Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-12-19
A World Wide Spectacle.
From the New York Tribune.

The sunset glow witnessed in the United
States during the closing week OF November
was brilliantly reproduced last night Appar-
emily it is not phenomenon due 10 local at
mospheric conditions. The gorgeous spectacle
was watched on the same November evenings
in various parts of the world-in England.
France, Germany Italy. Egypt and India. IN
Europe as in the United States the most re-
markable sunsets were those of November q
and the following night, although the essential
features OF the Phenomenon were reproduced
during the succeeding four nights. In England
this wonderful after-glow attracted universal
attention, being described in numerous letters
TO the newspapers and acknowledged on all
sides to be a unique spectacle. The characteris-
tic feature there, as here, was the appearance
of an immense illumination extending from the
central point where the sun had disappeared
well toward the zenith and continuing for two
and half hours without the peculiar scintillat-
ing effects of the aurora borealis
An Intelligent observer who had watched the
English sunsets for thirty years. directed s.tan-
ton to remarkable distinction be- In the
November after-glow and the ordinary evening
effects of the western sky. The crimson glow
which follows the disappearance of the sun is
almost invariably the last effect Of color coming
considerable time after the yellow tone has
faded. and being followed 1y the cold gray
which precedes the night During the closing
week of November there was reversal Of this
rule. The yellow glow. il is true, first over
spread the sky, gradually deepening TO orange
and then to crimson-the same rich hue that was
seen here; but after the bloOd-red dive came a
deep orange glow extending over half the sky,
and so intense in color that lamps appeared as
white light against ii. At sunrise the whole
effect was reproduced. the order OF tints being
reversed. The spectacle In the morning opened
with the orange glow. which had been the clos
ing feature of the sunset; this was followed 10y
the crimson fires burning from the horizon 20
the zenith; and the final tone was the greenish
yellow which marked the first stage of THE even
ing phenomenon. Now the abnormal effect was
the reversal Of the usual order of crimson and
orange evening and morning. The crimson
ought to have been the final tone at night and
the first In the morning for the scientific reason
that the orange is less refranglble than the Grim
son ray. This reversal OF the natural order Of
refrangibility indicated most unusual atmOs-
pheric conditions.
While these remarkable sights in the heavens
have attracted general attention in England
there has been no disposition to exaggernte
their Importance or TO advance fanclful theories
in explanation of them. One or two correspOn-
dents OF the newspapers attempted to connect
them with the eruption in Java or with changes
in the spots on the sun: but the hypothesis gen
orally adopted attributed them 10 the extreme
rarefaction OF the atmosphere. by which Eng
lishmen were enabled to see in their usually
murky island sights ordinarily reserved for Al
pine climbers or the residents OF Naples. II this
be the true explanation, the rarefaction of the
atmosphere was not confined TO certain localities
but was a condition which produced correspond
Ing results simultaneously in Europe America
and Asia. Tie bloOd-red sunsets illuminating
half the sky, which were admired in New York
and London, in Italy and southern France,
oyerspread the whole armament and in India
kindled lurd light that excited superstitiOus
dread. There must have been general cause
for an exceptionally clear atmosphere the world
over, or else some other theory must be ad-
vanced to explain the phenomenon. For ex-
ample, it has been suggested by American
scientists that the earth has been passing
through meteoric belt In space, and that the
molecules of meteoric dust becoming detached
b. friction with the atmosphere either become
incandescent or else are revealed by the rays Of
the sum-