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  • Sept. 30, 1848
  • Page 28
  • SOLAR SPOTS.
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review, Sept. 30, 1848: Page 28

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    Article SOLAR SPOTS. ← Page 3 of 4 →
Page 28

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Solar Spots.

Such is Sir John ' s illustration , founded on his father ' s hypothesis ; and it certainly so far seems to meet the observed phenomena . Some future Rossean detector may , however , yet explode it , like the famous Nebular hypothesis . Up to the present date , I have only one more spot to record , in addition to those already noted , making in all , six spots , or groups of spots , apparent to the unaided optics . This last was also a very extensive

condensed cluster , one large black spot preceding the rest . It had arrived near the centre of the sun , ( some degrees south ) on the 29 th of July , at 2 h . 10 m ., when 1 first was able to recognize it with the naked eye . I saw it again on the 31 st . Further south of this cluster , was an extremely long succession of branching spots , part of which were visibly connected by umbra and shallows , but not dense enough to be descried without telescopic aid . The track of their course was enormous .

Such is a summary of a few facts that have come under , my notice , as a casual observer ; a more detailed description would have been tedious , and not easily apprehended without the adjunct of diagrams or drawings . The record may interest a few , or direct attention to those singular phenomena . In closing , I may remark , that notwithstanding the prevalent adoption of the Herschelian hypothesis , the theory of igneous agency , or volcanic actionstill obtainsnot unnaturallysome support : and it

, , , is on such , or similar grounds , 1 presume , that a distinguished investigator , Sir J . W . Lubbock , Bart , has recently thrown out a hint , that those curious bodies , called shooting stars , and even comets , may possibly owe their origin to the explosive forces in apparent operation on the sun ' s surface : and it eertainly would be a remarkable circumstance , if ,

as the learned author suggests , by calculating the perturbations of some comet for the past , having a small perihelion , it were to be traced back to its origin , and the very year ascertained when it left the solar mass . Supposing such to be the source of these revolving meteors , or shooting stars , one would be apt , reasoning a priori , to conclude , that the more frequent and large the solar spots were , the more numerous ought the shooting stars to be . I know not if there be sufficient data to ascertain whether this is the case : but in 1836 M . Arago obtained 445

simulta-, neous observations of shooting stars , in France alone , during the night of the 12 th and 13 th of November ; and in 1837 and 1838 many such meteors were seen in Britain and abroad . Now the years 1836 and 1837 were remarkable for the occurrence of groups of very large spots , thirteen of which , Sir John Herschel has delineated in his great work . One of these , seen on the 19 th of March , 1837 , occupied an area of nearly five minutes , equal to 3 , 780 , 000 , 000 square miles ! The author of "

Celestial Scenery" also mentions a spot or group , which , on the 19 th of October , 1836 , measured 41 , 000 miles in length , by 16 , 300 in breadth , having within its area , room for ten globes as large as our earth . Thus far , a correspondence between the times of apparition seems to occur , though such coincidences alone , it must be confessed , are very vague proofs as to establishing a relation between the phenomena in question . I am not awarewhether the myriatls of meteorsor showersas they are called

, , , , of shooting stars , observed in America and elsewhere , in 1831 , and the succeeding year , were preceded or accompanied by extraordinary solar disruptions . If they were , the hypothesis might gain a further proof . But the truth is , we are scarcely in a condition to frame any very just theories either of the origin of the solar spots , or of the shooting stars . Much has yet to be achieved ere we can get even a glimmering of the

