It was just one nanometer-a billionth of a meter. This line from the eclipse appeared a tad below 588 nm. In the lab, the sodium doublet appeared around 589 nm. There were other barcodes, too, including what looked like a double yellow line, indicating sodium.īut on closer inspection, Janssen noticed something odd. Right away, he saw the barcode for hydrogen-red, aqua, purple. The eclipse gave Janssen seven precious minutes of darkness, and he hurried to analyze the bands of light. The glare of the sun normally overwhelms the corona, but the moon conveniently dims the sun’s body during an eclipse while leaving the corona visible. By determining the barcode of each element in the lab and then examining the lines produced by sunlight, astronomers could determine what elements were present in the sun-an impressive achievement from 92 million miles away.įor the eclipse in India, Janssen used the spectroscope to observe the corona of the sun, its outer envelope.
Sun corona 1895 plus#
Hydrogen, for example, produced a sharp band of red light at 656 nanometers (nm), plus an aqua line and two purple ones at other wavelengths. Each element on the periodic table produced a characteristic pattern of thin, colored lines, similar to a barcode. That morning, he had used a new-fangled instrument called a spectroscope, which separated light into individual colors and arranged them by their wavelengths. Janssen’s determination had its roots in an eclipse two years earlier, which he’d observed in eastern India.
The Germans had shot down other balloons and had executed other civilians as spies. Then they warned him that they planned to shoot his balloon out of the sky-and shoot him as a spy when he landed. Through gritted teeth, the Germans wished Janssen luck. Instead, with typical French flair, he informed the Germans that he would take to the air instead and soar over the siege in a hot-air balloon. After months of suffering in solidarity with his fellow Parisians, he refused to accept the easy way out.
Imagine the Germans’ shock, then, when Janssen spurned the offer.
Sun corona 1895 free#
Janssen wanted to observe a solar eclipse in Algeria, and the Germans magnanimously put science above the fray of politics and told him he was free to leave. Of the 2.5 million people under siege in Paris during the War of 1870, the Prussian army offered just one of them free passage to leave the city-astronomer Jules Janssen.
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