National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-05-20
ASTRONOMICAL.
The BenutInnI Spectacle in the heavens
This Week.

The present week Is notable In an Astronomical
sense on account of the total eclipse Of the sun,
which occurred on Wednesday. The line oftotality,
starting near the coast of Africa, south Of tho
Great Desert crosses Egypt and Persia and, skirt
ing the southern border OF the great central table
land, trnvcses tho whole breadth Of Asia, ending
near Shanghai European astronomers have gone
to Egypt equipped with every means of observation
that science could suggest or mechanical skill
furnish, aud the result of their observations will
be awaited with interest, they are going to try
some new methods, and hope TO mako valuable
additions TO our knowledge OF the physical con-
dition of the sun. The whole
REGION AROUND THE SUN
reaching outward for hundreds Of thousands OF
miles, is occupied by matter intimately connected
with the solar orb but concerning whose precise
nature and extent astronomers are in much doubt
When the sun is hidden by the opake body OF the
moon, this wonderful region flashes into view
presenting most astonishing sight All around
the hidden orb there glows broad, coronal glory
irregular in outline, sometimes varying In color
and shooting out in places into great shafts and
wings or ftn-shaped projections. Within this won
deru crown Of light, and ranged close around the
| edge Of the black disk OF the moon, appear red
flames, IL objects that sometimes attain height
| Of hundreds of Thousands OF miles may be called
flames.
HERE THE MOST MARVELLOUS FORCES
| are at work. These rose-rcd flames are the So
called prominences which the spectroscope reveals
| even in full sunshine, and VIII ch are shot forth
from the with vel ocity that staggers the rea-
son. Probably they arc masses Of Intensely hot
| gns, and they have been watched, rs they settled
| back upon the sun, spreading out like clouds OF
| glowing smoke aud hanging over the fiery orb Mt
| n height equal to many times the diamter of the
earth. During Il total eclipse they can be seen on
| all sides of the sun, and the astronomers then
strive TO uso the few minutes at their disposal to
| the best possible advantage. Photography is
called in 10 aid in recording the details of these
aud other strange appearances that are revealed
/ In the nolghbOrhOOd of tho hidden sun.
THIS EcfiPsE OCCURS AT A TIME
when the sun Is Mt period of maximum disturb
nuce, and on that account the scene IN us ne.gh-
| borood may be expected to be particularly grand
| and the opportunities Tor the study OF such phe.
| nomena unusually favorable. Everything that
can be learned about the sun and its SURROUNDINGS
| isbcCOmingmore important and dlneresting,in
ofthe gtowing belief that the great orb OF day is
| more Intimately connected with the lite OF our
earth than even students of sonr physics had sup.
posed. During the eclipse Of 1878 Mr.. IrouVelOt
| made surprising observation. He noticed That
| the two great wings of the corona. which extended
from the sun to q distance equal, according TO
| some Observers to twelve or more dinmeers OF the
sun, were directed toward the planets Venus ana
| Mercury, which happened ut that time to be on
OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE GREAT ORB.
| This did not look like q chance arrangement, for
the wings were pointed exactly toward the plaiies.
| A line drawn from Venus through the sun to Mer;
| curry devinted sensibly from straight Inc, ana
| the coronal wings exhibited the same peculiarly,
their axes not lying in straight line, but being
two planets. The phenomenon was 40 striking
that II could not fail TO suggest the thought that
the wings were really extensions OF the suns outer
| envelope in the dTection OF the planets, We
| know that the sun makes its electrical condition
| felt upon the earth, producing auroras and mag
netic storms und 1t would every surprising u the
snmo influence were not felt perhaps in grea'er
| degree, by Venus and Mercury, which are much
ncaier the sun than we arc. Is 1t possible, then,
| that
THE TWO GREAT WINGS
of the corona. which everybody. who saw the
eclipse of 1873 watched with admiration, ,d were
visible manifestation of the interplay OF electrical
or other forces between the sun aud the two inner
| planets? The present eclipse may afford material
| which will serve eventually to answer this ques-
tion. Mercury and Venus nre now on the same
Side of the sun and their apparent places on the
| celestial sphere are not far apart, as seen from
the earth. If the corona ON this occasion should
toward the two planets especially II no other sim-
ilnr wings were visible, II would be good argu-
| ment In favor OF the suppositon that
| THE PHENOMENON
had n real connection with the planets. Ifsuch O
wing should be seen double, the axis OF each por.
ton pointing toward one of the planets, IT would
almost amount to demonstration, The planets
| however will appear so close together that even
IL two coronal wings in reality existed they would
probably appear blended into one. Moreover
| their position is such that the wing would appear
| much foreshortened The present eclipse will also
giye an opportunity TO test the correctness OF the
observat on made In 1873 by two American astron,
| omers Professors Watson and Swift, who believed
that they detected two new planets revolving IL
orbits closer to the sun than that of Mercury.
| THE ECLIPSE OF 1880
failed to corroborate this observation, but 1t wa!
| seen under very uniavorablc circumstances. INT
present occasion will be much more favorable fol
repeating the observation. Unfortunately Professor
Watson Is dead, and Professor swift will not bo II
Egypt to observe the eclipse and the new planets
| II they do exist, may escape detection. There ha
been u tendency In some quarters TO discredit thI
correctness of the conclusion reached by the Amer
lean astronomers, but nobody can read their sim
pie records of what they saw without feeling
strongly inclined to believe that the planet lieai
| L., N. ht,Nn hNaNh NhnE AE ha nnNIh