Abstract
THE great volcanic eruption in New Zealand raises J. anew the question of the connection between vol canic eruptions and sunset phenomena arising from attenuated matter in the upper regions of the atmosphere. The theory that the noteworthy sunsets about the end of 1883 were due to the Krakatab eruption has been ques tioned on the ground that, in many parts of the world, these red sunsets have continued until the present time, though not with the same intensity as in 1883. Beautifully variegated sunsets have always been very common in this country. The result was that the sunset phenomena of 1883 did not appear to us as anything new in kind, but only as an intensification of something with which we were already familiar. In order to reach a decisive conclusion we must have observations made in regions where the upper atmosphere is exceptionally free from vapours or other attenuated matter. The advent of such matter can then be detected when it could not be detected at other places. Among such regions I would suggest South Africa, especially the Cape of Good Hope. During my brief residence there in November and December of 1882, nothing was more striking than the extreme whiteness and purity of the western twilight. If such a twilight is there the rule during the whole year, then any diffusion of volcanic vapour in the upper atmosphere must produce a very striking effect. I would therefore suggest to observers in that region the value of precise information on this point, especially with a view of learning to what extent, and within what time, the red sunsets of 1883 disappeared, and whether any such phenomena now reappear as the result of the volcanic eruption in New Zealand.
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NEWCOMB, S. Red Sunsets and Volcanic Eruptions . Nature 34, 340 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/034340a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/034340a0