The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1917-03-23
SPOTS ON THE sun
May Mark the Beginning Of the
End of Our Solar System.
THEIR ORIGIN is A MYSTERY.

What Causes Them and Why They
Move In Cycles Are Problems That
Science Is Trying Hard to Solve.
Their Influence Upon Our Planet.
The periodicity of sun spots is one Of
the most interesting and most puzzling
facts concerning them, says Isabel NJ
Lewis of the nautical almanac Office Of
the United States naval observatory.
Within a period whose average length
is about eleven years sun spots go
through a cycle Of maximum and mini
mum appearance. At the time Of maxi
mum spottedness the suns surface is
never free from spots At the mini
mum weeks may pass without the ap-
pearance OF a single spot
Although the average cycle is eleven
years, individual periods may vary
greatly, running from seven to seven
teen years in duration. Attempts have
been made to show that larger pc
rlod of thirty-three and methird years
exist, Of which the smaller periods are
subdivisions When we know the cause
of the sun spot cycle we shan have adj
vanced far In the solution Of the mys-
terry of sun spots and al helr numer
Gus allied phenomena.
Sun spot spectra have been exten-
siyely studied, and mueh has been
learned from this mea Of invest-
CATION. They show tha presence of
OF
marked cooling Of oyerlg u- gases. and
the presence within spots ST such com
pounds us titauium oElGe aud calcium
and magnesium hNdriIe These com
pounds could form only at compara-
lively low temperature ina 1t IS as
sumed that sun spots axe regions of
cooler solar temperature ut about $500
degrees g. as compared With 5000 de
grees G. for the remainder Of the pho
tosphere
The presence Of the compounds above
mentioned gives tile sun spot spectra
their peculiar hued app arance, which
is also seen iIi tae red tFpe OF stars
This is very significant when we con
slider that the rcd stars are The older
aud cooler stars Are sun spots then
one of the signs OF tile SUMS adyanc-
ing age? And win they increase In
size and importance as the sun grows
older? Do they herald the doom of
our solar system?
Sun spots, it is now believed, are
manifestations Of some deep lying dis
turbance that Is Of farreaching tmpor
tance. Many phenomena go through
cycles Of change lin keeping with the
sun spot cycle Among these are mag
netic storms and magnetic disturbances
upon the earlh which are closely de
pendent upon the sun spot period Sc
we're magnetic storms upon the earth
occur ut q time whom the suns face is
strongly spotted, and the display of
northern and southern lights Is also
most marked at this time. The gen
eral surface air temperature Of the
earth is lower nv about degree at the
time Of maximum spottedness Of the
sun
One of tile most marked effects Of
the sun spot ayeie is tile form Of the
solar corona Which is visible only at
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