The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-02-21
seheiner in the year 1910. AT first the

lSeheiner in the year 1910. At first the
spots were, thought to be opaaues bodies
travelling round the sun; but after
awhile 1t was seen that Jney move in
such a way as to show that they are on
his surface. Thus it was found that
the sun turns round on his axis as the
earth does. The period in which he
thus turns on his axis is about twenty
five days, though as you will see pres
emily, we cannot be quite certain as to
the exact length of this period.
1t was presently discovered that the
spots appear only in certain parts of
the sun surface. They are never seen
near his poles, nor near that circle
midway between the poles which cor
srespondsfWith the. equator of our earth.
They appear, in fact, in those zones of
the suns surface which correspond in
position with the temperate zones of
the earth. But very singular circum-
stance has been discovered during the
1present century. The spots farthest from
the solor equator take a longer time in
going round than those nearest to that
circle. Judged from the former. the sun
would seem to turn once round on his
axis in about four weeks. Judged from
the spots nearest his equator, the time
of a single rotation would seem to be
little. more than three and one-half
weeks. So that it would actually seem
as though parts of the sun near his
equator. turned round eight times in
four weeks, while in the same time the
parts of the spot zone nearest to the
poles went round only seueaa times.
APPEARANCE oF-suN sPoFs.
! The spots are not uniformly dark, but
are darkest at9the centre. All around
the dark central part is what looks like
a sort of fringe, darker than the rest
of the suns surface, but not nearly SO
dark as the central region,
The spots seem to be depressions be-
low the solar surface, the. outer part
being the sloping sides Of great saucer
shaped hollows. r aa re s
But there are not always spots on the
sun. j Sometimes for weeks in sue
Rcession no spots can be seen. 1t has
been found that spots increase and de-
creasei inanumber in a somewhat regu-
lar manner From the time when there
are none the spots gradually increase
in number and in size. Then they be-
gin to get fewer and fewer in number
until again the sun is without spots
Then they begin to return, and so they
grow alternately more and less numer-
sous. The period in which all the
changes are gone through, from time
when spots are most numerous to time
when they are again most Numerous, is
about eleven years. :, A-as..s-4 IL
THE CAUSE OF SUN SPOTS. F'
The cause of this periodic change in
the state of the suns surface has not
yet been discovered. But the spots
themselves are supposed to be regions
where that surface has been intensely
disturbed. 4GeneraHy the parts of a
surface near asspot are brighter than
the rest, forming streaks and patches of
intense brilliancy, which the as
tronomers of Galileo's time called fincul,
from Latin word signify a torch.
Much smaller bright patches, mere dots
in fact, of similar brightness are strewn
over the general surface of the sun.
These are called the rice-grd67as. srr III
But though they look very small, they
are in reality of enormous size GER
tainly not less than three hundred miles
in length and two hundred in breadth
1t issbelieYed that ninetY7nine parts out
Of a hundred of the sun light and heat
comes from these immense and in
tensely luminous clouds, .a--...szss
When the moon comes between the
earth and the sun, she sometimes Just
hides the sun from view, and then we
can see all around dtheadark body of the
eclipsing moon ,rnddy objects looking
like rosy mountains, clouds and flames.
They were compared by those who first
discovered themsito garnetst round a
brooch of jet. These in reality belong
to the sun, and are vast masses of glow
ing gas, reaching twenty, thirty, forty,
nay, Sometimes even eighty thousand
miles above his. surface, Outside these
again there can nbe seen during an eclipse
glory of light around the dark body
of the moon, called the. corona. This
belongsste to the sun, and is probably
caused by tiny bodies travelling in inn
mense numbers (like clouds of dtsD
around the sun and illuminated by his
light. Richard A. Proctor, ia Youths
Conapalliolas nsstsSxex1 efv~ss
Toprod EoaI o,,d E-oo Tn~aIon