Year: 1870




September n, 1870.


The appearance Of spots on the sun,
large enough 10 be visible TO the max
ed eye, is arare occurrence, butt it may
now be noticed by any one who takes
the trouble TO observe them. The as
pect Of the sun, through a telescope. Is
one, Just now, OF singular interest,
and seems to claim special attention
from Observers.


Here, where the remarkable changes
of the solar surface have formed the
subject Of repeated observation, daily
maps of the position Of the spots are
made. And their singular variations
have been the object Of most interest
ed scrutiny.


The side OF the sun now turned to-
ward Us Is to-day covered with hun
dreds Of them, of all sizes, and in AL
stages Of growth, while the opposite
side, to be presented TO usa few days
latter. is comparatively hare


The area of one of the large spots,
which is now near the center Of the
disk, has been eOmmuted from care
| full measurements and found to exceed
| ?, 800, 100000 square miles. Such inn
mense numbers convey no very def
mite impression, and perhaps n more
vivid idea Of the size may be gained by
comparing it with that of the earth,
whose entire area j. less than q tenth
part of that Just given.


This is the area of the penumbra-
| an immense exPanse of variegated
I forms, crossed by channels and con-
Vergent streams of luminous matter,
all shifting under an action like that
/ of some whirlwind which IS twisting
them from one position to another,
and changing their forms from hour
I TO hour. The current sometimes ap-
pears to rush downward, carrying
with il great masses Of the luminous
matter to lower depths, and opening, as
il does so, black cavities of size COM
mensurate with the scale on which
this action is carrieRbn.


The largest of these cavities is seen
to be Overhung with parts of the brill
1 liant surface, which Yisihly break
away in enormous portions and sink
in it, out of sight; indeed, it is quite
within the truth 10 say that a glCbe
the size of the world might be drop
ped in without touching either side
I 1t is impossible 20 convey an adequate
! idea of the impression of infinite and
exhaustless energy, of which one is
conscious, while behOlding this with
adequate optical aid. Masses, the
size of whole continents, are utterly
changed inshape or disappear from one
day to another, sometimes while the
observer watches them, and the whole
"spOtn is to all appearance being slow
I ~ rotated by the cyclons which are
visibly working there.


This one of many centers of similar
action, not all on the same scale, but
battling the eye by their number and
| incesssant change of form, which the
draughtman labors after in vain, and
which even the photograph can but
limperfectly render. At one Of ON
largest obseFvatories, the photograph
er is employed to make daily chart
OF these changes, and an inspection
of its truthful and unbiased record
will convey q more conclusive sense
Iof the almost awful magnitude and
Z energy of the solar forces than the
most vivid description.


One who has been accustomed to
watch them must feel the inadequacy
of amy attempt to describe these
''spOts,n and stiH more so of the futiI-
1 ity of trying to convey his own inn
I preston by any extravaganza of de-
scTiptiOn or comparison.


The wonder must lie in the cOnsid-
| Grafton of authentic measurements,
which are left to tell their own story.


The public may not share the inter
est of the professional observer in such
matters, but our own planet is too in
/ ltimately connected with these phenO-
mena not to make them claim some
interest from all Of US. Why these
magetic needles move respOnsively tc
these great changes in the sun, or why
aurOras viii light up our winter sky
at intervals more frequently repeated
as this solar action is more violent
are questions which astronomy IS now
trying to answer. The fact that they
do so is certain the cause is still
wholly unknown TO science.