The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-22
THAT GROUP OFF sun SPOTS.
A Little Out of Season, but Not other
wise at All Remarkable.
New York Tribune.

New York Tribune.
1t would not be safe to conclude from the
fuss which has been made IN certain quar-
ters within the last two or three days over
a group of spots which has recently APP
peared on the sun, that this is the first
time in history that such a spectacle has
occurred or that any terrible consequences
are likely to ensue in the near future. The
same sort of thing has been observed at
rather irregular intervals for hundreds of
years past, and had probably occurred with
out being. noticed for thousands Of years
prior to the first recorded discovery.
A dark spot on the SUMS surface IS only
one of several manifestations of an eyplo-
sive energy that is undoubtedly ut work
there, with varying activity, pretty much all
the time. Just above the "photosphere'' the
dazzingly brilliant cloud shell of inc sun,
which is the source of nearly all the light
we receive from that body, there lies 4 thin
pink layer, composed mostly of ncand sscent
hydrogen and known as the Chrome
sphere" AT times the lower stratum seems
to be gently heaved up, in patches above it's
ordinary level, thus presenting spots which
are a trifie brighter than the rest of the
solar surface. These are called 'faculae."
The pink layer is tossed up, too, somewhat
more violently into masses of the most fam
tastic shape, which often retain their gem
eral form for hours and even days. These
are the hydrogen protuberances." Besides
there are eruptions, more sudden and eph-
emeral. III which metallic vapors are shot
up from the photospheric level with almost
inconceivabie velocity, and sometimes attain
elevation of 100000 miles in less than an
hour This is nearly the distance of the
moon from the earth
The dark spots seem to be the product,
indirectly rather than directly, of the same
forces Chemical. electrical or volcanic)
which give rise to these other phenomena.
They ere largest ard most abundant when
'faculae" protuberanceS and eruptions are
biggest and most numerous; and the spots
are often closely associated, Geographical
ly. with the latter types or disturbance.
Some astronomers imagine that the dark
spots caused by downfall of cooled
gases recently elected from beneath the
philosophers; others regard tnem as large
floating masses of vapor which has radlated
off some of it's heat, and which lie on the
phoIOsphere like Stag on molten iron. The
old notion that a sun spot is a hole reaching
clear through the luminous cloud smell mas
been almost entirely abandoned but nearly
all observers think that the central part
of the spots, when seen on the edge of the
sun, resembles a cavity.
A spot consists of two parts, darker
patch, or umbra, al the center, and an irreg-
ular border made UP of feathery streakS
alternatly light and dark and pointing In
toward the umbra. This grayish belt is
is accompanied by a number of small SPOTS.
These often arrange themselves IN a nearly
Geneva, n. Y, reported last Sunday tnse
he had seen u group OF spots ne uouDt-
was one hundred thousand miles long, ana
not that any Individual spot had diameter
of such dimensions. Probably no spot In the
group. including it's penufnbra, Is more IMAM
twenty thousand or thirty thousand miles
across. But size indicated by diameter
of twenty thousand or thirty thousahu
The last two maximum stages of SOLAR
activity occurred in 1SS3-'S4 and in lS2-'93
The last minimum came early in 1889. An
other is due within year or So. The aver
age length Of these periods is about eleven
+, years. 1t is only because the present out.
break is q little out of season that II Is at
all remarkable.
A few great solar outbreaks have been ac-
companied by disturbances of the earth
magnetism and fine auroral display. As
| tronomers are not now so confident as they
were once that the two classes of phe-
nomena are related 10 each other. Nor mas
the theory that the weather Is affected by
solar disturbances yet been established 10
| the satisfaction of cold-blooded scientists.
notion that the sun gives birth to new
planets when suffering from one OF these
| mild attacks of measles.