Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1889-10-24
MYSTERY or rnu sun


From the observations of eclips~s
made reccntly u ls nos veil kaown
that the sua aa ordinarily visible 10 us.
bounded By the pho,o.phera ls only
part oi the sun Just outside the al
mosphere u a comparatively thia layer
of ga-. malnly hydrogea. called The
ehromo~phsrei around this 10 the
coroaa. thousands oi miles thick. and
around the corona especially along
the equator. there h q considerable en-
teasloa Of matter about Which little Il
kBown. The general theory whlch has
hccn built ~ from q knowleage Of
these facts. and from the observations
~ such phenomena a. sun spots and
promlnenocs. is that the chemical ele-
meats are beiag continually tossed
about Ia the enormous atmosphere. Of
the sun and never getslng out Of IL
The outer layers of The atmosphere are
recogaized ~ much cooler than the
Inner. Cool or comparatively cool
masses Of matter are produced BY con
densaiion ia the upper regions from
the hot ascenaing vapors oi the lover
aaHno.phere These masses of matter.
having gathered weight come under
the influences oi grayitatiOa over
twenty-five times a. great a. ouru.
aud fall witA almost incredible
raPidliy toward the ccater u Il sup
poscd that these terrific rains Of cooled
matter upon the sun produce what IL
known a. sun spots We know how
small moteoFitas 10 our own cold
atmosphere are heated 20 lncandes-
ceaoe BY friction Their kiRetic en-
ergy ls transformed into heat II is
not diiiicult 10 imagine. therefore. that
these masses of matter. dartlng down
from a great height above the photo
sphere. such A. sua spots indlsata. and
that the masses falling Into the inner
and grvstly-hsated atmosphere should
heeome bruken up In the heat gener-
ated by their own kinetic energy into
hot vaPors producing such expansion
that The down-rush l. transformed into
an up-ru-h. which would carry the
chemical elcmeats back to the cooler
air. where they would gradually con
dense again and repeat the operation
u falling into the chromospherc The
effect oi such aa uprush Il supposed %
be indicated by the promineac.s OBJ
served The matter l. supposed 10 b.
thrown up like the water of fountain.
and like u fall back. only 10 b. tossed
up again, bat oa 40 great. 80 terrible
a scale thai the Imagination is unable
To form a picture Of IL
II this is the correct the0Fy Of the
sua's exlsleace. IL 10 impossible 10
eoseelve VI any limit 10 H. Elements
whleh we can only heat Into glowing
s2a@< ars shero reduced 10 yapor an1
- - iowa 0na hundred
shsaN@m ilss ~ ~, s~ay. only 10
cd nad az ba -lia ard the
eenfef n sitraetiea. 'Ncie - he throwa
- &rnI8 IL rsecfivs a. the theory
!. = - 8ezna.ass - s.s...assvpehe "A 4
49, ineafa a<~snfmIfy held. aad
amsome sAoes helAlng u there are great
diaerene's of opinion. The evidence
Is little better than circumstantiAl.
and Il l. ouly by the industrious work
of astronomers. With Improved ap-
planes. that the nystery can APP
proach solution. The study oi the
sun i 10 "a the most important study
IN astronomy. II anects us directly
To better understand this center Of
light and heat i- 10 better understand
our Own surroundings. and IL l. from
the observations ~ those sent 10 view
the occasional total eclip~es Of the saR
that ligAi must come. .-Providenee
(k 1 journal