Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-05-15
SUN SPOTS.
Bill Nye, After an Exhaustive Discussion,
Says He Can't Explain Them.


Bill Nye, After an Exhaustive Discussion,
Says He Can't Explain Them.
This luminous body is S2,00o,000-
miles from the earth, though there have
been mornings this wint'r when it
.eemed to me that it was further than
that. A railway train going ut the rate
of 40 miles per hour would b. 2G3 years
going there, TO say moth ne of stopping
for fuel or water, or Stopping on side
tracks to wait fl L freight trains to pass.
Several years ago it was discovered that
n slight error had been made in the cal
culation of the suns distance from the
earth, and owing to misplaced loga-
r.thm, or something of that kind, II mis-
take of 3,0OO,0O miles was made in TIC
r.. ut. People can not be too careful
in such matters. Surprising that on tHe
strength OF the information contained
in the old timetable man should start
out with only provisions sufficient TO
take him s9,C00,000 miles, and should
then find that 3,00),0JO m les still
stretched out ahead OF him. lie would
then have TO buy fresh frs of t e n IL
toy II order t, S'stain life. Think OF
buying C, fresh figs on train that
had been en- route $50 years!
Imag' ne q tain boy strtinG out at
ten years of age, and pcriShing at the
age of sixty years with only one-lifth OF
his journey accomplish, d. Think OF
five train boys, one ate the other, dy-
ing of old age on the way, and the
train ut last pulling slow'g into the dc
pot with not living thing on board cX-
cept the worms in tho moe eating APP
plesw
The sun can not 10 examined through
an ordinary telescope with inpunity,
Only one man ever tired that, and he is
now wearing glass eye that cost him
nine dollars.
Ii you examine the sun through an
ordinary solar microscope, you discover
that it has a curdled or notified appear
ancc, as though suffering from bilious
ness. 1t is also marked here and there
BY long strcaks of light called faculm,
which look like foam ilecks below Il
cataract. The spots on the sun vary
from minute pores the size of an ordi-
nary school district to spots 100000
mile, in diameter, visil lie to the nude
eye. The center of these spots is as
black as a brunette cat, ard is called
the umbra, so called because it resem-
hes an umbrella. The next circle is
less dark, and called the penumbra, be-
"ause it so closely resembles the penum-
bra.
There are many theories regarding
the sc spots, but 10 be perfectly candid
With the genie RAIDER, neither Prof.
Proctor nor myself can tell exactly
VIII It thy are. If we could get little
close, we tlatter ourselves that we
could speak more definitely My own
theory is they are either, first, open ar
caucuses held by the colorcd people of
the sun; or second, they may be the
lark horse in the campaign; or third,
they may be the spots Knocked off the
defeated candidate by the opposition.
Frankly, howe er, do not btleve
thcr OF these theories to b. tenable.
':of p. octor sncers at the theories also
IN the ground that these spots do not
appear t. revolve 50 fast as the sun.
-. however, ! am prrared to en-
Jlain upon the theory that this nigh
b. the result of delays in the returns.
However, am free 10 confess that
speculative science is filed with the in
| tangible.
The sun rcvolves upon his or her axle
Tree, as the case may be, once in twen-
.y-iive to twenty-eight of our days, so
hat man would have almost two
years to pay thirty-day note. We
should so live that when we come to
lie we may 90 at once TO the sun.
Regarding the suns temperature,
Sir John HcrscAl says that it is sufli-
;ient to me t shell Of ice covering its
entire sur ace t. depth of forty feet
do not know whether he made this eX
pertinent personally or hired man tC
do it for Linn
The sun is like the star spangled
blnner--as il is 'shll there" You gel
up tomorrow morning just before sun
Ise and LOOK away toward the east
and Keep on looking IN that direction
AMI at last you will see a fine sight, il
what have been told is true. If the
unrise is as grand as the sunset il
must, indeed, be one of natures mos
sublime phenomena.
The sun is the great source of light
md heat for our earth. ii the sur
were to 90 somewhere for a few week;
for relaxation and rest it would be {
cold day for us. The moon, too, woult
ne useless, for she is largely de
pendent on the sun. Animal life woulC
soon cease and real estate would be
come depressed in price, We owe yer,
much of our enjoyment to the sun, ant
not many years ago there were large
number OF people who worshiped TIT
sun. When u man showed signs o
emotional insanity, they took him W
on the observatory of the temple anC
sacrificed him to the sun. They wer,
very prosperous and happy people
If the conqueror had not come among
them with civilization and guns ant
grand jurics they would have beef
very happy, indeed. Bill Me-, in Bar
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