Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-10-24
MYSTERY OF THE SUN.
What Il Sought to He Discovered BY the
Observers Of Eclipses.


What L. Sought to He Discovered BY the
Observers Of Eolipses.
From the observations of eclipses
made recently it is now we'll known
that the sun as ordinarily visible to US.
bounded by the philosophers. is only q
part OF the sun. Just outside the at
mosphere is q comparatively thin layer
of gas. mainly hydrogen. called the
chromosphere; around this is the
corona, thousands of miles thick, and
around the corona. especially along
the equator. there is considerable ex-
tension of matter about which little il
known. The general theory which has
been built up from a knowledge of
these facts. and from the observations
OF such phenomena as sun spots and
prominences. is that the chemical ele-
ments are being continually tossed
about in the enormous atmosphere of
the sun and never getting out of it.
The outer layers of the atmosphere are
recognized as much cooler than the
inner. Cool or comparatively cool
masses OF matter are produced by con-
densation in the upper regions from
the hot ascending vapors of the lower
atmosphere. These masses of matter,
having gathered weight, come under
the influence of gravitation over
twenty-five times as great as ours,
and fall with almost incredible
rapidity toward the center. 1t is sup
posed that these terrific rains of cooled
matter upon the sun produce what is
known as sun spots. We know how
| small meteorites in our own cold
atmosphere are heated to incandes-
cence by friction. Their kinetic en-
ergy is transformed into heat. 1t is
not difficult to imagine, therefore, that
these masses of matter, darling down
from great height above the photo
sphere, such as sun spots indicate, and
that the masses falling into the inner
and greatly-heated atmosphere should
become broken up in the heat gener-
ated by their own kinetic energy into
hot vapOrs. producing such expansion
that the down-rush is transformed into
an up-rush. which would carry the
chemical elements back to the cooler
air, where they would gradually con-
dense again and repeat the operation
of falling into the chromosphere The
effect of such an uprush is supposed to
be indicated by the prominences OBJ
served. The matter is supposed to be
thrown up like the water of a fountain.
and like it fall back. only to be tossed
up again, but on so great. SO terrible
a scale that the imagination is unable
to form picture OF it.
If this is the correct theory Of the
suns existence, it is impossl Ole to
conceive of any limit to it. Elements
which we can only heat into glowing
mass are there reduced to vapor and
by expansion thrown one hundred
thousand miles or more away, only to
cool and pelt back again toward the
center of attraction, there to be thrown
off again. But effective as the theory
is in explaining solar phenomena, it is
by no means generally held, and
among those holding it there are great
differences of opinion. The evidence
is little better than circumstantial, |
and it is only by the Industrious work
of astronomers. with improved ap-
planes, that the mystery can APP
proach solution. The study of the
sun is to us the most important study
in astronomy. 1t affects us directly
To better understand this center OF |
light and heat is to better understand
our own surroundings. and it is from
the observations of those sent to view
the occasional total eclipses of the sun
that light must come.-Providence
IR IOprpa1