SUN MUCH SPOTTED

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 8, 10 July 1939, Page 11

SUN MUCH SPOTTED

CHANCE OF AURORA

The sun is at present very active, and is literally covered with spots. Observations made at the Carter Observatory this morning show that they cover such a wide field as to make a nakedeye mark, only, of course, the sun must be looked at with the eye protected by smoked glass. A big group of spots came round on the sun's visible surface at the beginning of this month, and ever since then this group has been developing, now being a mass of spots of all shapes and sizes. To the north of this group, is another group, which has developed from a few insignificant spots to a large group 86,000 rhiles long, and yet another group is developing to the south. The three groups are apparently a zone of'great "activity. Speculation at once arises as to whether this sunspot activity will be accompanied by auroral di plays. If there is an aurora it is usually when the sunspots have just crossed the sun's meridian. The present spots have just crossed the central meridian, so if there is to be an aurora it will probably be tonight. In some astronomical circles it is believed that auroral displays sometimes follow active eruptions taking place in the spots themselves, not necessarily when the spots cross the sun's central meridian. Some of the spots now on the sun are in active eruption, so if this theory is correct, there is a chance of an auroral display at any time In th immediate future. It does not always follow, however, that because there are sunspots there must necessarily be an aurora. All that is known about the relation of the two phenomena is that aurorae, when they occur, are generally preceded by sunspots, but there are quite often sunspots without aurorae.