Arizona silver belt., 1893-08-26
THE ECIIPSED SUN.
OBSERVATIONS GATHERED FROM
 EcLlPsEs OF THE SUN.

Conoinsions of Eminent Astronomers yeri. fed by Reeent Photographic of the sun's Coronn as Seen During the Time That the
 Solar Body Was Hidden.
 When eclipsed, the majestic king of day condescendingly permits the etruc- snre of his mysterious appendages to be photographed and analysed spectroscop- ically. Never in the whole history of astronomy has finer opportunity fol such work been afforded and so skill fully and completely improved by ns- tronomers as that of the recent eclipse. The full harvest of their observations seems to promise some startling fevela- tions.
 M. Flainmarion, the French astrono. mer, pfter reading the Chilan cable dis patches announcing Professor Picker ing's recent eclipse observations. is re- ported to hnve said; ''rhey confirm the theory that the sun is surrounded by luminous atmosphere toa distance equal to one-eiehth of the sums dianeter.r Scarcely Q quarter of q century agomany astronomers questioned whether the so- lar atmosphere had my marked exten- sion. and even doubted whether the co- roma was a solai appendage at all But in the light of tho 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 torcesof the sun must be enormous indeed to eject the mattet composing the flaming proiiilnences not infrequently observed 40, 900 miles broad, with an uprush of 225miles q second and attaining occasionally nn elevation of 100000 miles. All prominences. Zollner and Respighi have shown. are originally | phenomena of eruption, preceded by rec i tilinear jets, either vertical or oblique, ascending to great heights md then seen ! falling back again toward the sun like | the jets of our fountains. The eruptive ! promineuces are. us Professor Young ' says. generally associated with active | sun spots. Since during the late eclipse theso proninenoes were conspicuous in connection with an unusually brilliant and extended corona and great spotted ! hess, the before seemingly established | law that the corona's size and luiniuosi, | ty are in direct proportion to the suns | spot producing activity is strildngly cor i roborated.
 1 Professor Sehaeberle cabled from Chih that his eclipse observations confirm his mechanical theory Of the corona, which regards this vast appendage as composed of streams of matter ejected with initial velooities of $50 miles 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 resions of the prominences | A further confirmation of this theory is | that the corona in outline resenhled that which Professor Schaeberle predicted some months ago As far back as the l eclipse of 1870 Mir. Brothers noted that ''prominences were most numerous on the side of the sun where the corona was brightest" an evidence that the coronal matter is not less than that of the promi- nences ejected from tho sun.
 Mir. Proctor. discussing the observa- tions of that eclipse. concluded;."I con ceive we have now clear evidence Of a form of action--but whether eruptive, electrical or repulsito 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, aocorSls with old obserya. tions No other explanation of the corona has been offered save that which nttrib- utes it to reflection from uyIiads of in. candescent meteors or cosinical dust cir. culating around tho sun, But this hy- pothesis has never been supported. If the corona were chiefly due to neteoric dust revolving around the sun, We should certainly expect to see it regular. and notas it generally lyappears gapped. quad rilateral or four rayed. with immense wings or extensions. There seerns. there fore. to be no other inference possible but that which telescopic scrutiny has long suggested the corona is orig mated and maintained by countless ejcc- aons issuing from beneath and flung tnr0ugh tho phOtoHphefe ny tne sun s 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 npon terrestrial temperatures and climates The theory in question obviously opens up now and fascinating inquiry into tho anoma- lies of the earth's seasons which are due to variations of solar activity. Weseem to be thus happily led to the very thros- hold of one of the grandest discoveries of modern science. which promises when developed to yield t rich hharyest of prac. tical results.
 Now that most numerous and perfect photographs of all tho principal append ages of the sun have been secured in Chili 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 iIn- portanee to science and the world. New York Herald