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    "label": "Sky and Telescope Magazine",
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    "id": "7077466",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7077466",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Sky and Telescope Magazine",
    "description": "This item contains volume seven, issue three, number seventy-five of Sky and Telescope Magazine.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7077466",
    "collections": [
        "Russell W. Porter Papers",
        "Publications"
    ],
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            "logicalDate": "1948-01-01",
            "month": 1,
            "year": 1948
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    "ocrText": "of the spots which actually helps in the\nNEWS NOTES\nBy DORRIT HOFFLEIT\nescape of the e-component, in accordance\nwith the observation that the emission of\nradio waves from the sun increases with\nTHIRTEEN COMETS IN 1947\ntwilight waned it spread like a plume.\nthe appearance of sunspots and decays\n\"Observers in Melbourne who had\nA 9th-magnitude comet found by\nwith their disappearance. The e-compo-\nfield glasses said the comet had a bright\nnent is circularly polarized on account\nJapanese amateur Honda in November\nhead and long spraying tail, which ap-\nof the small electron concentration and\nhas brought the number of comets dis-\npeared with the setting of the sun at\nsmall value of the magnetic field of the\ncovered in 1947 to 13, with about a\n8 p.m. and seemed to gain brightness\nmonth to go as this is written. This\nouter layers of the corona through\nat intervals.\nequals the all-time yearly record set in\nwhich the microwave beam has to pass.\n\"To the naked eye at Melbourne it\n\"The work proves that as the whole\n1932. Comet Honda passed nearest\nwas only a narrow smudge of light. It\nthe sun about November 12th, and is\nsolar atmosphere above the lowest level\nbegan to fade at 9:15 p.m. and could\ngrowing fainter, and of the other I2\nof the spot is involved in the emission of\nnot be seen 45 minutes later.\"\nobjects only Comet Bester holds promise\nthe microwaves (in popular language we\nof being an interesting naked-eye ob-\nmay say that the sunspot is a gigantic\nject, possibly reaching 3rd magnitude\nmicrowave station), their origin should\nFIVE MILLION PICTURES\nin March or April, as described on page\nbe ascribed to the same physical mecha-\nA SECOND!\n52 last month. Comet Bester will not,\nnism which is responsible for the decay\nas one news service story has unfor-\nSolar physicists may eventually profit\nand growth of spots. In spite of several\ntunately put it, remind old-timers of\nfrom new developments in practical op-\ntheories, we are not sure at the present\nHalley's comet - except by unfavorable\ntics reported from the University of\nmoment what this mechanism is, but\ncontrast.\nRochester. Dr. Brian O'Brien and his\nsystematic observation of the character-\nassociate, Gordon G. Milne, have de-\nistics of microwave emission is sure to\nveloped a motion picture camera capable\nthrow further light on this age-old\nFOURTEEN COMETS IN 1947 !\nof taking II million frames per second\nproblem.\nbut normally operated at five million,\n\"In view of the above work, I con-\nAdded in press: On the night of\nwhich is IO times faster than any earlier\nsider the coronal origin of radio noises\nDecember 8th, a comet variously de-\ncamera. If pictures taken of a rifle bullet\nas very improbable. The underlying\nscribed as from 2nd magnitude to ex-\nin flight are projected at the ordinary\nassumption is that the corona has a tem-\nceeding Halley's comet in brightness\nspeed for motion pictures, the bullet ap-\nperature of the order of several million\nwas seen by observers in the Southern\npears to move only one inch a minute.\ndegrees, but those who subscribe to the\nHemisphere in the western sky after\nTo obtain the high speed without\nopinion ought to explain how such high\nsunset. Various reports placed the length\nblurring the pictures badly, a device is\ntemperatures are produced in the\nof the tail from IO to 25 degrees, and\nused for dissecting the image so that one\ncorona.'