“The Freemasons' Quarterly Review: 1848-09-30, Page 28” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 29 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fqr/issues/fqr_30091848/page/28/.
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Title Category Page
THE FREEMASONS ' QUARTERLY REVIEW, Article 1
THE RECENT GRAND LODGE. Article 3
ON FREEMASONRY, Article 9
CHAPTER III. Article 14
THE FREEMASONS' LEXICON. Article 18
SOLAR SPOTS. Article 26
MASONIC MEMOIR OF THE LATE BRO. GEO. AARONS, Article 29
CHRONOLOGICAL EPOCHS OF THE BIBLE. Article 33
KNIGHTS OF CHRIST. Article 34
HISTORICAL VIEWS OF PROGRESS. Article 35
TO THE EDITOR. Article 38
COLLECTANEA. Article 39
POETRY. Article 43
THE RED-CROSS FLAG. Article 43
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 44
SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER OF ROYAL ARCH MASONS OF ENGLAND. Article 45
UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. Article 46
MASONIC ABILITY. Article 57
THE MASONIC LAWYER. Article 58
GRAND CONCLAVE OF ENGLAND AND WALES. Article 58
SUPREME GRAND COUNCIL 33d. Article 59
n—ETPZ^—M^rrm^—.-.,m^muwmmm*JM^m-*i*^m±i... Article 59
CONSECRATION OF THE YARBOROUGH LODGE, No. 812, Article 60
ASYLUM FOR WORTHY AGED, AND DECAYED FREEMASONS. Article 61
CHIT CHAT . Article 62
Obituary. Article 65
PROVINCIAL Article 66
SCOTLAND. Article 96
IRELAND. Article 97
FOREIGN. Article 98
A MERICA.—UNITED STATES. Article 101
INDIA. Article 102
THE GENERAL ASSUEANCE ADVOCATE. Article 109
THE INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES. Article 115
LITERARY NOTICES. Article 122
Bro. HARRIS'S New Tracing Boards. R. Spencer. London. Article 125
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 127
CONTENTS. Article 129
A MASONIC GEM (!) Article 130
THE HREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW,SECOND SERIES. Article 131
/~* ALL'S ANTIBILIOTJS PILLS—The most us... Article 132
FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY ADVERTISER. SECOND... Article 133
ENGINEERS', MASONIC, AND UNIVERSAL MUTUA... Article 134
CLERICAL, MEDICAL, AND GENERAL Article 136
BONUSES. The two.first Divisions average... Article 136
MENTOR LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY, 2, OLD BR... Article 137
BRITARSftSIA LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY, 1, ... Article 138
CITY OF LONDON LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY, 2... Article 139
LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY, IScottamic 6, NE... Article 140
^HIS BAWDON ASSWB,A^CI^ ooaa?oaAsiofflr,... Article 141
FREEMASONRY. nnHE NEW CRAFT TRACING BOAR... Article 141
BRO. T. VESPER, SSASttMSCi osfSSWEMjEiS,... Article 141
THE CANTERBURY CONGREGATION "PEG respect... Article 141
FREEMASONRY. Just published, price Is. A... Article 142
FREEMASONS' HOTEL, GREAT QUEEN STREET, L... Article 142
ADVANTAGE OF CHLOROFORM IN MIDWIFERY. Ju... Article 142
FREEMASONRY. ROBINSON, LATE ACKLAM, ]D R... Article 143
FREEMASONRY. W. EVANS, MASONIC JEWELLER ... Article 143
FREEMASONRY. A. D. LOEWENSTARK; MANUFACT... Article 143
HAND BOOK OV FREE MASONRY. In the press,... Article 144
NEW MASONIC HYMN AND GLEE. Just publishe... Article 144
jU EW BOOK OF THE LAWS OF THE GRAND LODG... Article 144
EaGISQBTF I ECOHOMIT « STEPHENS' DYES fo... Article 145
COMFORT FOR TBKDER FEET, &e. HALL and Co... Article 145
TO THE CRAFT. Article 146
THE LONDON GENERAL TAILORING ESHABLISHMENT. Article 147
BIBBII ^^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^^^ i^^^^^^^^^^^... Article 147
i;;^-Vij#Fj?p£^ ^sJbreSji^Gavjb^^^ ! f i... Article 147
FOUR-FIFTHS, 01 EIGHTY PER CENT, of the ... Article 148
z :li%o%^& T 6 FP f N JK | D E CKA^V^VE ... Article 148
^ ;r^M^^ B^o - TH¥RViv.^pbTitY; ~ ;! : .... Article 148
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Page 28

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Solar Spots.

Such is Sir John ' s illustration , founded on his father ' s hypothesis ; and it certainly so far seems to meet the observed phenomena . Some future Rossean detector may , however , yet explode it , like the famous Nebular hypothesis . Up to the present date , I have only one more spot to record , in addition to those already noted , making in all , six spots , or groups of spots , apparent to the unaided optics . This last was also a very extensive

condensed cluster , one large black spot preceding the rest . It had arrived near the centre of the sun , ( some degrees south ) on the 29 th of July , at 2 h . 10 m ., when 1 first was able to recognize it with the naked eye . I saw it again on the 31 st . Further south of this cluster , was an extremely long succession of branching spots , part of which were visibly connected by umbra and shallows , but not dense enough to be descried without telescopic aid . The track of their course was enormous .

Such is a summary of a few facts that have come under , my notice , as a casual observer ; a more detailed description would have been tedious , and not easily apprehended without the adjunct of diagrams or drawings . The record may interest a few , or direct attention to those singular phenomena . In closing , I may remark , that notwithstanding the prevalent adoption of the Herschelian hypothesis , the theory of igneous agency , or volcanic actionstill obtainsnot unnaturallysome support : and it

, , , is on such , or similar grounds , 1 presume , that a distinguished investigator , Sir J . W . Lubbock , Bart , has recently thrown out a hint , that those curious bodies , called shooting stars , and even comets , may possibly owe their origin to the explosive forces in apparent operation on the sun ' s surface : and it eertainly would be a remarkable circumstance , if ,

as the learned author suggests , by calculating the perturbations of some comet for the past , having a small perihelion , it were to be traced back to its origin , and the very year ascertained when it left the solar mass . Supposing such to be the source of these revolving meteors , or shooting stars , one would be apt , reasoning a priori , to conclude , that the more frequent and large the solar spots were , the more numerous ought the shooting stars to be . I know not if there be sufficient data to ascertain whether this is the case : but in 1836 M . Arago obtained 445

simulta-, neous observations of shooting stars , in France alone , during the night of the 12 th and 13 th of November ; and in 1837 and 1838 many such meteors were seen in Britain and abroad . Now the years 1836 and 1837 were remarkable for the occurrence of groups of very large spots , thirteen of which , Sir John Herschel has delineated in his great work . One of these , seen on the 19 th of March , 1837 , occupied an area of nearly five minutes , equal to 3 , 780 , 000 , 000 square miles ! The author of "

Celestial Scenery" also mentions a spot or group , which , on the 19 th of October , 1836 , measured 41 , 000 miles in length , by 16 , 300 in breadth , having within its area , room for ten globes as large as our earth . Thus far , a correspondence between the times of apparition seems to occur , though such coincidences alone , it must be confessed , are very vague proofs as to establishing a relation between the phenomena in question . I am not awarewhether the myriatls of meteorsor showersas they are called

, , , , of shooting stars , observed in America and elsewhere , in 1831 , and the succeeding year , were preceded or accompanied by extraordinary solar disruptions . If they were , the hypothesis might gain a further proof . But the truth is , we are scarcely in a condition to frame any very just theories either of the origin of the solar spots , or of the shooting stars . Much has yet to be achieved ere we can get even a glimmering of the

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