Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-16
Scientific Discussions
by Garrett P. Serviss

Whenever a magnetic storm oc-
ours it is almost certain that the sun
Is at the bottom of the disturbance.
"Old Sol" has been too often de-
tected behaving in a suspicious man
ner on such occasions to leave much
doubt in the minds of astronomers
that he is the mischief maker. The
only real question is: Just how
does he do it?
A widely accepted view is that
OF Maunder, which assumes that
streams or shafts of electro-mag-
netic energy. in some form, 20 out
from certain regions on the solar
surface, probably within the limits
of the spot-belts, and rotate like
spokes with the turning of the sun
on its axis In these shafts the
radiant energy is transmitted with
speed comparable with that of
light, and where they strike the
earth they give rise TO q magnetic
storm.
The sun might be compared to a
globe-shaped caisson- battery, ro-
tating on a horizontal axis, with
guns projecting around its central
oelt, and pouring streams of pro-
Jectiles, as continuous as shafts of
water from firehose. out into the
space through which the planets
have to travel in their orbits. The
streams swing round with the SUMS
rotation, and that is what gives a
peculiarly sinister aspect to this
strange bombardment.
Let us look at this a little. The
diameter of the sun Is about $685.
600 miles. Its radius is therefore
$4,000 miles and its circumference
about 2,720,000 miles. Its rate of
rotation on its axist Git turns in the
same direction as the earth), Is
such that it makes one turn in
about twenty-five days, or 500 hours.
Hence, any point on its surface ad-
vances at a speed of 1853 miles
per hour. That, then. is the speed
with which the shafts of electric
energy swing round at the surface of
the sun.
Or we may say that the pointing
of any one of these tremendous
solar guns, pouring out an unceas-
ing stream of projectiles, is shifted
at the rate of 4,533 miles per hour.
or about IS 1-2 miles per minute.
But this is at the suns surface.
AT the distance of the earth, which
is 93,000,000 miles from the sun,
the space swept over in one min
ute by the projectile shaft becomes
about 1920 miles, so that in half
a minute it would sweep across
the entire diameter of the earth.
Now, curiously enough, some re-
cent studies tof magnetic storms
seem to show that they do begin
at one edge of that side of the
earth which happens at the time
to face the sun, about half a min
ute before they are felt at the op-
posite edge. The swinging shaft
from the sun, moving spoke-wise,
first strikes the earth at the edge
of its western or afternoon, side
and sweeps in 80 seconds across
its face to the edge of its eastern,
or morning. side.
This living in the presence, or
In the sphere of influence, or of
bombardment, of 80 dispensive a
center of mighty energies as the
sun has its disadvantages, espec-
tally for nervously-sensitive peo-
pie, for, while the technical defini-
ton of magnetic storm refers only
to disturbances of the magnetic
needle, and of electromagnetic ap-
paratus, yet, as millions are con-
vinced by personal experience, there
is some strange element, probably
electric, in the weather changes that
is not accounted for by meteorolog-
ical tables, but which manifests its
capricious powers for mischief in
exceedingly convincing twinges.
Possibly the sufferers from such
vagaries might find a. degree of
comforting pride in the reflection
that they may have faced and sur
vived many strQen of electric bull
lets swept acrese the earth by one
of the suns machine guns, when
their less sensitive neighbors were
safe under the bomb-proof Of
nescience and obtusity.
Many of the solar shafts prob
ably do not strike the earth, or any
other planet. Some of them NAV
be aimed above or below the plane
of the planetary orbits. and even
those which lie exactly In the or
bital plane of a planet may miss It.
for during the time that the shaft
is in an active state the planet
may not be at the point where the
stream of electricity crosses its
orbit. How long a shaft remains
active, and whether they break forth
again and again at the same point
on the suns surface are unanswered
questions.