Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1913-07-19
SUNS HEAT To BE
OUR BAROMETER
~
Weather Forecasts VIII 30
Possible Months Ahead.
TESTS WILL TAKE YEARS,
Professor Frost. Director Of Xefxas
Observatory Predicts That Futurs
Scientists win Be Able 10 Tell thS
Temperature Sis Months In Adj,
vance---0bserve Sun Spots. Il

Vance, Observe Sun Spots.
Great interest Is manifested among
scientists us the result Of a published
statement IL Professor edwin u Erost,
director OF the lerises Observatory. 70
the effect that It has been determined
that the solar constant Is Ia fact 4
vaglablc quantity and that thc efTea,
ofsshc change Is NOT appreciate on
earth untIi as long as six nontha after
the change
For this reason Professor Frost IL eli
th@oplnion that eventually Il may IA
possible 10 determine general neafhar
conditions that FAR ahcaG-in okllev
words. that careful observations az 50.
lar conditions will Indicate what eonI
ditions may prevail ON the aafth latar
In addition 70 the observations saada
by Professor Frost similar ohgeryas
lions haze been made hy Professor III
III. klmball for the govern ant at kbf
station on Mount Weather iE
In his statement Professor Frost al.
clarcS that raEeful Observations. GQsls
cate that tho fsIte Professor s. M J. gsisS
ley placed liis nstiinht q for sllp atlsct,ss
Of heat ABSORPTION BY Che h6flh al sch
high a tigu9e. st
Professor Laneley's DEVICES
rrofasso, Frost III hf sissvaiauk
cpnslnestss ON tina inaeuious slAvAtensfsil
vented by Professor Langley. liz whIut
he measured the sums heat. aud on the
discoveries of q. q Abbott and y. lIp
FowIcA who for tho past ten yearn
have been conducting their investieaf
tons at sea level and at Mount Wilt
ney (14.500 fcco and Mount Wilson
(5.O00 feet. 10 southern California. He
goes on to say:
.Thc most striking result Of these In
vestigations Is tic discovery by ABB
bolt and EowIe that the solar con
slant Is not constant. but variable
--in other words. that our sun Ii a
variable star. like hundreds aud thou
sands OF others in the sky
"lt was nearly ten years ago that
these investigators found evidence that
the radiation or the sun was not steady
from day to day, and ten years CT
work has been devoted 10 determining
whether these apparent variations
were really IN The sun or due 20 cr-
rors OF observation or 10 fiuctuntion In
the absorption lly the earth's afmo-
sphere. They now feel justified In
stating that these fluctuations are real
and are FIJI the sun itself. amounting
to 5 per cent OF more III d period or a
week OF ten days.
observations for sun spots have
now been mnde long enough SO that
we know that They are more numerous
every eleven years. slowly declining
from q maximum number 10 n mini
mum number about seven years iater
and then rising again 10 d maximum
about four years after the minimum.
Importance Of the Discovery.
"'rhe Importance Of this discovery Of
the variation III tile SIMS heat Is prob
ably obvious TO the reader. The in
habitants Of the earth are entirely de-
pendent for their existence upon the
results Of agricultural work. and moth
iHfS ~ titttt ttfksit tiifiti tffAL tut tN-
dintion from the sun lies at the basis
OF the principal weather elements In
the eafth'a atmosphere
III should not be inferred that a
sudden startling change in the suns
radiation produces nm immediate effect
In the terrestrial temperatures. The
earth's atmosphere takes up these
changes aud gradually communicates
them TO the carth's surface How soon
and 10 whit degree remain to be in
vestigntcds
Continuous study. extended per-
haps over many years, VIII be required
TO determine II these changes In ra-
dIation can be predicted IN advance
and II the laws can be determined
which govern them. II is evidently a
most, practical problem. touching tho
interests OF every inhabitant Of tho
earth"