The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-01-22

EARTH, Sun, AND STAES.
Wonderful aud Intere sting Facts from tho
Late Prof. PrOctors's Latest Work.

Wonderful aud Intere sting Facts from the
Late Prof. Proctors's L.ntcst Work.
From the London Standard
Modern astronomers have not neglected the
G%lebs,they have weighed IT. To- a I'd the a1D t9nsage
m mlddls Is Of e the s ,fyiiil fnS s" Th sG'f fol ESsi th 'S' @e t"e
pring and weighing, Of the solar system.
Light; proceeding With ten thousand times tho
from the sun, to our globe occupies rather
in air. would require above fourteen years
to accomplish such : Journey; c : I ID.
s srGa a iustre ,I befWsen; thfee S" and I faur q" tim i@s
the latter Is at its brightest. The od molten
fainter than the light Of the sun. As for the
solar heat. its production appears to be yet
coal. and that OF tho best quality. the entire
mass..if emitting the heat now sent forth
you'd be burned up in less than 5000 years.
the future. though, not for tens of millions:
for ordinary purposes. although the. sun is
likely to be OF little service for some time be-
fore he quite goes out.
to celestial objects generally. the picturesque
and the photographic, camera have PROVED in
yalulble adJuncts to the telescope. They have
reul nature OF the rose-tinted border of light.
It. seen to ]encircie the sun at the time of a total
eclipse. The very existence OF these prom
inences was tho subject Of doubt down to 1912.
and. In some degree, even as recently aS 1913.
when spectroscopio analysis was first applied
to their examination. But now We have abso-
surrounded BY a deep layer OF colored mat.
ter. whence enormous protuoerances start
S SVdro So%pG PSs ,e Of sI9S cH1Sm Sss' ot psiinfiipaliI X
some instances, to such n height that ten OF
our worlds might be piled. one upon another.
NIT. In 8 . photography was first employee.
t. tis ssc w5sc Y'G y ss Of the b ,S s0rSnn; the the s Su1 s0tin Of
a at total Y eciipse. 'sf The inner coro "a is consIa:
cred duo to the presence Of tenuous and ,dif-
fuse gases. varying from time to time in their
three hundred Thousand miles, But there is
an outer corona OF much greater extent. ap-
matter ' further away Wal" still We have ttRR,,t 70.
diHcai IiGht t. seen IN this lntItnd ott as q sIantin a
Passing from the. suns immediate SURF ound-
ings. we are introduced to the region where it
culate which has not been detected. The idea
has been founded on certain unexplained ir-
SM%f sneafy. Bu 1T the the saistenss 81 the IL i hypd StlnHstfit
cal Vulcan is now discredlted. and the peculiar
motion, exhibited by the orbit Of Mercury is
and the sun. Of n% ,sIfpidi nets' small a%Hi bno 'f%s.
individually invisible. Some Of these may be
VI tOuc, vi cNtn DuDuItuS VI cIS III
mass: yet, considered with reference to tho
enormous region they occupy. they are but rs
p riia ss r. 1 aHstj sEVe snns Sns has sot alfn been end
although, proof, is wanting, observations are
on record which mako denial difficult. $500,
Our own planet may DO studied in detail.
The history OF the, earth is measured by mil
lions OF years. and Mr.. Proctor has ventured to
catastrophe interyenes. Of which there is mo
sign Of likelihooh" Looking back. we may at
least be- thanktnl that certain past ages Of the
Q fiery atmosrhere. laden with destructive
Of hot water, mixed with suiphnric acid
and other corrosive. compounds. 1t is
w ps4iod that nc ,o tn: s skist. nsa ' trs g tie Ct Glacial g it His.
~itations are Tor. the present suspended. But.
in the absence Of any cntnstrorhe, tho carth's
including the Volume OF the seas. is destined
to I; diminish. though any serious deficiency
t T,,r ne" old SG see'" un The ' aet il%s Of q the sA t'aai wave sxs
is apparently, reducing tho rate OF the earth's
rSSsti9 on vs m4k XII Gut 2 i Esi Day Ia, The h.. n elton
lions Of Years. In addition to this. there is
haustins the earth's stores. and ii man con
tinues to use up tho materials at his command
Ct ssh aee si snme i, tr K poss .nSre thae IL 4 a1 isw sS 1" 1si
longer L,abltable BY civilized varieties OF the
"5 TRs o 'dp%i.'' y NEPTUNE, thirty times further
from the sun than that Of the eurth. forms the
t susss iH Is immens 81 t yst T sSain Syst into in nas iii.
SSance compared with that which lies beyond.
No vast IL the gulf which interyenss between
bllity. larger and BRIGHTER than our sun. and
s sSiaf T tsisss sas,df fs not So st S:' t. sS' s aSst them RSSw,
% :; !,s sEE |sS SsI s%s.s eli n 1% |sss ,sis. si %s'S :. ' sS "a
This Of itself does not prevent ta edster' ans@:
there p %.Saa an sp 9%a q t 70 a. actual !sM c sssims nss
me least extent runs into billions OF miles;
s from the nst isss Rat Fl n h o ss"l sSu W msy l Re ssFiys %
about two hundred thousand times its present
list 81 e from the 3, earth ,ht l. would sgnesr t9 rs
billions Of miles. II follows that il, the near.
pears to be the fact, every star OF the first
MAGNITUDE must be larger or brighter than
According to one reckoning, our sun seen
from the distance OF Sirius would appear as,R
star Of tho fourth magnitude. Sir Robert Ball
billions Of miles, states that the sun Would he
ALTOGETHER invisible from such a range. Its APP
BB oiss reduced si1 z cd To i tS ssp d ! q sa fin,.sa @p sesn st,.
teen hundred miles away, A strange hyDoth-
esis presents itself In the argument for the
lates that a dark body. equal to the sun in
size, md only six hundred times more remote.
mers. Thus We may have an invisible uni.
verse. in addition to that which meets the
eye. The star Algol is known to huys a dark
companion; and there may be other dark orhs
In space. The extent TO which movement has
been detected am ong the so-called fixed stars
Is a notable achievement In astronomy. In
one instance a star Is estimated TO proceed at
the rate of sixty-seven miles per second or
sven enc hundred mites. Our own sun is q star.
travelling through space. with all the attend
ant planets, at ne rate Of eighteen miles per
second. There is. accordingly, q chance that
IN four hunireh and atty Thousand years We
similar space Of time pass through II, so as TO
view thinga from the other side. Something
more will then be knoSn akeat the 'hebulas