Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-01-25

dnionS Tile Chiefs OF The pflnClpaI 0DSer.
vat cries, and, as soon as clear weather
permitted, the newcomer was submit
ted to the searching scrutiny of the
spectroscope. Unfortunately. it had
already dwindled down to the fifth mag
nitude by Dec. 2, when first it was thus
examined, and its light has become
greenish, almost blue. 1t was not till
Dec. 5 that really satisfactory observa-
tons were made. Then NJ. Cornu OBJ
tanned the following very curious results
The light Of the star showed the usual
rainbow-tinted streak crossed by dark
lines which forms the spectrum of a
star or sun, but on that rainbew-tinted
streak, as on dark background, there
were seen the bright lines ofhydrogen,
a bright line belonging to magnesium
lin the state of glowing vapor), and
two other bright lines, one of which
seemed to be identical with bright
line shown by our suns corona during
total eclipse.
"Now, a point to which I would call
special attention is. that all the elements
of the catastrophe, if one may so speak,
which has befallen the remote sun in
the Swan exists in our own sun. At
times of marked disturbance parts of
our SUMS surface show the lines of
hydrogen bright instead Of dark, which
means that the flames of hydrogen over
those parts Of the sun are hotter than
the glowing surface of the sun there.
We have all heard, again, how Tacchini
and Secchi, in Italy, attributed some
exceptionally hot weather we had few
years ago to outbursts Of glowing
magnesium. And, lastly, our sun is
certainly well supplied with that element,
whatever it is, which gives the bright
line Of his corona during eclipses; for
we now know that the whole of the
streaked and radiated corona occupying
a region twenty times greater than tn e
globe Of the sun (Which itself
exceeds our earth 1,25O,O0O times in
volume) belongs to the sun. Again,
though the sun has shone steadily for
thousands of years, yet so far as can be
Judged, the stars which, like this one in
the Swan, have burst out suddenly.
blossoming into flames of hydrogen.
within which the stars heart-core
glows with many hundred times its
former heat, have also been for ages
shining steadily amid the star depths.
We know that the one which blazed out
ten years ago in the Northern Crown
was one of Argelander's list, star of
the tenth magnitude. and that, after
glowing with eight hundred times its
former brightness for q few days. it has
resumed that feebler lustre. We have
every reason which analogy can furnish
for believing that the new star. which
was not il Argelander's list, simply
escaped record by him on account of it's
faintness. 1t is now fast losing its
suddenly-acquired lustre, and is already
invisible to the naked eye. It appears,
therefore, that there is nothing in the
steadfastness of our sun
as source of light to assure us that he,
too, may not suddenly blaze forth with
many hundred times his usual lustre
(the conhagration being originated,
by some comet unfortunately
too directly toward him).
Though he would probably cool down
again to his present condition IN the
course Of a few weeks, no terrestrial
observers would be alive. at any rate, to
note the fact, though the whole series
Of events might afford subject of
speculation to the inhabitants
of worlds circling round Sirius or
Arcturus. Fortunately, we may legit-
imately reason that the risk is small,
seeing that among the millions of suns
which surround ours, within easy
telescope distance, such catastrophes
occur only ten or twelve times per
century"