Reader TTS

ABSTRACT IN an article on the corona, published in the November number of the _Astrophysical Journal_, I suggested a method by which the existence of the Fraünhofer lines in the spectrum of

the corona might be detected. The method was based on the supposition that the light emitted by the particles, in virtue of their incandescence, so overpowers the reflected sun-light that

the lines are invisible. That the coronal light is strongly polarised is well known, and there is scarcely any doubt but that the polarised light is reflected sun-light. If, now, a Nicol

prism be placed before the slit of the spectroscope in such a position as to transmit the polarised radiations, these will be allowed to pass with almost undiminished intensity, while the

emitted or unpolarised light will be reduced in intensity by one-half. The great change in the ratio resulting might easily be sufficient to bring out the dark lines distinctly. I feel

firmly convinced that this experiment should be tried at the Sumatra eclipse of next May, for I have successfully accomplished it in the laboratory with an artificial corona. It was found

that a gas flame in a strong beam of sun-light shone with a pure bluish-white light, due to the reflection or rather scattering of the sun-light by the minute carbon particles.1 The flame

thus illuminated showed the Fraünhofer lines distinctly, but by reducing the intensity of the sun-light a point was reached at which they disappeared, and the spectrum appeared continuous.

The light scattered by the flame was found to be completely plane polarised in certain directions, giving us just the required conditions, namely, particles emitting a continuous spectrum,

and scattering a polarised solar spectrum. In front of the slit of the spectroscope a Nicol prism was arranged in such a manner that it could be drawn into and out of position by a cord. The

Fraünhofer lines could be made to appear by sliding the Nicol in front of the slit, and disappear by drawing it away. While it does not by any means follow that the use of a Nicol on the

actual corona will bring out the lines, the experiment seems to be well worth trying, as it would furnish further information regarding the relative intensity of the emitted and reflected

light. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to

this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy

now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer

support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS HEIGHT-DEPENDENT DIFFERENTIAL ROTATION OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE DETECTED BY CHASE Article 13 June 2024 INFRARED SPECTROPOLARIMETRIC DETECTION

OF INTRINSIC POLARIZATION FROM A CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA Article 11 March 2021 BOW SHOCK AND LOCAL BUBBLE PLASMA UNVEILED BY THE SCINTILLATING MILLISECOND PULSAR J0437−4715 Article 21 April

2025 AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * University of Wisconsin, R. W. WOOD Authors * R. W. WOOD View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE WOOD, R. On the Nature of the Solar Corona, with some Suggestions for Work at the next Total

Eclipse. _Nature_ 63, 230–231 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/063230b0 Download citation * Issue Date: 03 January 1901 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/063230b0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you

share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the

Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative