The sun., 1904-07-12
TIE SEASONS EXPLAINED.
Tho Atmospheric Lens Theory Of winter,
Spring, Summer and Autumn.

Spring, Summer and Autumn.
To TEE EpIToR or TIE SUN-Sh: In the
letter you published on July 1. the endeavor
was made by me to show the action OF the
atmosphere condensins the rays OF sunlight
like lens and creating very hot temperature.
The hottest part OF these concentrated rays
would be In the centre Of the cone shaped
mass Of sunlight. measuring from the sides.
The earth turns on It's axis inclined to the
plane Of It's orbit, and this angle OF inclina-
tion remains unchanged In all parts of the
orbit. The sun In the centre OF the orbit In
consequence shines more upon one end OF
the axis at ono part OF the orbit and then
more upon the other end Of the axis whom the
earth is In the opposite part Of the orbit This
brings the hotter centre Of the heat cone at
one time toward one pole and at another time
toward the other pole. making summer at
one pole and winter at the other.
The change Of season Is thus produced by
a more condensed sunlight. but not as usually
explained by a change OF slant In the rays.
because all the rays are slanted toward the
centre OF the cone OF sunlight. The differ
ence In slant is. that In the centre Of the cone
over the equator the rays go nearly straight
down and are greater In number because of
the supply from the surrounding light.
The further down from the air surface the
more rays are packed together and the greater
the heat, increasing until at the focus. where
they all meet II the earth. perhaps. did not
prevent II, the heat would be beyond COM
prehension.
There are therefore two ways by which an
increase Of heat can be appreciated One In
the direction Of the centre Of the cone and the
ot her in a direction away from the air 3 sur
face toward where the focus or tip Of the cone
should be.
The depth or height Of this cone is COM
paratively shallow and OF course corresponds
to the depth OF the atmosphere. When this
depth is increased over any place or the curve
made more sharp-i e., with shorter radius.
by being bulged out-there is certainly more
heat at the same place on the earth's surface
because the rays have a greater concentra-
ton and would sooner come to a focus; that
is, the focal length will be shorter when the
curve is made sharper.
A glass lens OF only one curve. being nat
on one side, has a focal length OF double the
radius Of the curve The double lens with
equally curved sides has focus the length Of
only one curve.
with that Of the single curved lens. plano
convex.
A cone is spokep Of, but there is only slice s
cone. to which a comparison Is proper. -,
From what ! have said it can be readily
have a climate cooler than ours and yet be
much closer to the sun, for it Is popularity
Of lens have the Sens the sst
sond tRss Se further away the
ond IN tbs ssme way With earth
We would be cooler were we closer. and
warmer were we further away. -,
Thermometer and very powerful light might
used rate the ebsSgs tSSs can be loss o
one degree OF heat for every 800 feet upward
from the earth's surface. ,. i'm
experiment with before denying their truth.
that the direct sunlight is parallel; y is
poiarized light. and calculating from the
snh Sdt q tie ,Ss the sun seems to be at
II the light were parallel" it would give
the same focus as that with which the lenses
aes or ssZ s Ike
fame Of gas or OF candle or from the sun
the length Of focus. win change with the dis
Of sns bSesss
focus2 One would think the sun, being 50
ess oss focus eausl Thso so that The
is considerably longer and about that OF an
oHeS' Hss the a' fact saosf that the sunlight FIRST
through the refracting surface Of the atmos-
phere been thought Of?
There is a simple explanation to be con-
sidered The suns light passes from ghter
medium, or most likely no medium at all, to a
denser medium. the air. This alwaEs changes
the direction Of rays OF light. The other
tests are made entirely within one medium.
the air, and no surfaces or changes OF medi-
ums are encountered until entering the glass
lens.
/ do not see why the change Of seasons is
not produced by the unohangin inclination
OF the earth's axis to the plane OF the orbit
and the concentration Of the suns rays by
the curve OF the atmospheric surface and the
BY placing myself in a place, surrounded
by high houses / have seen in the morning.
before and after sunrise, the oolors Of the
spectrum follow one another, the red first
and the purple last. The latter ones were
but only because the bright light was obscured
by the houses high around me. / have seen
some Of them In the afternoon. when, the
bright sunlight was dimmed by fog. j have
seen them pass over the moon before and after
the earth's shadow In an eclipse, so that
am satisfied the atmosphere refracte the sun
light and draws 1t inward from the outer
edge toward the centre Of its area OF visi-
bility. WARREN UEL REYNOLDS.
NBw YORK. July 8.