Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-13
GREAT FIRES OF The son
SoIAE ECTUEES STUDIED AZ
EuMEvTs OF EGEE.
Wordr-s Revealed By Specsxsscspe
ana Prr.og-Lplic Flet@f1s
SCT-es n As.-SLzy-

Prof 2 p N;,s-:.l C1cr.a.sa Vzcrxsrr-. n
S'5"rc;,c kTs-,frnr.
The vo.der.1, pcosr.ss OF as;roa-
ON. cr-.ns tas last rai, cea:uv
10 roS&crc sct.c- frustrated .asn In
the a tide 81 Astronomers torard
observations a. total eci,psc OF
the sur. t. .Sose O. ~ WHO have
beel :or:IlcIe c3r-sa TO view an
ECLIPSE. 10 see ths naichless beauty OF
the corona vish here ard there a slirspee
OF 70 : sd i;aane. II seerss strange that
up 10 iSi2 we have practically no meatiea
OF the ?ronnin noes. wa!ca at tho present
day are Gdied ever without the help OF
an eclipse TIE red flames which in the
eclipse 9: that year we've so bright as to
be seen By the popuisce were greeted BY
then; with shouts of Long live the as
trononers" for giving the beautiful spec
tacle TO delight their eyes. But the as
troncmers were I, much mystihed over
Their appearance az any one else: some
thought the f1 mes were caused by a freak
OF our owl atmosphere. others that they
were caused by dfffract.on around the
moon white still o hers thought they be-
longed To the sun. At the eclipse OF 1890
photo g-aphy was erst used with anything
like success. and by It's aid II was shown
that tie led flames were part or the solar
furnace. because the moon covered up the
flames on one side and uncovered them
on tie other as the moon passed across
in front OF the sun.
Before the next eclipse the spsctroscope
came TO be understood II may be SAID
that modern scientific oSserva- Ions or
ec!ipses began with that OF 1855. only
forty years ago. But what an array OF
magnificent discoveries. II YOU take the
sum total o. the time spent in observing
ccl!rses. ana count the precious minutes
one by one that have been ct the disposal
Of the astronomers, we md somewnst
le than one hundred minutes devoted
TO actual observation m the last forty
years. But wha: q wonderful list OF
problems solved concerning the sun!
Listen TO q snort enumeration OF them
Spectrum Of Q Prominence.
In 1858 the famous astronomer Jansen
Of France went TO far-off India to see the
eclipse. and his eyes were ire frEt to SO
the spectrum of a prominence. This
spectrum consisted OF a series OF bright
lines whose po: ition told in unmistakaole
terms that the red flames were real
tongues OF fire. masses OF hydrogen gas
shooting up to great distances above the
sun In fact the lines OF the spectrum
were so bright that he tried TO md them
next day without an eclipse. HIS sue
CESS which was shared by Sir Norman
Lochyer or England. made the study OF
crominences an everyday matter. AT the
eclipse OF Iscs Hardness. OF the naval
observatory, Wash. ng,on. discovered he
i:um in the sun. a metal or great inter-
IS, to the scientist. II was not TIL 1888
that heiium was discovered in small guam
titles on the earth by the great fnghsn
chemist. Ramsay. Before the eclipse OF
1870. Young o: Princeton foretold that
if one should look sharply with a spectro-
scope at the instant that the moon COW
cred ND tie entire surface OF the sun
beautiful spectacle would appear known
as the flash spectrum He himself
went to Spain and was there rewarded by
beng the rirst to see the phenomenon he
had predicted.
Fraunhofer Lines.
But what is the flash spectrum? And
what does it tell about the sun? The
ordinary spectrum of the sun consists Of .
bright ribbon OF light crossed by thou
sands OF fine dark lines. known by the
name of their discoverer as Fraunhofer
lines. II the sun had no surrounding
shell of vapors the spectrum would con-
sist OF all colors Of the rainbow but with
no breaks or dark lines In II. These lines.
which were q great enigma 70 estron-
omers from their discovery by Fraunhoter
in 1889. show that the intensely brilliant
sun Is surrounded by . shallow layer OF
relatively cool gases which absorb the
solar light and leave gaps in its spectrum.
lie moon as IL CrOSSSS tD0 l0CS VI 0io
sun. cutting of it's light and causing
the eclipse. does so gradually. At the In
slant that the body OF the sun IL covered
up totaiity begins. the corona appears. the
most gorgeous of all natural phenomena.
At this instant the moon. which has COW
cred UP the suns surface. has not hidden
the suns atmosphere OF gases. These
vapors. though cooler than the sun. are
nevertheless at an exceedingly high tenn
perature. and the spectroscopc and the
,bn y,1o make them
'e!l their story. a wireless message from
he sun. AS these solar vapors are in
tensely hot their spectrum consists or
bright lines. But what change there
has been in the spectrum. In a nash. In
the twinkling Of an eye, AS long as even
a small edge Of the sun Is visible it's light
is so overpowering that the ordinary
Fraunhofer spectrum Is seen. But AT
the instant of totality the edge OF the sun
disappears and the spectrum Is changed
from a dark line spectrum TO one consist
ing of bright lines. The change is made
with such rapidity. the bright line spec
trum flashes out so suddenly that IL was
called by Young. its discoverer. the
flash spectrum.
But what is the story concerning the
beautiful corona that can be seen only
during the few minutes that tn. sun 10
totally eciipsed? The prominences. by
peculiar use Of the spectroscppe. are rem
dered visible without waiting for an
eclipse: might not the spectroscope make
the corona visible likewise? Much thought
and attention have been put on this pron-
lem and many attempts have been made
to see and photograph the corona without
an eclipse but all have failed. The suns
light is so intense that even the smallest
edge of IL gives more powerful light
than the corona and obiterates IL. As
tronomers are keenly interested in the
crown of glory round the sun. and are
wiling to travel long distances and spend
months of Their time - the attempt to
unrayel some of its mysteries.