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Water-cell transmissions and planetary temperatures
Dec., 1923. ]
CURRENT ToPIcs.
855
inertia of the coil is made very small, and its weight consequently very slight, it will suffer from inevitable vibrations to a much higher degree than would be the case with a heavier coil. The desired stability has been obtained in a rather obvious way, namely, by simply stretching the coil between two metal wires, instead of suspending it." A photographically registered series of deflections shows that the instrument is very dead-beat. About two seconds were required for the deflections to reach their maximum value. This once attained, the record is free from any trace of a tendency in the coil to swing back toward its zero position. G.F.S.
Water-cell
Transmissions
and
Planetary
Temperatures.
D. H. ~ENZEL. (Astrophys. J., Sept., I 9 2 3 . ) - - T h e radiation reaching the earth from a planet is the sum of two parts. One of these consists of waves of short length, originating at the sun and reflected by the planet. The other is the long wave radiation emitted by the planet itself. A water cell transmits the first part but stops the second entirely. The water-cell transmission is the ratio of the energy from the planet that emerges from the receiving instruments when a water cell is in its path to that which comes through without the cell. A formula is developed that connects the transmission with the temperature of the planet. This is possible because the energy radiated by the planet is dependent on its temperature. Of the members of the solar system observed Jupiter has the largest water-cell transmission, about .67, while the moon has the smallest, .147. These temperatures are deduced--Venus, 5°0 C.; Mars, - I 6 ° C.; Jupiter and Saturn, - I i O ° C., "while the moon is very hot, possibly 12o ° C . . . . The computed temperatures of Venus and Mars can be explained if they receive all their heat from the sun and lose it almost as fast as they receive it, cooling greatly at night. Jupiter and Saturn have higher temperatures than could be maintained by solar radiation alone, confirming the belief that the planets are hot internally." G.F.S. Is the Sun Responsible for the Radioactive P r o d u c t s of
Disintegration in the A t m o s p h e r e ? H. BONGARDS. (Physikal. Z., July 15, I 9 2 3 . ) - - I n the air there are found products of the transformation of radioactive substances. It is no easy matter to determine by a crucial test whether these owe their origin to the earth or to bodies outside of the earth. Observations at high altitudes would be decisive only if the elevations were so great as to preclude any considerable terrestrial influence. Another way of testing would be to make observations all over the earth of the amount of emanation in the air and to extend these observations over a considerable period of time. Were the fluctuations of the quantity of emanation to follow the same course at all stations, this would argue for an extraterrestrial cause.
CURRENT ToPIcs.
855
inertia of the coil is made very small, and its weight consequently very slight, it will suffer from inevitable vibrations to a much higher degree than would be the case with a heavier coil. The desired stability has been obtained in a rather obvious way, namely, by simply stretching the coil between two metal wires, instead of suspending it." A photographically registered series of deflections shows that the instrument is very dead-beat. About two seconds were required for the deflections to reach their maximum value. This once attained, the record is free from any trace of a tendency in the coil to swing back toward its zero position. G.F.S.
Water-cell
Transmissions
and
Planetary
Temperatures.
D. H. ~ENZEL. (Astrophys. J., Sept., I 9 2 3 . ) - - T h e radiation reaching the earth from a planet is the sum of two parts. One of these consists of waves of short length, originating at the sun and reflected by the planet. The other is the long wave radiation emitted by the planet itself. A water cell transmits the first part but stops the second entirely. The water-cell transmission is the ratio of the energy from the planet that emerges from the receiving instruments when a water cell is in its path to that which comes through without the cell. A formula is developed that connects the transmission with the temperature of the planet. This is possible because the energy radiated by the planet is dependent on its temperature. Of the members of the solar system observed Jupiter has the largest water-cell transmission, about .67, while the moon has the smallest, .147. These temperatures are deduced--Venus, 5°0 C.; Mars, - I 6 ° C.; Jupiter and Saturn, - I i O ° C., "while the moon is very hot, possibly 12o ° C . . . . The computed temperatures of Venus and Mars can be explained if they receive all their heat from the sun and lose it almost as fast as they receive it, cooling greatly at night. Jupiter and Saturn have higher temperatures than could be maintained by solar radiation alone, confirming the belief that the planets are hot internally." G.F.S. Is the Sun Responsible for the Radioactive P r o d u c t s of
Disintegration in the A t m o s p h e r e ? H. BONGARDS. (Physikal. Z., July 15, I 9 2 3 . ) - - I n the air there are found products of the transformation of radioactive substances. It is no easy matter to determine by a crucial test whether these owe their origin to the earth or to bodies outside of the earth. Observations at high altitudes would be decisive only if the elevations were so great as to preclude any considerable terrestrial influence. Another way of testing would be to make observations all over the earth of the amount of emanation in the air and to extend these observations over a considerable period of time. Were the fluctuations of the quantity of emanation to follow the same course at all stations, this would argue for an extraterrestrial cause.