Correlation of Solar and Magnetic Phenomena

Abstract

I WAS glad to see (NATURE, vol. xlix. p. 2) in the notice of Miss Clerke's “Popular History of Astronomy.” that attention was drawn (1) to the correspondence in time between a certain luminous outburst seen on the sun on September 1, 1859, by Carrington and Hodgson, and a disturbance of the magnets at the Kew Observatory; and (2) to the statement of the late Mr. Whipple that the magnetic movement was really a small one, and that in his opinion the observed correspondence was a mere accidental coincidence. Those who have read Carrington's original account (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. xx. p. 13) will remember that at the time he himself did not lean towards hastily connecting the phenomena, remarking that “one swallow does not make a summer.” But authors of text-books on astronomy, who may be only to a partial extent observers, are too apt to state the matter in such a way as to give an impression that we have here an undoubted instance of direct connection, instead of a case of apparent connection, to be taken merely for what it is worth, seeing that the occurrence has remained to the present time without corroboration. I should like to take the opportunity to support, in the fullest manner, the opinion of Mr. Whipple, which acquaintance with the Greenwich magnetic registers tells me to be a true one. The magnetic movement in question, as recorded at Greenwich, was similarly small.