Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-16
GENERAL MODERATION
Cheering Init liggspoe from
Weather Bureau.
IN EVIDENCE TODAY
TON ToMoRRow MORNING.
Danger From Ice in the River Not I'm
mediately Probable-study-
ing Sun Spots.


by the weather bureau this afternoon that
| there will be a general moderation of the
prevailing marrow-chiling tempera ture
This moderation is in evidence today in the
| central valleys and is expected to reach
| Washington tomorrow, when the mercury
| will rise slightly above the freezing point
| Prof Garriott added however. that there
is nothing in sight yet to indicate a thaw
sufficient to affect the prevailing river con-
| ditions hereabouts.
| ITO bring about a general breaking I'D of
| the ice would require several days of rather
warm weather with rainfall sufficient to
| honeycomb the ice"
| There is a growing inclination on the
| part of some people to charge up such
abnormalities in the weather as have pre-
vailed during the present winter to sun
! spots, especially in view of statements
made by certain amateur weather proph-
| cts of the long-range order, who have
| pointedly stated that the severity of the
winter of 19O4-1905 is directly due to GER
tain large sun spots, which can be seen
| with the naked eye" and have cooled
| the SUM- or reduced its heat eXpendi-
| ture' to such extent to cause the
| cold waves which have recently passed
! over this country.
! Views of Willis L. Moore.
| When this matter was brought to the at
| tention of Prof. Willis l.. Moore, chief of
| the weather bureau, by Star reporter to-
day he said arrangements were being made
by which the weather bureau would take
up the work of the astronomer, the physi-
cfst and the chemist where they apply to
the phenomena of the air but that up to
this time the relations that subsist be-
tween solar and terrestrial phenomena has
not yet been determined.
Sun spots,' said Prof Moore, have
str
great astronomers of the world They
have kept an account of sun spots for
long period of time, their size and the vari-
alton in their frequency, and have en-
deavored to correlate these evidences of
solar agitation with the variations in the
terrestrial weather, but without result.
Notwithstanding these long series of sci
entitic observations whenever abnormal
weather conditions prevail at the time of
great sun-spot frequency it is at once
ascribed by the popular mind to such
cause"
A correspondent recently gave it as his
belief that the sun was rapidly losing neat
as result of the black, cold spots which
have appeared on its surface creating frac-
lures in it's philosophers.
Referring to this statement Prof. Moore
said Prof. Simon NeWcomb has estimated
that it will require at least 100000 years
for the sun to cool to that degree which
will seriously interfere with animal life on
the earth. 80
And" added the chief of the weather
bureau. "one of our great physicists has
demonstrated that in a great gaseous body
like the sun a contraction of only go feet
in its diameter year is sufficient TO ac-
count for its annual radiation. Whether or
not there are small variations in the solar
constant astronomers are not able as yet
to answer. The great invention of Pro-
fessor Langley of the boloscope which rem
ders it possible to measure the varla tions
in temperature of one-millionth of a de-
gree centigrade will, when observations
al ta1y al cd OF
instrument are continued for a long series
of years, definitely determine the question
and the amount of the variation
For Observation Purposes.
Referring TO the steps that are being
taken by the weather bureau for making |
sun spot observations, experiments and |
comparisons, it is stated that Prof. Willis |
L. Moore and his meteorologists are so far |
convinced of the Importance of finding out |
the laws of this cosmical physics by which |
alone the problem can be concluSively
solved. that it has been thought proper to
found a research observatory at Mount
Weather, on the crest of the Blue Ridge
mountains, about six miles from Bluemont,
Va, and equip 1t suitably for these 1nveSu-
cations. 1t is evident that such an inst-
tuition. having it's beginning in the early
years of the twentieth century, will have
an increased usefulness the years go by
If it is organized according to the demands |
of the best science. 1t will require fine in
struments and able students if it is to
command the respect of the scientific world.
The subject of solar physics has already
grown to such proportions that the British
Association for the Advancement of Science |
has set off a Solar-physics section from
astronomy and mathematics; the solar
physics observatory at South Kensington.
under the able direction of Sir Norman
Lockyer, is putting forth valuable results; |
the solar observations by the Italians for |
the past thirty years have become invalu-
able as basis for these studies; the OBJ |
servatory at Kalocsa, Hungary, and that at |
Zurich are known to all students for their |
important publications. Less directly, sew |
eral of the great astronomical observatories |
are deriving some of their most valuable |
discoveries in astrophysics, which is simply |
another name for stellar meteorology. Thus |
Potsdam, Paris Lick, Yerkes, Harvard and |
other institutions working Zealously |
along these lines and filling out the realm |
of human knowledge in a fashion undream- |
ed of a generation ago. Work the |
Mount Weather, Va, station is in prog |
ress, but several months will elapse before |
any real investigation at the observatory |
will begin.