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Article REMARKABLE SOLAR SPOTS. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Remarkable Solar Spots.
disparting of the nucleus of one of tlie two adjacent spots , before their disappearance , 1 was prepared to expect some changes , —though not to the extent of a coalition . Three or four small dark specks or dots appeared within the edges of tiie newly arrived spot , and two small feathery off-shoots , like horns , protruded from its southern extremity . On the 17 th no trace of any other large spot or spots was to be seen resembling the former twoancl the new onehaving
, , come further round , exhibited a dusky central space destitute of dark nucleus , while its sides showed a number of small black nuclei studded within the borders of the penumbra . This raised a strong impression of its being the two spots combined , and which various circumstances during its future progress and developement tended to confirm . On the 17 th the feathery horns had disappeared or become amalgamated with the mass . Its apparent length was now about 48000 milesand its
, , apparent breadth 36 , 750 miles . From the first there were two small spots near its western side , which still continued in the same place ; there was also a considerable spot south-west of it , at some distance , and three others of a smaller size following it from the eastern limb . September 18 . —This large spot was plainly discernible by the naked eye , being increased in dimensions by its nearer approach to the centre . It became more and more developed till the 21 stwhen it was about the
, middle of its course , and presented a full front view ; it was then almost as broad as it was long—measuring about a fourteenth part of the solar diameter ( nearly eight times that of the earth ) between the extreme extensions of the penumbra , which jutted out from the mass in angular or horned extrusions , pointedly different from the smooth regular
outline generally exhibited by large spots . A statement in the "Illustrated London News" made its breadth on the previous clay about 60 , 000 miles , and its whole surface about sixteen times the size of the earth ; this was accompanied with an engraving of the spot , which gave a good idea of its outline . Altogether this spot appears to have been one of the most remarkable that has been seen for a number of years . Why , it may be asked , was that strangely irregular and angular outline of the vast penumbra so different from the usual
unbroken curve ? The projections or protrusions were most prominent and palpable , whether curved or rectilinear ; the figure in fact resembled a fortification with salient ancl re-entrant angles . Was it that the convulsion or concussion of the approximated forces had so disturbed the exterior margin or limit of the former penumbra ? as to produce the indented outline so conspicuous in the conjoined spots , but which did not exist before in either ? Did the tremendous tornadoes ,
supposed to be in action on the sun ' s surface , become in their contact or close approximatkm so disrupted and displaced from their centres of motion as to burst out , as it sveie , into divergent blasts or explosions around their margins , impelling the cloudy strata into those irregular forms which appeared as projections round the combined penumbra ? ? Let the Herschelian hypothesis resolve these questions , if it can : but we fear that we must confine ourselves literally to the
scriptural confession that at present " we see as through a glass , darkly . " Of the cloudy solar envelope we have no evidence—all that can be said of it is , that it was the best hypothesis that analogical reasoning could suggest ; and the ingenious reasoning of Sir John Herschel powerfully supports it . That the surface of the sun may , however , be formed of a semi-solid consistence is a conception that appears to be countenanced
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarkable Solar Spots.
disparting of the nucleus of one of tlie two adjacent spots , before their disappearance , 1 was prepared to expect some changes , —though not to the extent of a coalition . Three or four small dark specks or dots appeared within the edges of tiie newly arrived spot , and two small feathery off-shoots , like horns , protruded from its southern extremity . On the 17 th no trace of any other large spot or spots was to be seen resembling the former twoancl the new onehaving
, , come further round , exhibited a dusky central space destitute of dark nucleus , while its sides showed a number of small black nuclei studded within the borders of the penumbra . This raised a strong impression of its being the two spots combined , and which various circumstances during its future progress and developement tended to confirm . On the 17 th the feathery horns had disappeared or become amalgamated with the mass . Its apparent length was now about 48000 milesand its
, , apparent breadth 36 , 750 miles . From the first there were two small spots near its western side , which still continued in the same place ; there was also a considerable spot south-west of it , at some distance , and three others of a smaller size following it from the eastern limb . September 18 . —This large spot was plainly discernible by the naked eye , being increased in dimensions by its nearer approach to the centre . It became more and more developed till the 21 stwhen it was about the
, middle of its course , and presented a full front view ; it was then almost as broad as it was long—measuring about a fourteenth part of the solar diameter ( nearly eight times that of the earth ) between the extreme extensions of the penumbra , which jutted out from the mass in angular or horned extrusions , pointedly different from the smooth regular
outline generally exhibited by large spots . A statement in the "Illustrated London News" made its breadth on the previous clay about 60 , 000 miles , and its whole surface about sixteen times the size of the earth ; this was accompanied with an engraving of the spot , which gave a good idea of its outline . Altogether this spot appears to have been one of the most remarkable that has been seen for a number of years . Why , it may be asked , was that strangely irregular and angular outline of the vast penumbra so different from the usual
unbroken curve ? The projections or protrusions were most prominent and palpable , whether curved or rectilinear ; the figure in fact resembled a fortification with salient ancl re-entrant angles . Was it that the convulsion or concussion of the approximated forces had so disturbed the exterior margin or limit of the former penumbra ? as to produce the indented outline so conspicuous in the conjoined spots , but which did not exist before in either ? Did the tremendous tornadoes ,
supposed to be in action on the sun ' s surface , become in their contact or close approximatkm so disrupted and displaced from their centres of motion as to burst out , as it sveie , into divergent blasts or explosions around their margins , impelling the cloudy strata into those irregular forms which appeared as projections round the combined penumbra ? ? Let the Herschelian hypothesis resolve these questions , if it can : but we fear that we must confine ourselves literally to the
scriptural confession that at present " we see as through a glass , darkly . " Of the cloudy solar envelope we have no evidence—all that can be said of it is , that it was the best hypothesis that analogical reasoning could suggest ; and the ingenious reasoning of Sir John Herschel powerfully supports it . That the surface of the sun may , however , be formed of a semi-solid consistence is a conception that appears to be countenanced