Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-03-16
rs THE SUN W1STINGP


the constitution of the sun has attracted very
great attention, not only among scientific
men, but among intelligent readers of books
and newspapers. We think it therefore of
interest to give our readers popular account
of the different theories upon the suns heat,
and especially a new one bearing the name of
DR.. Siemens, whose reputation is so well
known from his discoveries in metallurgy and
electricity, and who filed the chair of the
British Association for the Advancement of
Science at its meeting at Southampton.
Most of our readers doubtless know the
chief figures which denote the dimensions of
the sun, especially since the transit of Venus
eight years ago led to a correction of the dis
tance of the sun from the earth, according to
| the figure that had for many years been &C
cepted. But perhaps not so many persons
have realized the enormous figures that rep
resent the heat Of the solar orb, rs contrasted
| with the figures that We nre familiar with on
the subject of terrestrial heat.
The volume of the sun is about one million
three hundred thousand times that of the
earth, and its distance from us, in round num-
! bers, about %, 600, coo miles. Aud since we
all Of US every day see the wonderful effects
of the heat and light which even this little
/
| idea of the enormous amount of heat contin-
ually given out by the sun, and the prodigious
waste that must be going on. And if we
would form any real estimate of this heat and
waste, we must remember that all the light
and heat which is received by the earth and
| other planets is a very small proportion of
the amount that is being continually poured
forth. II might be shown, with a moderate
| knowledge of geometry, that the amount so
shed into space, where there arc no planets
to receive it, is ., 2j0, 900, 600 times as great
as that which is received by all the planets
forming our solar system.
We naturally ask What is the condition
of body which is capable of throwing out
for thousands and perhaps millions of years
30 vast an amount Of light and heat For it
| has been computed that the temperature of
the surface of the sun would be expressed by
| 5000 Fahrenheit, or between 80 and 80
times the temperature of boiling water. This
is about five times the highest temperature
that man is able to produce 10y artificial means.
| Also the light given of from the same surface
is computed RS being $500 times more intense
than that of the molten metal in Bossemer
converter, though that is OF an almost blind
ing briliiGucy. Or, if W. compare it with o1y-
hydrogen hlmr, the sun sheds sigut equal
to LAG times the intensity Of the lime.light.
So intense is the heat Of the sun that no
known substance could remain in a solid form
when subjected to such temperatures hence
it has been concluded that the entire orb, vast
as it is, is an aggregation of gases altogether
void of any trace of solid or liquid substance,
and moreover that the outside visible surface
of the sun flows like the surface Of the sea.
or rather like vaporous masses Of cloud and
misty air. But we must not suppose that this
vaporous material is of little weight through
out the whole substance Of the sum for, IN
consequence of the suns vast size, the pres
sure in the inward portions must be so great
through the influence of attraction that the
internal mass is believed to be denser than
water. And, as the late Prof Clerk Maxwell
and others have shown that the vscosity or
tenacity of gas increases fast with the rise
of its temperature, it is possible that the va
porous matter of the suns interior would re-
sist motion like mass of pitch or putty.
When thinking about this enormous amount
of heat philosophers have naturally inquired
whether it is being dssipated gradually, OF
whether it is by some means sustained un
diminished; and if so sustained, by what
means. There have until recently been but
two theories on the matter but in a late mum
Der of the Nineteenth Century DIR. Siemens
has introduced a third in an article entitled "A
New Theory of the Sun'-that is, as regard,
the sustentation of its light and heat. W,
will mention the old theories in their natura
order First, all our everyday experience
teaches us that when combustion is taking
place the substances which are giving ou
light and heat are parting with their matter
and causing it to assume different FORMS 81
gas and resduum of ashes We see this il
the burning of piece of wood or coal, oi
even a piece of paper. We do not say the
substance is lost. II we could gather up al
the products of the combustion, we woulC
find that thay had n lost IA partiala of tbai
weight, although their form is materially
changed This, then, we conclude, is Tia,
case with the sun. As stated above, the euor
nous light and heat continually thrown int,
space proves that the sun is converting mucl
of its substance into other forms, and, uules
the waste be supplied from some eTterna
/ source, the material Of which the orb is com
t posed cannot fail 10 be gradually diminishing
though in the case of a body of such larg
+ dimensions it must be a long time before ther
S is any perceptble dimlnution Of either volum
70 or heat. But the loss of heat is by some be
= leved to be compensated by the dimiuutiol
4 of volume. Prof. Newcombe, of Iale college
d United States, concludes that with the dimlu
: ution of the mass the heat augments and the
by this compensation a shrinking of the mas
+ might go on for Z, 900, 900 years, when it woul
= be eight times as dense as il is now and h
also concludes that the present conditions @
radiation of heat and light cannot have gon
on for more than 10 OOO, 600 years, and prol
ably cannot support life on the earth as no.
for another 10000 OOO This, theory, theI
does not profess to provide for an indefnit
continuance of the suns present powers an
we may add, by the way that even if We weI
led to contemplate the ultimate extinction
light and heat in the sun, it is no more tina
seems to have happened in the moon, whic
appears to be a dark and inert mass, the rot,
tion of which has been perhaps stopped b
some such tidal action as we know is at wor
upon our planet and very slowly but steadil
retarding our diurnal motion. That the III 90
does not rotate is manifest from the fact thu
it always presents the same face to the eartl
The first theory, then, does not profess
show that the suns waste is repaired fro
without.
The second theory is that the waste is r
paired, both in volume and heat, by the CO..
tinual impact or striking of meteorites upc
its surface. This theory is due to Dr. May
of Heilbronn, and was published in 1s4S,
was enthusiastically received by Sir Villa
Thomson of Glasgow, one of the greatest ph
cists of the day, and who is especially know
for his successful researches in electricity.
is well known that if rapidly moving boz
is stopped suddenly, heat Immediately result
We may see this exempliied when bullet
fired against a stone wall; the lead becom
T. heated. This theory supposes that the 81
is being perpetualy hammered like pondt
GUS anvil by falling meteors, and that its he
lat energy is maintained as a lump of iron is Ike
ss- hot by the vigorous blows of a blacksmit
us Various calculations have also been made
ey to the amount of heat generated by the il
'p- pact of a small planet or other mass, t
et' weight of which can be computed. But su
% ly, if there were falling continually on t
IN sun such a mass of meteors as would rep
as the regular waste, the earth would receive
ay good deal more of such matter than it does
re, the periodical meteoric display in Novemt
re- and other occasions; and the orbit of Mere
led ~, which is the nearest known of the su
td9 satellites would exhibit some traces of Il
ld, powerful influence. We can, therefore,
my tach but little importance to this second tn
ry.
n5 We come now to the new theory of DR. S
fu mems, who starts with the assumption that
too the space between the planets, and even
docc tween the fixed stars, is filled with someth
his far more substantial than imponderable eth
ich Many of our readers know that the phenoI