\nDr. Richard Woolley, director of the\nrectangular picture consists of a series of\nCommonwealth Observatory, Canberra,\nvery narrow strips (1/1,000 millimeter\nCOSMIC RAY THEORY\nAustralia, was quoted by the press as\nwide) recorded on film traveling 400\nestimating the length of the tail as 40 to\nfeet per second. Reassembling the strips\nA process by which the origin of cos-\n50 million miles. He also thought there\nof the negative by a similar optical sys-\nmic rays would be placed in cosmic dust\nwas a possibility the earth might pass\ntem produces ordinary 16-mm. film mag-\nwithin a few million miles of the earth\nthrough the tail.\nnified about IO times from the original\nhas been proposed by Dr. Donald H.\nThe position of the comet from De-\nimage. Definition is sacrificed for speed,\nMenzel, of Harvard Observatory, and\ncember 8th to roth apparently made it\nbut the advantage is great for evanescent\nWinfield W. Salisbury, director of pure\nimpossible to observe it in most of the\nphenomena.\nresearch, Collins Radio Company. They\nUnited States; Dr. E. F. Carpenter, of\ndescribed before a recent meeting of the\nSteward Observatory, Tucson, Ariz.,\nRADIO WAVES FROM THE\nNational Academy of Sciences the effects\nfailed to find it with binoculars the\nnight of December IOTh. At present,\nSUN- CORRECTION\nlong-wave radiations from the sun may\nhave on \"meteoric dust\" as well as on\npositions of varying accuracy have\nIn our note on Radar and Radio in\nvarious regions of the atmosphere.\nbeen received from New Zealand, Aus-\nAstronomy just a year ago, we unac-\nFluctuations of solar activity, asso-\ntralia, South Africa, and South America.\ncountably misrepresented the conclu-\nciated with the turbulence of the sun's\nThey are in general agreement with the\nsions of Professor M. N. Saha, of the\natmosphere, cause the emission of radio\nfollowing positions, which are reported\nUniversity College of Science, Calcutta.\nenergy of very low frequencies which has\nby the Associated Press as having been\nIn two notes in Nature (Vol. 158, pages\nbeen observed with radar equipment on\nmade by W. L. Clapham, of the Vic-\n549 and 717, 1946) he states, \"It now\nthe earth. Because of its long wave\ntoria Astronomical Society: Dec. 8,\nappears extremely probable that the\nlength, this radiation can escape from the\n18h 06m, -35° 8'; Dec. 9, 18h 231/2m\nradio waves observed can be emitted\nsun, possibly causing appreciable heating\n-35° 20' Dec. IO, 18h 42m, 35° 29'.\nonly by the sunspots.\" In calling this\nof the solar atmosphere, and the million-\nAt this writing (December IIth) there\nto our attention, Professor Saha writes:\ndegree temperature of the corona. Ac-\nis no way of ascertaining whether or not\n\"In the note to which your original\ncording to the new theory, when the\nthe eastward motion will continue, nor\nreference was made and in two more\nlong-wave radiation strikes local clouds\nif the comet will eventually become\nelaborate works recently published in\nof ions near the earth, the ions may re-\nprominent to northern observers. The\nIndia (Ind. Jour. Phys., Aug. and Oct.,\nceive energies as great as IOO billion volts,\nfirst two observations above were made\n1947), I have proved from the theories\nproducing showers of cosmic rays. These\nat 10:45 GCT, and the last at 11:05\nof propagation of radio waves through\nin turn give rise to the neutrons and\nGCT.\nionospheric regions that while the O-\nmesotrons of secondary cosmic rays as\nOne press account said that at Auck-\ncomponent of the microwaves of meter\nthey enter the upper atmosphere of the\nland, New Zealand, observers \"easily\nrange can only escape from the coronal\nearth.\nsaw the comet's orange nucleus and the\nlayers, such is not the case for the\nOther effects of the long-wave solar\nbrighter portion of its tail at 8:30 p.m.\ne-component, which can escape from far\nradio waves are the light of the night sky,\n[December Ioth]. The tail extended\ndeeper layers of the underlying chromo-\nthe aurora, and certain ionospheric dis-\nvertically from the horizon and as the\nsphere. In fact, it is the magnetic field\nturbances.\n64 SkY AND TELESCOPE, January, 1948"
}