The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1877-01-25
STROUDsBURG, MONROE COUNTY. PA, JANUARY 25. 1877.


director of the Athens Observatory, OBJ
served star Of the first magnitude in
part of the constellation of the Swan,
where no such star should be. At mid
night the new stars light was seen to be of
a remarkably yellow color. The news
was, of course, spread about among the
chiefs of the principal observatories and
as soon as clear weather permitted, the
new comet was submitted to the searching
scrutiny of the spectroscope. Unfortun-
atoly, it had already dwindled down to the
fifth magnitude by Dec. Sd, when first it
was thus examined, and its light had be-
come grecnish, almost blue. 1t was not
until Dec 5th, that really satisfactory
observations were made. Then NJ. Cornu
obtained the following very curious results:
The light of the stars showed the usual
rainbow tinted streak crossed by dark lines.
which forms the spectrum Of star Or sun,
but on that rainbow-tinted streak, as on a
dark back kground, there was seen the bright
ligl is of hydrogen, bright line belonging
to magnesium Gin the state Of glowing
vapor), and two other bright lines, one Of
which seemed to be identical with a bright
line shown by our suns corona during a
total eclipse
Now, point to which [ would call
special attention Is, that all the clements of
the catastrophe, if one may so speak, which
has befallen the remote sun in the Swan
exist in our own sun. At times of marked
disturbances parts of our suns surface show
the lines of hydrogen bright instead of dark,
which means chat 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 Tadchini and
Secchi, in Italy, attributed some excep-
tionally hot weather we had a few years
ago to outbursts Of glowing magnesium.
And, lastly, our sun is certainly well sup
piled with that element, whatever it is,
which gives the bright line Of his corona
during ecipses, for we now know that the
whole Of the streaked and radated corona
occupying a region twenty times greater
than the globe Of the sun (Which itself
exceeds our earth 1,250,000 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 the one in
! the Swan, have burst out suddenly blossom
/ ing into flames Of hydrogen, within which
the stars heart-core glows with many hun
! dred 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
1 crown was one Of Argclander's list, star
| Of the tenth magnitude, and that, after
/ glowing with 500 times its former bright,
ness for few days, it has resumed that
I ieebler lustre We have every reason that
analogy can furnish FOR believing that the
new star, which was not in Argclander'
list simply escaped record by him on ac
count of It's fIintness. 1t is now fast losing
It's suddenly-acquired lustre, and is already
invisible to the naked eye. 1t appears
therefore, that there is nothing in the long
continued 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 con
fagration being originated, perchance, by
some comet unfortunately too directly to
wards him. Though he would probably
cool down again to bis present condition
in few weeks, no terrestrial observers
would be alive at any rate, to note the
fact, though the whole series of event:
might afford subject Of interesting specu
lation to to the inhabitants of worlds cir
cling around Sirius of Arcturus. Forum
ately, we may legitimately reason that the
risk is small, seeing that among the mil
lions of suns which surround ours, withir
easy telescope distance, such catastrophe
occur only ten or twelve times per century.