The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-12-26
THE SUNS CONCLUSIONS.
CAMBRIDGE PREDECESSORS RD1CULE
THE IDEA OF A NEW PLAyET.
Nevertheless the Caasaal kxteat Of
the spots On the Solar Surface II
AatFaetfng Attentfon-APe saiA -
He Only Cavities or Csoi ReS1snA

Cambridge professors -t6scais the
theory that . rev world Is belng thrown
OF from TIA s2l owing 20 the activity
O. sun x5osA Prot L 6. Pickering. d.
rector CT the Harvard observatory. says;
Such incredible reports c&scre6ts ss-rGx-
Orgy. The o11y taIngs 10 be seen CT the
su1. 20 Ey knowledge are Sun s7ots.
These Do not produce any unusual ex-
citsnenI Sun spots are not ucccm.ac1-
tbs one Il simply reported % b 0a1su-
ally large
Prot. Yo>ax. O. P-:nce.oa university.
said las. night Of Tie theory thAs = Few
world is About 10 break away from the
sun. IT'S a. bosA- TIE thing TIA, has
caused al this str Is tie discovery OF q
new sun spot which has suddenly burst
into prominence People can res. as
sGrsd that 4 planet las rot broken CT
from the SUI and tina. there IL 10 truth
il the statement that IL - travelling away
from Ehe SUE and threatens TO destroy
the earth" The tunaor class yesterday
afternoon. under the direction @. Prot
Young. were interested Observers Of the
Few SUI spot
Prof William p Brooks. Of Smith OBJ
ssrvatory. New York, reports the dis
covery OF TWO groups OF spots 90 the sun
approaching the center OF the disk. The
some sensational papers 20 characterize
these spo;s as immense earth dessroyers
and are dancing In space with no known
objective points and one OF them quoted
from Revelations VII TO sustain the fear
fgl predictions IL made.
'ATha. Is al nonsense" said Prof John
K Ross. OF Columbia university TO 4
World reporter yesterday. Special
students % the sur have long studied
what are the effects OF sun spots on the
earth No Idea has yet been reached CT
what the proper effect IT, These studies
CT the sun are shown by well arshentf-
Gated records 20 have begun as early
as 1910. while Ia China the records go
tack many. many years before that time.
Today all the leading observa.ories daily
take photographs Of the sun and keep an
accurate record
Creation OF Fancy.
The idea that sun spots break AWAY
from tie suns surface and are launched
into space u simply . creation Of the
brain OK the writer. The spots are BE-
iieEsd BY most astronomers to be cavities
or depresssoas in the philosophers flied
with gases ard vapors which are cooler
than the surrounding portions and there
fore absorb considerable pcvtica OF
Light The fact that they are cavities Is
siso"a oT AAs cnA1ge II the appear rance
Of spot a. IL approaches the edge OF the
disk When q normal spot l. near the
center OF the disk the nucleus Ia nearly
central. As IL approaches the edge the
penumhra becomes wider On the outer
edge and narrower On the inner, ana lust
before the spot disappears around the
Erlb OF the sun the penumbra on the
inner edge disappears. the appearance
being precisely such as would be shown
By saucsE-Saaped cavity in the surface
OF globe.
The diameter OF the umhra OF a sun
spot ranges ali the way from $50 TO I.eo
miles for = very small one 20 somo o.
$1,000 miles n the case OF large ones.
The penumhra surrounding a group Of
spots Is sometimes l5o GO miles across.
though that would be rather an excep-
ronal size. The present one Is estimated
at about 10000. Not infrequen,Iy sun
spots are large enough to be seen BY the
naked eye. and they have been often SO
seen al sunset OF through fog.
The depth by which the umbra Is
depressed below the general surface az
the philosophers is very difficult to deter
mine. but II seldom exceeds 2so miles
ard Is oftener between so ard SO
niles The duration OF a spot varies.
sometimes II lasts few days and some
times month or two. The spots never
show themselves near the poles OF tn
sun. but find their greatest deveIoprner.
about 10 degrees north or south OF the
suns equator. Hartford Post