Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-14

result In an astronomical discovery or the
first rank, and one of particular value tC
the meteorological service Of the country
has attracted attention to the work being
done by the astrophysical observatory OF
that institution.
For many years astronomers and wealth.
er forecasters have been struggling with
two problems Of vital Importance to theil
work.
First-How to construct an instrumen,
that would measure exactly the amount Of
heat the sun sends to the earth.
Second-What are all the causes tha'
make this heat as it reaches the earth
vary from day to day, thus causing the
temperature to rise and fall.
The work of c. G. Abbott. director OF
the astrophy steal observatory during the
last eight years, has overcome the mrs
difficulty, for he has perfected the In
strument used in measuring the sun 6
radiation to point where an apsolute
scale of measurement can be fixed. rms
in itself is a big achievement as physi-
cists had been at work for seventy years
irving to accomplish this without success
and the late secretary of the Smithsonian
s P Langley. under whom Mr.. Abbot was
working at the beginning, had been un-
able to perfect the instrument.
At the same time he has been doing
this Mr. Abbots investigations have
brought him to a POINT where only one
more successful test seems to be needed
to prove his entirely new theory that the
fluctuations Of the earth's temperature
are due In a large measure to the fact
that the radiation of the sun itself varies
from day to day, that the emission OF
heat, light and other rays is not always
the same.
Until this idea was advanced eight
wears ago by Mr.. Abbot II had been the
generally accepted theory that the vary
ing conditions in the earth's atmosphere,
such as the amount OF moisture in the
air and the presence OF absence OF clouds,
governed entirely the amount OF heat the
earth received from the sun. He has now
carried his Investigations to a point
where astronomers the world over are
agreed that only one more test seems
necessary to prove Mr.. Abbot's conten-
ton. His measurements are based on OBJ
servations made at the astrophysical OBJ
servatory in Washington, at the Smithso-
MAN station on Mount Wilson, and on
Mount Whitney. Now. II similar tests are
made in southern Mexico and they sub
stantiate those made simultaneously on
entiflc opinion that Mr.. Abbot is right in
claiming there is a certain f1uctuation in
the amount of heat the sun sends out.
With this determined beyond a doubt
it will then be possible for the weather
bureau. using the instrument perfected
by Mr.. Abbott, to measure at various
stations in the United States the amount
Of heat the sun is sending out, and use
these measurements in its forecasts.
There is no question that under these
circumstances weather predictions
can be made more accurate.
The assistance that will be rendered to
the meteorological service by this dis
covery, IL made, however, is not the only
practical result that will follow. for ex-
periments are being carried on by the De-
partment of Agriculture also based on
Mr.. Abbott's observations. and this work
will be influenced il it Is determined that
there Is q certain variation In the solar
radiation.
1.-The Agricultural Department Is now
getting Interested in the question Of the
amount Of radiation OF the sun, as to