Abstract
THE ORIGIN OF SOLAR ELECTRICITY.—Among the many interesting papers concerning astrophysical matters which appear in No. 8 of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, attention may be directed to a convincing contribution to our knowledge of the agencies originating the vast solar electrical phenomena demonstrated by the brilliant researches effected at Mount Wilson. In a paper under the above title Dr. J. A. Marker applies the results of laboratory work conducted in collaboration with Dr. G. W. C. Kaye at the National Physical Laboratory to the explanation of cosmical phenomena. This experimental work has shown that at very high temperatures the vapours in the tube resistance furnace become highly conducting, and that under the same condition most refractory substances emit electricity carried by particles many times the mass of an atom of the substance. Calculations show that the measured emissivity of carbon at about 3000°C. would be ample to account for solar currents of magnitude sufficient to give rise to the intense magnetic fields Professor Hale has shown to be probably found in sun-spots.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 91, 673 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1038/091673a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/091673a0