The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-03-05
STUDYING THE sun
A FASCINATING RECREATION WHICH
ANY ONE MAY ENJOY.
How 1t Mey 30 Observed without Danger.
A Method OF Getting Perfectly Pnre
Beam For Inspeeticn-A Lesson In As
tronomy Couched In Simple Terms.

Beam For Inspecticn-A Lesson In As
tronomy Couched In Simple Terms.
Every day royal presence, attended bJ
numerous unseen courtiers, sweeps across
the sky. The sun looks US so boldly in the
face that we are compelled 10 veil ourselves
from his Accusing gaze. Let Us commence
our new studies by contemplating his at
Effectiveness.
A piece of well smoked glass win give
rs good service. If this be covered with
another piece, with strips of paper at the
edges to separate them and prevent rub
bling. and other mucilaeed strips to bind
the outer edges, we shall have respecta-
BILE and lasting astronomical instrument.
The eye may now examine the dazzling
orb without danger, and IL will discover
disk which Is apparently no larger than
that of the full moon, but the fact that
the sun is about 400 times farther away
accounts for the resemblance in size. But
the disk is not all of the immense world,
for very important envelope of vast d.
mansions is invisible except TO special in
struments. The limb Of the sun is seen TO
be not quite SO bright as the central por-
lions, because the light from il has to
penetrate greater depth of atmosphere
Occasionally we see spot upon the
solar surface, in which case it must be
very large, but If we are fortunate enough
to have access to even small spyglass Wa
shall many times see spots. There are
years when the spots are very numerous
(tbe writer counted 16S one day and more
than 800 on day in 1889, and years
when none is seen for months, and this
appears to be governed by period" OF
about II years
If We use a telescope with our smoked
glass, the spectacle will be curiously in
teresting. for the object glass-a very large
eye-gathers many rays OF light and bends
them to focus, producing magDified
image which is yet more enlarged by the
eyepiece, which is a microscope Now,
the very grain of the sun, SO to speak, Is
visible, the surface being completely feohed
with gray white matter, while here and
therehuge masses of white protrude. These
latter arc called faculB and are usually
associated with tee spots which ara de-
pressions in the surface deep, dark cavt-
ties, but dark only as contrasted with the
shining regions for they are brighter than
the calcium light. Very recently the writ
er measured large group Dad found that
it occupied an area of more than 100, coo
miles in length and about three -fourths as
wide, into which could be cast 100 earths
without crowding them. Still larger
groups have sometimes been noticed.
Watching the spots from day to day re-
veals the time of revolution of the sun
upon its axis. about % days, which means
that one dag on the sun is as long as 2G
Of ours
As yet the sun has rot yielded the secret
of its composition, and the telescope, I'M
aided, is inadequate TO solve the mystery.
Perhaps in childhood we beguiled hours
of church service, which were trifle
wearisome to little ones, by noticing the
play of color in the busters which hung
in I,rnfusiou fro'>' the old fashioned lamps