The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-05
The Earth's Hot Mama!
By Clarence A. Holden, Staff Writer, Waterbury Democrats Washington Service Buresu

isting forms Of solid matter visible everywhere on Earth. Some of the children - big brothers Jupiter. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and the smaller P.uto-stfayed too fer away to receive the special benefits that are showered on at least one of the other children that stayed closer to home. For the Suns light, heat, and invisible radiations have trans. formed the Earth's and possibly also It's twin sister Venus and brothers Mars latent and liteless mineral el- ements into the many forms of life and action that we now know.
 The Sun has been inoshering the planets for millions and millions of years, ghowering them with light and heat from its ilnbeiievably hot surface. Just how hot? Well, there is no metal or other refractory sur. face on Earth that can resist be- coming liquid and gaseous at $500 degrees. For less, yet the surface temperature of the Sun is about 10,600 degrees F.-more than three times the heat necessary to explode all the Earth into gaseous matter But inside the Sun the temperature Is believed to be upwards of thirty million degrees, perhaps even one hundred million degreesi Such heat Is scarcely coInprehensible. Equally astonishing is the fact that for each second of time during the millions of years the hot Sun has Eaothered the planets, 1t has radiated from its surface four millions of tone of It's substance millions tons each minute! Of this radiated energy, the Suns planet children intercept and absorb but one part in two.hundred millions. The Earths portion of this Is but one part in two billions, and yet this is enough to nourish and sustain the many forms of animal and vegetable life on our planet. The Sums Energy
 Whence comes all the Suns en. ergy, so much of which is apparent ly wasted into space? How was 1t stored? How long will 1t last? These are questions that wtally concern mankind. for without the Sun life could not exist on Earth.
 There Is no known way that the Suns energy could be put into 1t continuoely from outside. The theory that 1t is supplied by meteors falling into the Sun is untenable, for the number of meteors striking the Earth should in that case be fer greater than is observed. Consequent tly, 1t seems necessary to assume that this eIlrgy is present in the Sun as some form of potential en- ergy that is gradually liberated
 But in what form was 1t stored? The energy of chemical combination is ridiculously inadequate. 4 satis- factory explanation once appeared to have been reached when the Ger man scientist Won Helmholtz sug. gested that the Sun was slowly con- tracting and thus releasing energy somewhat like a squeezed sponge sheds water. but this theory has been broken down beyond question. Disintegration of radioactive Atou1s also has been suggested. but there is no evidence that uranium or other radioactive clements are abundant or even present in the Sun. al- thought 1t is possible that they exist below the surface presented for mans study. It may be that far in the Suns interior, atoms not ogdtzl- arily radioactive are transformed. thereby releasing a great amount os energy.
 Radiant Energy
 The mott recent theory. and ap- parentiy the only one free from ohservational objections. is that q the conversion Of the Suns gFavit. afional energy into radiant enerHy.