When the eclipse ended, the proportions of the
lines were exactly reversed. There had been a change equal to two-thirds
the length of the lines, while the sun and moon had only changed their
relative positions by an extremely small amount. The only way in which
this phenomenon can be accounted for is on the diffraction theory. The
material view of the corona will not answer for it. But there are other
discrepancies in the older view which have been known for some time.
The principal ones are: 1. It is known from study of the sun that the
gaseous pressure at the surface must be less than an inch of mercury,
and is probably less than one-tenth of an inch, but an atmosphere
extending to the supposed limits would cause an enormous pressure at the
sun's surface, especially since the force of gravity on the sun is very
much greater than on the earth. 2. The laws of gravitation would require
a solar atmosphere to be distributed symmetrically around the sun, while
the corona is enormously irregular in form. The sun is irregular in
outline, which would make its diffracted phenomena show the observed
irregularity, but it is symmetrical as regards density.
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