The New York herald., 1877-01-06
aence nscruiaOo and the ways of the Creator past
INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR NEwcoMB.

WASHINGTON. Jan. 3 1877.
Tho statement by Professor Schmidt of Athens
University, concerning connagraton in tho constel
laton OF Cysnus uhe SWAMI, and subsequent state
menis by Professor Proctor in regard the gradual
consumption of the SUI, led to a conversation to-day
with Professor Newcomb, of the National Observatory
at Washington, wherein there disclosed astro-
nonical prospect interesting and DIRE
ais 1t truc Professor" asked his guest, 'that Cyg
nus has lost a star by rcy"
Gan that is known is that last November a star,
of the third magnitude suddenly appeared IN the
steIlaion OF tho Swan, and in week alterward
suddenly disappeared from the naked eye"
LOCATING CONFEDERATION.
"Whereabouts IN the constellation did this occurS"
''Ncar Rho Cygn right ascension, 21 hours, 81
minutes; dcclination plus AZ degrees, IL minutes"
''Proiessor Proctor has lately called attention, in
rather startling manner the unsafe condition OF the
SUM-"
swell" said the young professor, smiling grimiy,
.'the has gone good many thousand years
without doing tho earth any particular damage and is
likely 90 for several thousand years longer"
SOLAR RADIATION
s'It Is matter OF some consequence to the earth"
ut is truly That the temperature of the earth is
dependent entirely solar radiation and might
CT fall any through changes in that radiation,
Is proposition which could not at any time have
cations into the subject OF hea, have helped to
nrm. Ii needs only small change in the quantity OF
heat received IRON the sun to produce the most i'm
portant changes in our means OF sustenance
stroy them entirely. This subject has, howev
given rlsc 10 much consideration, because not only
have the causes which the suns heat depends
seemed inscruabIc but tho possibility of any change
its amount has never been suggested by any nat
url But tho wide general.zltions OF
modern astronomy lead to the conclusion that
our confidence must have limit however
In hnro
reason believe that the physical constitution Of
the thousands OF stars which stud sky is the
with that OF our sun, and we know that number of
them are subject variations OF light great that
simiar variations in our sun would be productive
OF the gravcs consequences to the well being OF man
kind"
You don't. then, leave tho hypothesis OF cholsc
out OF the question:"
..Ihc hypothesis OF change cannot be entirely dis.
WHAT THE spEcrRoscorE PROVES.
..what best medium have we for observing solar
physcsr
necessity the spccroscopc. The immense distance
at which the Is renders every feature
visible with the telescope. unless II extends hundreds
OF miles both in breadth and height"
care spectroscopic observations considered nfal-
lible2n
at can hardly be denied that the seemingly marvel
lous performances OF the spectroscopc especially
power OF detecting chemical elements present in the
hcaveay bodies have given rise to very exaggerated
ideas what it is really capable oil elccng Tho
thusi;sm with which II is sometimes regarded can
hardly ia to be damped by the reflection that II can
give us no definite Information respecting tho
composition nature OF any solid
liquid body under any circumstances whatever Its
revelations arc entirely confined TO bodies in the
gaseous state. When We say that iron and magnesium
found in the sun mean only that the vapors Of
those bodies are iourd around the Even mere the
problem is not always the Simple it was once sup
posed 10 be- The spcctra OF the gas vapor
various temperatures and prcssures differ SO widely
that hardly any resemblance between them can be rec
ognizcd"
THE COMPOSITION THE SUM-
$50 that astronomers arc not now so certain OF the
composition OIL the sun AS MAS supposed they wercY
''We still lar from being able To say what the
Is and what Is the nature oi the operations we see
going on AT ITS surface on so astonishing scale
But what are the results OF the most Intelligent OBJ
scrvatonsy'
IAN telescope observers, IRON Calico down. hnvc
scen that tue visible surncc OF the sun is shining
sphere. into tho interior OF which 1t IS impossible Tor
sight TO penetrate Aud modern research has been
able to tell aston shngly little about the
sttulion OF this surface than that II is "A shining
sphere. Al first the spcctroscope was supposed 10
show that certainly no: gaseous because
It gave continued spectrum; but THIS inference
greatly weakened by the discovery OF Frankland that
gases might give a continuous spectrum when sub.
jccted TO pressure For aught the telescope sprc
troscopc can tell us II may be near.y continuous
solid crust surrounding the sccthng interior which
constantly bursting through IL; II may be OF the ma
turc o; immense sheet OF broken ice floating a
hot liquid; II may be mass OF clouds floating in hot
atmosphere; 1t may be gas rendered luminous under
the pressure of It's higher portions, may
be ething which We have not yet aufmsed. II Is
not lmprohably accumulation OF all these things.
Whatever 1t may be- IL is in state OF constant change.
Were IL au unbroken and unchanging crust II would
radate all It's heat and leave III utter dark.
ness"
rnorosrnERE AND cnRoMosrnERE
"ls nothing definite known OF what may be outside
the solar photosphercy"
Until 1865 nothing definite was known. Then tho
application OF the spectroscope by Iockyer and Jan s.
sen opened a new era IN solar physics 1t was iou nd
that the sun was completely surrounded by glowing
atmosphere, OF which hydrogen was The principal ngrc
dent, and VIII ch generally rose to height oftwo three
or iour thousand miles above the photosphcre. This
was tho red envelope, traces OF which had been seen
the beginn and cid of total eclpses and which,
at Mr. Lockycr's suggestion. has been called the
chromosphere. IL was now found TO present phenom.
ena amazing that lew have ventured TO ouer any
thng which they would claim to be complete and
satisfactory explanation OF them. An atmosphere sur
rounding attracting globe Should according TO the
accepted laws o gases, preserve It's general level
Especially should u do so when subjected to gravi-
tat,ng iorcc immense that which reigns At the
surface Of tho But instead of this lind thrown
up columns Of every conceivable shape
which sometimes the height of 30, 600 or
100 900 miles. These constitute rosy colored flames
or .protuberanccs' seen during total eclpses When
tell TO what forcc their elevation due shall
have solved one of the gI eat problems presented by
the SUM- All wo can say at present is that the force
which raises and sustains the prouberances Is still un
known, ana that until 1t is known our knowledge Of
solar physics IS IN very unsatisfactory state"
"What OF the atmosphere OF the coronay"
ave should expect the outline OF atmosphere to
DO round aud Uniform, whereas that of the
extremely irregular and more nearly square than
round Tho most conclusive proof is, however al
iorded hy the passage during modern times, OF two
great comets directly through The without any
sensible effect beng produced upon them. Tho first
OF these The comet oi 1850, the second and
remarkable that OF 1S43. The latter at the point of
nearest approach the sun less than 100, 900
miles above lis surface aud passed through aL least
3000 900 miles of corona, with velocity amounting ut
lis maximum 10 $50 miles "A second TO judqe the ec
feet of atmosphere OF tho rarest kind upon body
moving through 1t with this velocity have only TO
compare the comet with an ordinary shooting star
passing through our own atmosphere. Al the height
of forty miles the latter becomes longer
to reflect the light o the yet at tho height Of
fcw miles It's density such as to burn or destroy
few moments meteor passing through II at the rate
twenty niles "a second. All the observations in the
Of the comet passing directly through the SUMS
corona not show hc slightest rear1ation, did
its aspect give any indication OF so destructive an In
nucnce as the passage through an atmosphere would
have been We arc, therefore, forced To the concu-
that the corona must be cloud OF minute parti-
ccs OF matter partially vaporizcd by tho intense heat
to which they subjected"
MOTION OF MATTER ~ THE SUN.