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Article REMARKABLE SOLAR SPOTS. ← Page 4 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarkable Solar Spots.
tion . The round spot above-mentioned as following it was then at some distance from the edge * , and easily perceptible . Having thus seen the spot make its congee , I knew when to look out for it again , should it last out another half revolution ; this , however , seemed rather doubtful , as several days before its departure it bad given symptoms of separating or breaking up . A large black nucleus had broken out on the 23 rd October , at its southern extremity , gathering
around it a distinct penumbra , which seemed to be splitting off' from the rest of the mass , leaving a line of luminous matter between them ; ancl from the great contraction of the spot in bulk since its appearance in September , it was natural to conclude that it might , in like manner , decay in the course of its transit on the other side of the sun . At the same time with the above large spot there were eight or nine other clusters , containing spots of different sizes , including one at some distance north east of the large spot which had accompanied it during its transit in September , and which served to mark and identify it as the
same , in addition to other evidences . There were two considerable spots which had come on the eastern limb , on the 24 th October , which appeared to me to approach nearer the pole than spots of such size generally do . Small ones have been seen fifty or even sixty degrees from the equator . These two were b y no means small , measuring each in its longest diameter 17 , 600 miles , —and containing , therefore , each an area of 243 , 285 , 504 miles , on the 26 th October . And here I may be permitted to statethat the above observations in general having been submitted to
, that excellent observer and eloquent illustrator of the Scenery of the Heavens , Dr . Thomas Dick , ( LL . D . ) , I was gratified to find that they accorded so closely with his own experience . In a letter with which I was favoured , of date the 25 th October , after stating that it was extremely probable that the three large spots seen in August , September , and October , were identical , he says , "from my own observations I have reason to conclude that your measurements of the bulk of the spots are
not far from the truth . I made the same observation as you state , in your postcript , that the large spot seems to be breaking up . You should continue your observations as they may be useful . " This latter compliment I can only receive as a kind encouragement . The same authority also assures me , that the solar spots have been more numerous for these two years past than they had been for several years before—a circumstance which renders the present period peculiarly interesting for their observation .
November 9 , the clay of the transit of Mercury , * I noticed an indistinct dusky dot or depression on the sun ' s eastern margin , a considerable way north of the planet ' s point of appulse . This I considered to be indicative of a spot of some size ; and fourteen days having just elapsed since the disappearance of the large spot of October , I concluded it might be the same . As it advanced it exhibited various traces of resemblance , so as to leave no doubt in my mind of its identity . But ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarkable Solar Spots.
tion . The round spot above-mentioned as following it was then at some distance from the edge * , and easily perceptible . Having thus seen the spot make its congee , I knew when to look out for it again , should it last out another half revolution ; this , however , seemed rather doubtful , as several days before its departure it bad given symptoms of separating or breaking up . A large black nucleus had broken out on the 23 rd October , at its southern extremity , gathering
around it a distinct penumbra , which seemed to be splitting off' from the rest of the mass , leaving a line of luminous matter between them ; ancl from the great contraction of the spot in bulk since its appearance in September , it was natural to conclude that it might , in like manner , decay in the course of its transit on the other side of the sun . At the same time with the above large spot there were eight or nine other clusters , containing spots of different sizes , including one at some distance north east of the large spot which had accompanied it during its transit in September , and which served to mark and identify it as the
same , in addition to other evidences . There were two considerable spots which had come on the eastern limb , on the 24 th October , which appeared to me to approach nearer the pole than spots of such size generally do . Small ones have been seen fifty or even sixty degrees from the equator . These two were b y no means small , measuring each in its longest diameter 17 , 600 miles , —and containing , therefore , each an area of 243 , 285 , 504 miles , on the 26 th October . And here I may be permitted to statethat the above observations in general having been submitted to
, that excellent observer and eloquent illustrator of the Scenery of the Heavens , Dr . Thomas Dick , ( LL . D . ) , I was gratified to find that they accorded so closely with his own experience . In a letter with which I was favoured , of date the 25 th October , after stating that it was extremely probable that the three large spots seen in August , September , and October , were identical , he says , "from my own observations I have reason to conclude that your measurements of the bulk of the spots are
not far from the truth . I made the same observation as you state , in your postcript , that the large spot seems to be breaking up . You should continue your observations as they may be useful . " This latter compliment I can only receive as a kind encouragement . The same authority also assures me , that the solar spots have been more numerous for these two years past than they had been for several years before—a circumstance which renders the present period peculiarly interesting for their observation .
November 9 , the clay of the transit of Mercury , * I noticed an indistinct dusky dot or depression on the sun ' s eastern margin , a considerable way north of the planet ' s point of appulse . This I considered to be indicative of a spot of some size ; and fourteen days having just elapsed since the disappearance of the large spot of October , I concluded it might be the same . As it advanced it exhibited various traces of resemblance , so as to leave no doubt in my mind of its identity . But ,