Heat from the Moon.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 28, 25 May 1870, Page 3

Heat from the Moon.

Lord lionso has been abb to form tm | estimate of the relative amount of bout vw receive from (ho moon and from tbe H»tv He states, aa the results of hia obßerttdiorav that tho radiation from the moon i» about the..9oo,oooth-part of that frota tb© ifua. But, jHirhapa tho moat interesting result tot the enquiry ia die determination of tbw actual heat of the moon's- surface at the time of full moon, or rather at lunar mid' day. By comparing the heat received from the moon with that derived from *ertaia terrestrial sources of heat, Lotd Rosse findu that the moon's- surface must be heated to* a temperature of SGO degrees' Fahrenhoit, or nearly 500 degrees above boiling point I Nor is this result, startling as it may seera at first sight, greatly io bo wondered at, when we remember the circumstance* under which the moon's surface is exposed to> the solar rays. Fancy ft day it foitnighb long, not, as in our polar regions, with * sun only a few degrees above the horizon even at mid-day, but with an almost vertical sun for several days in succession. Wo know the intensity of the heat which prevails at noon in tropical countries, bub that heat is a mere nothing compared with; that which must prevail when, instead of a few hours, the sun hangs for five or six days close to the zenith, and pours dowa his rays- on a climate unshielded by any atmosphere. It is welfc-known that thit intense heat of the tropical climate is not tempered, but increased, by the density of the atmosphere. On the Himalayan slopes, several thousand feet above the level oi' the sea, an endurable if not a pleasant climate can bo found, because of the rarity of the air, But tho direct rays of tbe aura are hotter—paradoxical as it may sound—on the snow-covered summits of the Himalayas than at the sea-level. Those who havetravelled over snow-covered mountains ia summer know well that, while the air may be cool and refreshing, the sun will be peeling the skin off the hands and face incautiously exposed to his rays. Thus it is, doubtless, on the mood's surface, except that all the effects of tlie sun's heat are intensified, through the tremendous length of the lunar day, and tbe absolute absence of any lunar atmosphere. Indeed, Sir Johij Herschol, from theoreticul considerations, wa» long Bince led to anticipate the result of Lord Rosse's researches. He remarka*lbat "ihe surface of the full moon exposed to us must necessarily be very much heated, possibly to a degree much exceeding that of boiling water." The question of tho moon's habi* .■■* tability by such creatures as subsist upon this earth is, of couree, finally disposed ol by Lord Bosse's discovery. We coukl not live conveniently at the temperature of boiling water, nor any being we" know of. The famous salamander, even if it had all tbe properties assigned to it in olden times, instead of being one of the most cold-loving of all known creatures, would find the moon an unsatisfactory residence. For tremendous as is the heat of the lunar midday, the cold of the lunar night must be still more terrible. It has been well remarked by Tyndall, that were it not for the atmosphere with which tbe earth is laden, the cold of a single night would bind our fields in a Siberian frost. Imagine, then, the effects of a night of three hundred hours in a region where there is neither moisture to form protecting envelopes of cloud or mist, nor an atmosphere to support such envelopes even if they could be formed. Doubtless the cold of the lunar night is of an intensity such as not even the most ingenious appliances of our chemists could produce. Under its influence not merely would all liquids be frozen, but probably every gas known to us would be converted into solid form.— -Fraacr's Magazine.