The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-08-12

Study Of Sun Spots Trends
Tol0ord Solution of Many
Solar Mysteries.
BY DAVID DIETZ

TOl0ard Solution of Many
Solar Mysteries.
THE study of sun spots has re-
Il vealed many interesting facts.
many of which await satisfactory
explanation. In general, astrono-
merS feel that the sun spots merely
are the surface manifestation of
some sort of disturbance deep with
in the interior Of the sun, and that
complete understanding of sun
spots would unravel many mysteries
about the nature of the sun.
The fact that the sun rotates
upon its axis first was learned from
observation of the sun spots, for if
the sun is watched from day to day.
the spots can be seen moving stead
lily across its face.
But in addition, study has re-
vealed that the spots are themselves
drifting on the surface of the sun.
Recent studies show that there
does not seem to be any general
direction Of drift, but that spots
anywhere on the sun are likely to
drift in any direction.
In general, however, the amount
of drift east or west is likely to be
double the amount of drift north
or south.
AkeSSon computes that the aver
age daily drift in longitude to be
about 43 minutes and that in lati-
tude about "a minutes. This CORE
spends to distances on the suns
surface of $500 and 5000 miles. re-
spectively.
He also finds that small spots
move faster than large ones.
StupendouS Activity
NTHEN it is recalled that sun
w spots range in diameter from
500 to $4,000 miles, the amount of
activity on the suns surface can
be realized from the fact that these
spots move thousands of miles in a
single day.
In this connection, it should be
remembered that the sun does not
have a solid surface, but a great
seething gaseous surface at a tenn
perature of 10000 degrees Fahren-
heit.
The sun spots then are great dis
trbances moving across this gas
eous surface, disturbances which.
as previously indicated, arise deem
down in the sun and make their
way to the surface.
Sir Frank Dyson, astronomer
royal of Great Britain, and Prof.
E. w. Maunder state that the speed
and direction of the motion of a.
sun spot usually changes daily.
The result of this is, they saw.
that at the end of one revolution of
the sun, the spot has not moved
very far from its original position.
The sun takes approximately
twenty-five days to rotate on its
axis. During that time, according
to Dyson and Maunder, the average
motion of spot is about 4 degrees
In longitude and IL degrees in Iati-
tude.
Sun spots usually form in groups.
the large regular spot at the head
OF the stream and the large spot at
the end persisting, while the small
er ones between the two disappear.
Dyson and Maunder state. "Regu-
lar spots usually form at the head
OF a stream, and, during the early
days of the development of the
stream, move rapidly forward in
longitude.
After the stream has attained its
greatest dimensions and begun to
diminish again, it is the following
portion OF the group that disappears
nrSt, and the regular spot which
was the original leader often re-
mains alone.
In this stage of the history of the
group there is a strong tendency
for the regular spot to move back
again toward the longitude where
1t was originally formed