The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-04
MAY HAVE PERPETUAL DAYLIGHT
SCIENTIST PREDICTS THE TINE WILL COME WHEN EARTH WILL
BE WITHOUT ANY NIGHT

nins-the first hint-of what was
coming. I"F ,:f
AS the approach continued the
s%plendor would rapidly increase.
Soon those stars would be no longer
stars, but suns in brilliance.
1t can be shown fundamentally
tina in the midst of such a cluster
perpetual daylight would prevail. No
matter though the earth continued to
turn on its axis so that the sun would
rise and set alternatively. as at pres
ent. Vet all sides of it would be for
ever illuminated by the other suns
around it. If humanity could con-
tinue to exist under such conditions
the whole scheme of life would be
changed. When the sun was set the
illumination from the stars would not
be quite as brilliant as hat Of full
daylight, but still the sky would be
so %radiantly Respondent that one
would hardly know which to call day
and which night. It would he a reali.
zation Of Bunyan's ideal picture of the
City of the Golden Streets and
Pearly Gates"
But everything would he in motion,
The change of position of the multi
tude Of suns surrounding us would he
continually evident. Our own sun
would fall into an orbit Of amazing
completely. and with the earth chas-
ing after it.. would be now near the
center Of the great cluster, where the
stars are closely packed, and now on
its outskirts. where they are relative
~ scattered. So the aspect Of the
heavens would be undergoing contin-
ual changes. The sky would be a
gigantic Kaleidoscope, ce~aselessly
turning and at every moment present.
ing a new and more wonderful COM
eination of starry splendors.
Amid the c%ontending attractions of
so many suns the earth might be torn
away from the control. Of its own sun
and fall under the sdo4ninion: of anoth-
er. And this could HAPPEN again and
again. so that In the course of time
our planet would be the slave Of srav-
itation to many suns in turn. And
with every change of master would
come a change Of solar influences act
ing upon h globe, and the conditions
of life would vary accordingly.
With the aid Of a new instrument
known as the Rumford spectrohelio-
graph. Philip Fox, of the Yerkes OBJ
~servatory, has secured some interest
ing photographs of solar promincnces.
In principle the instrument is a spec
troscope and is alta ched to the famous
forty-inch Yerkes telescope. The sun
is an enormous roaring furnace, hot
ter than any blast or electrical fur.
mace that We car construct, with a
temperature greater than any we can
make artificiaily. The flames that
make up this solar furnace ordinarily
do not leap to great attitudes, but
once n a while a tongue Of fire darts
out with an enormous velocity from
the suns edge and reaches to a height
Of hundreds of thousands Of miles.
Such an eruption occurred on Novem.
Der 10, 1907. rising to the terrific
height Of $4,000 miles.
Daily sunshine is usually measured
with a recorder consisting Of a solid
sphere Of glass which acts as a burn
ing glass. concentrating the suns rays
on a strip Of specially prepared paper.
One Of these Instruments is illustrated
above. When the sun shines brightly
the paper is ~blackened.