MOON AND WEATHER

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30392, 17 March 1964, Page 10

MOON AND WEATHER

No Influence Found

Contrary to popular belief, the moon did not have any influence over the weather, Dr. C. D. Ellyett, reader in physics at the University of Canterbury told delegates at the annual conference of the New Zealand Institute of Electricians at Christchurch. Dr. Ellyett’s address, “Current Leakage and Dust in the Atomsphere” covered the extensive work done by the university’s field station some 15 miles south of Christchurch.

The station, he said, was set up to measure three things: echoes from meteors, radio noise from stars and the small, micro-fluctuations of the earth’s magnetic field. In 1960-61, the station measured 724,681—“ we may be one out”—meteors and at present, some 300 to 400 an hour were being measured, Dr. Ellyett said. He referred to similar experiments in America and Australia and a general pattern emerged whereby scientists thought there was heavier rainfall just after each full moon. It was thought that dust from meteors acted as a centre for rain.

Experiments Differ Therefore, the whole theory, he said, hinged on whether meteors were influenced by the moon. “So with Mr Keay, we tried some experiments at the station but did not get the same answer. “We wrote to Australia and got them to send across every detail of the work. We rechecked our figures, but still did not get the same result.

“Then we received an apologetic note from Australia. They had apparently fed a wrong figure in to the computer responsible for their result. We, however, used a number of students, which show how reliable they are,” he said amid laughter. “At the end of last year, we agreed that the moon had no obvious effect on meteor rates. Therefore, the whole theory that the moon has influence on rainfall goes down the drain,” said Dr. Ellyett. Referring to the high-atmo-sphere dust which filtered its way through the earth’s atmosphere. Dr. Ellyett said the only way to detect it was to collect the dust by rockets and satellites. “These very small micro-meteorites are only about one-ten millionth of a gram in size,” he said. Dust In Atmosphere

Although there was no actual dust cloud around the earth, there was a considerable amount of dust entering the earth’s atmosphere. “In fact there are about 10,000 tons a day of the very fine dust, 10 tons of particles about the size of a pin head, and one ton a day from meteors,” he said. Dr. Ellyett said there should be no confusion about the last figure. “It is only an average. There might not be any for days, weeks or years; but when it cofnes, we might get 50,000 tons in one go,” he said.

“So you see, space is not quite so empty as some people seem to think.” Many of the station’s efforts to measure the micropulsations of the earth’s magnetic field had come up against man-made interferences, said Dr. Ellyett. He showed slides of graphs which showed variations in the recording between 8 am. and midday and 2 p.m. to 5

p.m. “But never on Sundays or public holidays,” he said. “It was quite obvious where the interference was coming from.”

Load Variations

Although the station was 15 miles in the country, minute variations in the load of various industries in offices had been picked up by the sensitive equipment. Dr. Ellyett admitted that the station was puzzled for a time by certain unusual fluctuations in a very low frequency graph. The New Zealand Electricity Department monitored the supply lines and found the unusual patterns were being caused by the electric trains on the Lyttelton-Christchurch line. He showed a slide which clearly outlined the load variation as a train stopped and started at each station along the line and the shunting operations of the engine at each end.

“We can sit out there plotting the whole progress of a train and knowing every move the driver makes,” said Dr. Ellyett amid more laughter. “I hope the union doesn’t mind.”