The Heavens Above: A Popular Handbook of AstronomyRolfe, W. J. (William James)
Science
The Heavens Above: A Popular Handbook of Astronomy
Rolfe, W. J. (William James)
Astronomy
In addition to the above elements, it is probable that several other
elements are present in the sun's atmosphere; since at least one of
their bright lines has been found to coincide with dark lines of the
solar spectrum. There are, however, a large number of elements, no
traces of which have yet been detected; and, in the cases of the
elements whose presence in the solar atmosphere has been
established, the matching of the lines is far from complete in the
majority of the cases, as will be seen from the above table. This
want of complete coincidence of the lines is undoubtedly due to the
very high temperature of the solar atmosphere. We have already seen
that the lines of the spectrum change with the temperature; and, as
the temperature of the sun is far higher than any that we can
produce by artificial means, we might reasonably expect that it
would cause the disappearance from the spectrum of many lines which
we find to be present at our highest temperature.
Lockyer maintains that the reason why no trace of the spectral lines
of certain of our so-called elements is found in the solar
atmosphere is, that these substances are not really elementary, and
that the intense heat of the sun resolves them into simpler
constituents.
Motion at the Surface of the Sun.
166. _Change of Pitch caused by Motion of Sounding Body._--When a
sounding body is moving rapidly towards us, the pitch of its note
becomes somewhat higher than when the body is stationary; and, when such
a body is moving rapidly from us, the pitch of its note is lowered
somewhat. We have a good illustration of this change of pitch at a
country railway station on the passage of an express-train. The pitch of
the locomotive whistle is considerably higher when the train is
approaching the station than when it is leaving it.
167. _Explanation of the Change of Pitch produced by Motion._--The pitch
of sound depends upon the rapidity with which the pulsations of sound
beat upon the drum of the ear. The more rapidly the pulsations follow
each other, the higher is the pitch: hence the shorter the sound-waves
(provided the sound is all the while travelling at the same rate), the
higher the pitch of the sound. Any thing, then, which tends to shorten
the waves of sound tends also to raise its pitch, and any thing which
tends to lengthen these waves tends to lower its pitch.
When a sounding body is moving rapidly forward, the sound-waves are
crowded together a little, and therefore shortened; when it is moving
backward, the sound-waves are drawn out, or lengthened a little.
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