Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-05-21
THE sun WILL CEASE.
A TIME MUST COME WHEN HEAT
FROM THE SUN MUST CEASE.


5000. 900 Years. but Not 100000
Tho Secret of the SUMS Heat.
1t seems to be worth while to collect
together what may be said on the sub
iect of the duration of lifo on the globe
1t is noteworthy fact that the posi-
bility of the continued existence OF the
human race depends fundamentally
upon the question Of heat. If heat. or
what is equivalent to heat, does not
last, then man cannot last, either. There
is no Sinking this plain truisnl.
OF course it is obvious that tho avail
able heat generally comes from the sun
So far as tho coal goes, we have already
observed that rs it is limited to quantity
it can afford no perennial supply
Doubtless there is in the earth some
quantity of other materials capable OF
oxidation or of undergoing other chemi-
cal change. in the course of which aud
as an incident Of such change heat is
evolved. The amount of heat that can
possibly arise from such sources Is
strictly limited There is in the entire
earth inst certain number Of units OF
heat possible from such combinations
but after tho combination has been eff
fected there cannot be any more heat
from this source.
Then rs to tho internal heat of the
earth due to the incanGescent state of
it's interior. Here there is no doubt q
large store of energy, but still it is Of
limited quantity, and it is also on the
wane. This heat is occasionally copioIs-
IL liberated by volcanoes, Gat ordinarily
the transit of heat from the interior to
the surface and its discharge from
thence by radiation is q slow process
II is, however, sufficient for our present
purpose to observe that slow though the
escape may be. it is necessarily going
on. There is only a definite number OF
units of heat contained in the interior OF
the earth ct this moment. and MS they
are gradually diminishing. and as there
is no source from whence the loss can
he rcplenishcd, thewis here no supply
of warmth that can be relied ON permit
nently.
1t goes without saying that the well
fare of the human race is necessarily
connected with the continuance OF the
suns bcpefcent action. If the sun ever
ceases to shine, then must it be certain
that there is term beyond which hui
man existence. or indeed organic ex-
istence of any type whatever. cannot
any longer endure on earth.
But we have grounds for knowing as
a certainty that Sle sun cannot escape
from the destiny that sooner or later
overtahes tho spendthrift. In his inter
esting studies of this subject Professor
Langley gives striking illustration Of
the rate at which the solar heat is being
souaudere,l at this moment. Heremarks
that the great coal fields of Pennsylvania
contain enough of the precious mineral
to supply the wants Of the United States
for 900 years. If all that tremendous
accumulation of fuel were to be extract
ed and burned in one vast confiagration
the total quais.ity of heat that would be
produced would no doubt be stupendous.
and yet, says this authority who has
taught MS So much about the sun, all the
heat developed by that terrific coal fire
would not be equal to that which the
sun pours forth in the thousardth part
of each single second.
When we reflect that this expenditure
of heat has heen going on not alone for
tho centuries during which the earth
has been the abode of man, but also for
those periods which we cannot estimate
except by saying that they are doubtless
millions OF years during which there
has been life on the globe. then indeed
we begin 10 comprehend how vast must
have been the capital of heat with which
the sun started on its career.
And yet we feel certain that the inces-
SAINT radiation from the sun must he
producing profound effect on its stores
of energy Inc only way Of reconcilirs
this with the total absence Of evidence
of the expected changes is to be found
in. the superstition that such is the
mighty mass Of the sun, such the pro
digious supply of heat, or what is equiv
a!ent to heat that it contains, that the
grand Transformation through which it
is passing proceeds at Il rate SO slow that
during the ages accessible to our obser-
vations the results achieved have been
inperccptible. But the energy of the
system is as surely declining as the en-
erpy of the clock declines rs the weight
runs down.
It seems that the Sun has already dis
sipated about four-tifths of the energy
with which it may have originally been
endowed AT all events. it seems that.
radiating energy at it's present rate. the
sun may hold ont for 1000, COO years, or
for 5.OOO.OU0 years, but not for 10000
600 years. Hero. then, we discern i'll
the remote future limit to the dura-
ton of life on this globe. We have seen
that it docs not seem possible for any
other source of heat to be available for
repienishing the waning stores Of the
luminary 1t may be that the heat was
originally impaired to the sun as the
result of some great collision between
two bodies which were both dark before
tho collision took place, SO that, in fact.
the two dark masses coalesced into a
vast nebula from which the whole Of
our system has been evolved. Of course
it is always conceivable that the sun
mey be reinyigorated by a repetition of
similar startling process.
It is. however, hardly necessary to
observe that SO terrific a CONFUSION
would liz fatal to life in the solar sys-
tenn. Neither from the heavens above
nor from the earth beneath does it seem
possible to discover any rescue for tx
human race from the inevitable end.
Tho race is as mortal as the individual
and, so far as we know, its span cannot
under any circumstances be run out