The weekly tribune., 1893-06-02
THE ECLIPSED SUM-
OBSERVATIONS GATHERED FROM
ECLlPSES OF THE SUN.


day coudescendingly permits the struc.
ture of his mysterious appendages to be
photographed and analyzed spectroscop.
ically. Never in the whole history of
astronomy has finer opportunity fol
such work been afforded and 30 skill
fully and completely improved by as
tronomers as that of the recent eclipse.
The full harvest of their observations
seems to promise some startling revela-
tions.
M. Flammarion, the French astrono-
mer, after reading the Chilian cable dis
patches announcing Professor Picker
ing's recent eclipse observations, is re-
ported to have said: "They confirm the
theory that the sun is surrounded by a
luminous atmosphere to distance equal
to One-eighth Of the suns diameter"
Scarcely quarter of century ago many
astronomers questioned whether the So
lar atmosphere had any marked extern
sion, and even doubted whether the CO.
roma was solar appendage at ALL But
in the light of the late eclipse it is not
astonishing that an astronomer expresses
| the opinion that the suns atmosphere
extends outward more than 100, 900 miles.
The eruptive forces of the sun must be
enormous indeed to eject the matter
composing the flaming prorninences not
infrequently observed 40, 900 miles broad,
with an uprush of 225miles second and
attaining occasionally an elevation of
400 900 miles. All prominences, Zollner
and Respighi have shown, are originally
phenomena of eruption, preceded by rec
tllinear jets, either vertical or oblicue,
ascending to great heights and then seen
falling back again toward the sun like
the jets of our fountains. The eruptive
prOminences are, as Professor Young
says, generally associated with active
sun spots" Since during the late eclipse
these prominenceS were conspicuous in
connection with an unusually brilliant
and extended corona and great spotted
ness, the before seemingly established
law that the corona's size and luminosi-
ty are in direct proportion to the suns
spot producing activity is strikingly cor
roborated.
Professor Schaeberle cabled from Chill
that his eclipse observations confirm his
mechanical theory of the corona, which
regards this vast appendage as composed
OF streams of matter elected with initial
velocities of $50 miles a second from the
sun by forces which are most active near
the sun spot zones. Indications of such
eruptive action have been often observed
in the higher regions of the prominences
A further confirmation of this theory is
that the corona i'll outline resembled that
which Professor Schaeberle predicted
some months ago. AS far back as the
eclipse of 1870 Mr.. Brothers noted that
"prolnlnences were most numerous on
the side of tho sun where tine corona was
brightest" an evidence that the coronal
matter is not less than that of the promi-
nences elected from the sun.
Mr.. Proctor, discussing the observa-
tions of that eclipse, concluded: 81 con-
ceive we have now clear evidence Of a
form of action-but whether eruptive
electrical or repulsive is not yet obvious
-eXerted outward to enormous distances
by the sun and with maximum emery
over the spot zones, but local, variable
and probably intermittent
It will be seen, then, that Professor
Schaeberle's theory, though by no means
established, accords with old observa-
tions. No other explanation of the corona
has been offered save that which attrib-
utes it to reflection from myriads Of in
candescent meteors or cosmical dust cir
culating around the sun. But this hy-
pothesis has never been supported. If
the corona were chiefly due to meteoric
dust revolving around the sun, we should
certainly expect to see it regular, and
not as it generally appears, capped, quad
rilateral or four rayed. with immense
wings or extensions. There seems, there
fore, to be no other inference possible
but that which telescope scrutiny has
long suggested-that the corona is orig
mated and maintained by countless ejec-
through the photosphere by the suns
vertical or volcanic forces.
If the final study of the coronal photo.
graphs obtained sustain this view, sci
ence will have at least working hy-
pothesis for the determination of the
cyclical variations of solar heat and the
corresponding effects upon terrestrial
temperatures and climates The theory
in question obviously opens up a new
and fascinating inquiry into the anoma-
lies of the earths seasons which ara due
to variations of solar activity. We seem
to be thus happily led to the very thres-
hold of one of the grandest discoveries of
modern science, which promises when
developed to yield rich harvest of prac-
tical results.
Now that most numerous and perfect
photographs of all the principal append
ages of the sun have been secured in
Chill and Africa, astronomers should
give their best energies to the study of
the data. No problem they can now at
tack can be of greater interest or i'm
portance to science and the world.-New
York Herald.
An Early Astronomical Teacher.