being settled. The data necessary
for answering it are but imperfectlY un-
ders'ood. And yet two things may be re-
gari as certain. The temperature Of
the sun is PROFESSIONALLY very high, per-
haps 50 high as t. b file human conception
This we know from the spectroscope,
which reveals to US the presence of me-
talIic vspors in the solar atmosphere. Iron
neckel, cobalt, titaulum, and many other
of our most refractory substances, which
melt with extreme difficulty, are actually
boiling in the sun, AMI giving off vapor
as water gives off steam That the solar
surface.is intensely hot cannot BE- doubted.
The other point which we may consider
reasonably Sc tied, is that the suns tenn
perature is different at different points
This is indicated by the notified surface
of the fiery globe, who4e dsrk spots, ridges,
and streaks of varying brightness tell us
plainly of unequal degrees of heat. A
great amount of evidence could be easily
brought forward to demonstrate this
proposition.
The sun, then, is hot; but how hot?
Here we are baffled.. Many estimates have
been made which show astonishing varia-
tons. One is af low as 5 900 deg. FAIR
Zollner has placed the solar temperature
1913 900 deg. FAIR. Ericsson, however, hav-
ing loftier ideas, says 100000 deg Fair.
and Father Secchi will not stop short nj
| $4,000 900 deg Fair. Here is dlscord-
ance on grand scale. 1t serves however
to illustrate the difficulty OF the problem
Quite strangely, one of Secchis own
spectostrophic observations lends strong
! support to the lowest Of all these guesses.
He claims that he has detected the lines
of aqueous vapor in the spectrum OF a So
lar spot. But aqueous vapo1 is decom
posed into its elements at a temperature
not very far above i, Oe0 deg. Fair. 81
that, if Secchl is right in this, his own es.
innate must give way; the temperature Of