Abstract
PLANETARY TEMPERATURES.—Dr. W. W. Coblentz's pioneer work on the measurement of the heat of the stars by means of the vacuum thermocouple is well known. In conjunction with Dr. Lampland of the Lowell Observatory, he has recently made similar observations of the heat radiation of the planets and the moon, and the results are published in the June and July issues of the Journal of the Franklin Institute. The substances water, quartz, glass, fluorite, and rock salt are found to be practically opaque beyond the wave-lengths 1.4μ, 4.1μ, 8μ, 12.5μ, and 23μ respectively, whilst the atmosphere itself is opaque beyond 15μ. By the use of screens made of the materials mentioned, it was therefore possible to obtain thermocouple measurements of the radiation incident in the regions 0.3μ to 1.4μ, 1.4μ to 4.Iμ, 4.Iμ to 8μ, 8μ to 12.5μ, and 12.5μ to 15μ. From these measures the true planetary radiation could be found by subtracting the reflected solar light (0.3μ to 1.4μ) from the total radiation, and the spectral composition of the remainder enabled the planetary temperature to be estimated.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 116, 372 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116372a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116372a0