The Sun: Ruler, Fire, Light, and Life of the Planetary System |
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Page 55
Richard Anthony Proctor. the means of directly determining the velocity of light in miles per second . All that was known was -- first , that light takes a certain interval of time in crossing the Earth's orbit ( or some known chord of ...
Richard Anthony Proctor. the means of directly determining the velocity of light in miles per second . All that was known was -- first , that light takes a certain interval of time in crossing the Earth's orbit ( or some known chord of ...
Page 58
... miles per second ; but Foucault's gave a velocity of only 185,300 miles per second , fall- ing considerably short of the estimate of 192,000 miles above referred to . So satisfactory were Foucault's experiments , that this discrepancy ...
... miles per second ; but Foucault's gave a velocity of only 185,300 miles per second , fall- ing considerably short of the estimate of 192,000 miles above referred to . So satisfactory were Foucault's experiments , that this discrepancy ...
Page 71
... second a body falls about 161 feet towards the Earth , acquiring a velo- city of twice this number of feet , or 32.2 feet per second . Now the Earth circuits the Sun at a rate of about eighteen miles per second , and supposing e é ( fig ...
... second a body falls about 161 feet towards the Earth , acquiring a velo- city of twice this number of feet , or 32.2 feet per second . Now the Earth circuits the Sun at a rate of about eighteen miles per second , and supposing e é ( fig ...
Page 72
... per second , Hence at a distance equal to the Earth's radius , the Sun ( supposing all his mass collected at one ... miles per second ) . Comparing this with the measure of the force of terres- FIG . 19 . trial gravity , or 32-2 feet ...
... per second , Hence at a distance equal to the Earth's radius , the Sun ( supposing all his mass collected at one ... miles per second ) . Comparing this with the measure of the force of terres- FIG . 19 . trial gravity , or 32-2 feet ...
Page 73
... miles per second , or minute , or hour ; because relative and not absolute velocities are in question . Hence we can represent the Moon's velocity by the radius of her orbit divided by the period , provided we represent the Earth's ...
... miles per second , or minute , or hour ; because relative and not absolute velocities are in question . Hence we can represent the Moon's velocity by the radius of her orbit divided by the period , provided we represent the Earth's ...
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Common terms and phrases
angle aperture aphelion appearance astronomers battery of prisms body breadth bright lines centre chromosphere clouds coloured consider corona corresponding dark lines deduced determine diameter direction dispersion Earth eclipse effect error estimate fact faculę Fraunhofer greater Halley's method heat Herschel Hipparchus hydrogen Kirchhoff length less limb luminous Mars mass matter mean distance measure method miles per second minute Moon Moon's motion noticed observations orbit pass path peculiarity penumbra perihelion phenomena photosphere planets polariscope portion present prism problem prominences proportion rays recognised red end regarded regions remarkable rendered researches respecting rotation Secchi seems seen Sir William Herschel slit sodium solar light solar parallax solar physics solar prominences solar spectrum solar spots spectra spectroscopic analysis star stations Sun can control Sun-spot Sun's disc Sun's distance Sun's surface supposed telescope terrestrial tion transit transits of Venus trum vapours velocity Venus violet end visible
Popular passages
Page 405 - I have seen the wild stone-avalanches of the Alps, which smoke and thunder down the declivities with a vehemence almost sufficient to stun the observer. I have also seen snow-flakes descending so softly as not to hurt the fragile spangles of which they were composed ; yet to produce from aqueous vapour a quantity, which a child could carry, of that tender material, demands an exertion of energy competent to gather up the shattered blocks of the largest stone-avalanche I have ever seen, and pitch...
Page 183 - Hence he concludes that the sun has a very extensive atmosphere, which consists of elastic fluids that are more or less lucid and transparent ; and of which the lucid ones furnish us with light. This atmosphere, he...
Page 117 - I obtained a tolerably bright solar spectrum, and brought a flame coloured by sodium vapour in front of the slit. I then saw the dark lines D change into bright ones.
Page 393 - The sun's rays are the ultimate source of almost every motion which takes place on the surface of the earth. By its heat are produced all winds, and those disturbances in the electric equilibrium of the atmosphere which give rise to the phenomena of lightning, and probably also to those of terrestrial magnetism and the aurora.
Page 413 - ... melt in air, — the flux of power is eternally the same. It rolls in music through the ages, and all terrestrial energy, — the manifestations of life as well as the display of phenomena, are but the modulations of its rhythm.
Page 193 - Herschel,'wouldcome,on this view of the subject, to be assimilated to those regions on the Earth's surface in which, for the moment, hurricanes and tornadoes prevail — the upper stratum being temporarily carried downwards, displacing by its impetus the two strata of luminous matter beneath...
Page 412 - And still, notwithstanding this enormous drain in the lapse of human history, we are unable to detect a diminution of his store. Measured by our largest terrestrial standards, such a reservoir of power is infinite ; but it is our privilege to rise above these standards, and to regard the sun himself as a speck in infinite extension — a mere drop in the universal sea. We analyse the space in which he is immersed, and which is the vehicle of his power.
Page 411 - Still, presented rightly to the mind, the discoveries and generalisations of modern science constitute a poem more sublime than has ever yet been addressed to the imagination. The natural philosopher of to-day may dwell amid conceptions which beggar those of Milton.
Page 412 - To Nature nothing can be added ; from Nature nothing can be taken away ; the sum of her energies is constant, and the utmost man can do in the pursuit of physical truth, or in the...
Page 204 - It was impossible, on first witnessing an appearance so similar to a sudden conflagration, not to expect a considerable result in the way of alteration of the details of the group in which it occurred; and I was certainly surprised, on referring to the sketch which I had carefully and satisfactorily (and I may add fortunately) finished before the occurrence, at finding myself unable to recognize any change whatever as having taken place.