Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/125

Rh (Fig. 14) in the observation house at the ground level. The spectrograph, of 75 feet focal length, enjoys the advantage of great stability and constancy of temperature in its subterranean vault beneath the tower. In the third order spectrum, used for this investigation, the D lines of the solar spectrum are 29 millimeters apart. The resolving power of the excellent Michelson grating is sufficient to show 75 lines of the iodine absorption spectrum in this space between the D's. Thus the instruments are well suited for the exacting requirements of a difficult investigation. For it must be borne in mind that the problem is very different from that of detecting the magnetic fields in sun-spots, where the separation of the lines is from fifty to one hundred times as great as we may expect to find here. Thus the sun's general field can produce no actual separation of the lines. But it may cause a very slight widening, which should appear as a displacement when suitable polarizing apparatus is used. This is so arranged as to divide the spectrum longitudinally into narrow strips. The component toward the red end of the spectrum of a line widened by magnetism should appear in one strip, the other component in the next strip. Hence, if the sun has a magnetic field of sufficient strength, the line should have a dentated appearance. The small relative displacements of the lines on successive strips, when measured under a microscope, should give the strength of the magnetic field.

The above remarks apply strictly to the case when the observer is looking directly along the lines of force. At other angles neither component is completely cut off, and the magnitude of the displacement will then depend upon two things: the strength of the magnetic field and the angle between the line of sight and the lines of force. Assuming that the lines of force of the sun correspond with those of a magnetized sphere, and also that the magnetic poles coincide with the poles of rotation, it is possible to calculate what the relative displacement should be at different solar latitudes. These theoretical displacements are shown graphically by the sine curve on the screen (Fig. 15).

We see from the curve that the greatest displacements should be found at 45° north and south latitude, and that from these points they should decrease toward zero at the equator and the poles. Furthermore, the curve shows that we may apply the same crucial test used in the case of sun-spots: the direction of the displacements, toward red or violet, should be reversed in the northern and southern hemispheres.

I shall not trouble you with the details of the hundreds of photographs and the thousands of measures which have been made by my colleagues and myself during the past year. In view of the diffuse character of the solar lines under such high dispersion, and the exceedingly small displacements observed, the results must be given with some reserve, though they appear to leave no doubt as to the reality of the effect. Observations in the second order spectrum failed to give