Rough Ways Made Smooth: A series of familiar essays on scientific subjectsProctor, Richard A. (Richard Anthony)
Science
Rough Ways Made Smooth: A series of familiar essays on scientific subjects
Proctor, Richard A. (Richard Anthony)
Science
Herr Grosch, describing the corona of 1867, says, 'There appeared
around the moon a reddish glimmering light similar to that of the
aurora, and almost simultaneously with this (I mean very shortly after
it) the corona.' It is clear, however, from what follows, that the
reddish light was what is now commonly called the inner corona, which
last July, when the sun was in almost exactly the same condition as
regards the spots, was pearly white and intensely bright. 'This reddish
glimmer,' he proceeds, 'which surrounded the moon with a border of the
breadth of at most five minutes' (about 140,000 miles) 'was not sharply
bounded in any part, but was extremely diffused and less distinct in
the neighbourhood of the poles.' Of the outer corona he remarks that
'its apparent height amounted to about 280,000 miles opposite the
solar poles, but opposite the polar equator to about 670,000 miles. Its
light was white. This white light was not in the least radiated itself,
but it had the appearance of rays penetrating through it; or rather as
if rays ran over it, forming symmetrical pencils diverging outwards,
and passing far beyond the boundary of the white light. These rays had
a more bluish appearance, and might best be compared to those produced
by a great electro-magnetic light. Their similarity to these, indeed,
was so striking, that under other circumstances I should have taken
them for such, shining at a great distance. The view of the corona I
have described is that seen with the naked eye.... In the white light
of the corona, close upon the moon's edge, there appeared several dark
curves. They were symmetrically arched towards the east and west,
sharply drawn, and resembling in tint lines drawn with a lead pencil
upon white paper.... Beginning at a distance of one minute (about
26,000 miles), they could be traced up to a distance of about nine
minutes (some 236,000 miles) from the moon's edge.'
Almost all the features observed in this case correspond closely with
those noted and photographed during the eclipse of December, 1871.
In other words the corona seen in 1867, when the sun was passing
through the period of least solar disturbance, closely resembled the
corona seen in 1871, when the sun was nearly in its stage of greatest
disturbance. Even the spectroscopic evidence obtained in 1871 and July,
1878, may be so extended as to show with extreme probability what would
have been seen in 1867 if spectroscopic analysis had then been applied.
We cannot doubt that the reddish inner corona, extending to a height of
about 140,000 miles, would have been found under spectroscopic analysis
to shine in part with the light of glowing hydrogen, as the reddish
corona of 1871 did. The white corona of July, 1878, on the contrary,
shone only with such light as comes from glowing solid or liquid
matter. Here then, again, the evidence is unfavourable to our theory;
for the corona in 1867 should have closely resembled the corona of
1878, if this theory were sound.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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