New-York tribune., 1898-01-23
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OBSERVATIONS.
,,,,,,,voeo, vorvG.s IDEA ABOUT THE "RE-
yERsING LAYER" CONFIRMED


Orc question Of importance to astronomers seems
IN have been enectualy settled ny yeSle'""S
e,cctroecoDic observations in India. There Is q
,oro- Of ,o,xed metallic vaporS At temperature
~ shout n ca or - 0) degrees Fahrenheit AROUND
the sun which produces the thousahhs 0i
seen IN the solar spectrum. These lines "'S ''".N
Instead Of bright ani therefore the stratum VIM"
owes rise TO them must be situated above IN
ueht-givng cloud shell rhoospherel OF the ORD
o> dav There have been diff erences Of opinion as
10 the situatioa OF thu sO-cahed reversing iH!V'
which IS perhaps about 800 or loeH mics "e'p
Sir Norman Iockyer has Ions believed that l's u"
dor eu,f,co WAS 20e0 or 20 90 miles distant from
the nho,osnhere: perhaps much higher Professor
c. A Young of Princeton has Insisted tha; i lay
dou,n snurly against the phoiospherc ahc WAS
beneath both Of the other best t-recoshiz'' en-
velopes OF the sun. the chromosphere ana 'ne
corona T.,
professor Young made visual observation IN
1o-o during a tor al eclicse which inspired mat pe
uor When the moon had interposod far enough
ho,uoon the earth and sun hide all OF tho latter
except a narrow crescent, the spectrum obtained
from that crescent stil contained the usual pd'N
unos Suddenly all these lines became bright oh'7'
and an instant later disappeared The phenomei' 'h
was q mere fash due 20 the exceedingly hrlef IN
,orval % time during which the reversing layer.
seen 4dgewiss. shone by It's own light. instead o.
being merely n transparent veil over the pho'o-
snbcre Then the moon covered H. ana oniy '"o
,Dnor LAYERS Of the solar atmosphere could ne seen
partial verincation Of Professor Noungs an
nouncerent was secured by Photograph ttkeh
NJ the instant OF the fash in August lS" Sir
Tormsn Lockyer has'bcon unwilling 10 accept the
,,to-prefation put upon !; by other astronomers.
Rut now that a second photograph or II mas Deeh
taken (pcrhaps DOZEN. and since II is likely that
several different observers have witnessed the
same thing usually the position OF the reversing
laver" Will doubtless cease to be debatdb'e que9-
ton. .,.1 ,o,,otrs rnore
,har hall Of the elements known 10 terlesual
chcnisfs Tho next layer above it, the ciroino-
sphere has a deep pink hge. contain. hydro-, H. ~.
boliun calcium and possibly Two or thl'e Vthct
aiowcrts lis epcctrurn contains only q i'w lines;
comnared with that Of the reversing layer. ana
60 .bn comnoeifiOo Of the ChrCmOspncre was Sc
cured Yesterday. but. If so the fact IIonaDE VII
not be known for weeks or mont1g. ne . 20 ~,
sphcrc lavcr when not disturbed Is ABOUT lV'v'
niles thick. -, ,.,.
IS seen only at times Of total eclipse ana ~ !.
Soio ~ eilveTy whiteness. brilliant NJ its irner
edge. and fading away AT rs oth'r DorHtV ~ >
what Mr Keats calls noihinsness. Al ina
etago I'm the eleven year period when sunspots are
most abundant the corona seems 10 cNleiH o.e
further than at the minimum stage. Whether It's
,,orre actually changes or whether the difference
Is oiy ny IN one ioF he proboms OF the hour. Inas-
~ snots II IS probable that the width o. the visible
corona Yesterday was below the average.
rcnood b. electricity some other force. the ma
tcrial Of which they consist must weigh less than
either heum or dro6imio @ is th name gVen
10 ono Of these Substances whose existence IS re-
with any terrestrial element has not YET been dls-
crvnrod Homes have been entertained tnat our
knowledge regarding the siuf OF when me corona
made in connection with this eclipse; bat II PROD
ably will be necessary to wait awhile before inc me
public Will learn whether these hopes have been