The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1883-10-13

uted, made up of hydrogen gas, and
still outside of this is what is called the
'coronal atmosphere, as seen in total
eclipses.n as9a
'.Now," asked the interested reporter,
care these spots parts of the suns sur
face inside of all these layers of atmos'
pheresp" isRs
''By no means" rejoined the ANNA
ted Professor. 'sThis black spot which
the astronomer or the curious, non-seien.
tific observer sees, is nothing.in the
| world--or the sun but big black hole
| in the photesphere. 1t is not spot or
blotch on the real surface of the sun by.
only so in contrast with the brilliant
Esnrface, We look at the sun and see
the philosophers. A mass of some kind
of gas is thrown up or sent down
through the philosophers, and makes a
big, irregular cavity, precisely like the.
crater ola volcano, and this hole is what
you see when you look at the spots Cd
the sun. '''
''How large are these sun spots, OF
these holes in the photosphereP"
They're big. Big enough, some OF
them, to drop the earth and several
planets down in without, touching the
| sides of tho hole. To Illustrate, in 1943
there was spot seen which was 75,000
miles in diameter, visible whole week,
and there was another group $50, 900
miles across. You see these spots break
out near the equator of the sun and are
seldom found more than thirty degrees
away from it.
Being interested in the cause of this
irruption on the face of the yellow old
sun, the reporter wanted to know what
made the spots break out.
1.-The astronomers have been at vari-
ance as to what the main body of the
sun is. No one, however, can say posi-
lively that he knows and be truthful.
What keeps up this internal heat, too, is
a matter of question. Some think the
vast solar fire is supplied by matter
drawn in, in some way, from outside
space to supply fuel for this great fire,
which has been burning for millions Of
years without apparent diminution OF
the suns body. Why, sir, If the sun
was body of hard coal, gigantic as it
is, it would burn up in five years. This
great mass of heated matter is constant
ly developing gas hence the spots
which 1 have told you were the result OF
some of this gas pushing up through, or,
in some cases, going down through the
philosophers.
Probably the inside of the sun is
pretty warm
"Hot, sir; hotter than red-hot iron.
Whatever it is-solid, liquid, OF
gaseous-it is at very high degree OF
temperature.
''How about the inhabitants of the
sunPn
1.-The theory of inhabitation is nonsen.
steal, sir"
''Why is it that these spots can some
times be seen with the naked eyeP''
Because they happen to be unusu,
ally large. They may be large or small
according to circumstances. The gem
eral surface of the sun in its normal
state is notified and not entirely smooth,
thoue h there are no indications of solar
mountains or valleys. Sometimes there
are little blotches called facul@ extend
ing above the philosophers, while the
real sun spots extend down in. Some-
times the spots appear and disappear
rapidly, sometimes they remain in sight
for days, and sometimes the sun is
dotted with them for months. They
are periodic in their nature, appearing
to reach their maximum about once in
ten years. Then, in about four or five
years, the SUMS disk is comparatively
clear, gradually growing spotted until
another sun-spot maximum is reached.
The spots are composed of center OF
nucleus of dark matter surrounded by a
penumbra or lighter part, which is dis
tinctly marked from the point of contact
with the nucleus"
''Has the sun any atmosphere, Profess
sorPn ift tt7.1 q 1871
'There is good deal Of difference of
opinion about an atmosphere. outside of
the sun. In total eelipses Of the sun
there is seen corona, showing like a
halo around the dark surface of the
moon, and it has. been called coronal
atmosphere. I put forth the theory in
1878 that this corona was caused by
matter which was drawn in from space,
because on Pixies Peak, where observa-
tions were taken, it was seen to extend
off five or six degrees from the sun, and
it seems to me absurd to suppose any
d atmosphere could extend that distance.
The comets which have passed very
close to the sun didn't suffer any retard-
alton in speed upon their approach to
the sun, which would seem to show that
if there is a permanent atmosphere il
must be very attenuated. DR.. Hastings,
of John Hopkins University, thinks this
corona is simply diffraction or bending
out of the rays of the sun around the
surface of the moon"
| Speaking of spots, Professor, could
you give me a glimpse of the genuine
article?"
Certainly" said the courteous Pro
fessor, providing there are any to bt
seen; but it is rather late in the day, anc
there probably are not many to be seer
now"
Up to the dizzy height of the observa
tory the reporter followed the nimble
footed Professor, and was treated to
glimpse of a couple of just visible spot
tiny little specks of few Thousand
miles in diameter, more or less. Will
a good-by, and pleasant invitation t,
call again from the genial Professor tn,
reporter left the suns spots, and cam,
down to earth after decidedly inter
esting visit to realms supernal. L. CbicGg'
Inter Ocean.
The waves are ever at war The,