The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-03-24
CONCERNING THE SUN.
A Remarkable Pr0trsSbes'aace 700,
600 Miles Long.
Providence journal.

Providence journal.
1t is pitiful to. witness. the condition
of the sun. The great fire.ball is in
intense commOtion. His surface is
scanned in every direction with black
spots that indicate the disturbing
elements at work in his chaotic mass.
Occasionally, for day or two, the
blemishes disappear. and the glorious
king of day shows face like a shield,
of glowing gold. But tho aspect
quickly changes, spots come rushing
in all directions and assuming all
forms. They appear singly and in
pairs, and again in groups and rows.
Immense groups break up into small
ones, and small ones unite to form
great chasms, into which half a dozen
worlds might be dropped and there
would still be room for more.
Sometimes the spots are visible to
the naked eye, and at that time a
good opera-glass or a spy.glass will
make them easily perceptible. Hun
dreds of observers all over the world
watch the suns face every clear day,
and keep a record Of the number Of
spots, their size and the direction in
which they move, for as the sun
turns on his axis they turn with him,
some Of them remaining for months
without much change, some taking
on new forms and some disappearing.
entirely. Very little is known of
this mysterious sun, or Of the spots
that are visible more than ninety
millions of miles away.
Once in about eleven years the sun
takes on his present sun-spot phase,
and we are approaching the maximum
of disturbance. No one knows the
cause.
Some believe that it is the plane.
tary attraction. some that it is the
great fall Of great masses of meteoric
matter, and some that it is the result
Of internal commotion and the rush
upward Of gaseous explosions in com.
parison with which our hercest vol.
canic cruptions are but the flicker Of
fame. Besides the sun.spot agita.
ton, the gaseous outbursts are marked
and vivid. The tongues Of fame of
rosy protruberances are darting forth
in all directions and bearing their
testimony to the solar commotion.
Mr.. Trouvelot, Of Cambridge, who
makes daily observations of the suns
chromosphere, gives a graphic des-
cription of remarkable solar pro-
truberance that he witnessed on the
10th of November. When first seen
| 1t was large and complicated, extend.
/ ing upward from the sun about 100,.
600 miles.
Three or four hours after it had
developed into huge proportions,
extending far out into space and then
vanishing gradually to regions where
1t could not be perceived. AS nearly
as 1t could be measured it reached a
height Of over a quarter of the suns
diameter, or about two hundred and
thirty.five thousands miles. Snch u
protrubersnce hurled upward from
the earth would almost reach the
moon. Two hours after the whole
structure had collapsed, and was only
about eighteen thousand miles high.
Observations like this give an idea of
the mighty forces at work in the
solar orb, and make observers long
for the time when satisfactory solu.
ton may be found for this mysterious
periodical solar disturbance, 40 init
mately connected with the meteoro.
logical condition Of the earth.