University Takes Look at the Sun

A team of Harvard scientists headed by Leo Goldberg, Higgins Professor of Astronomy at the Harvard Observatory, is currently analyzing data transmitted from orbiting Solar Observatory IV, a satellite launched last week.

The Harvard experiment, one of several based on the 599 pound satellite known as OSO IV, involves scanning the sun's surface closely during a period of about six months, in order to supplement observations made from the earth's surface.

The first results arrived this Wednesday and are presently being plotted as coutour maps of the sun's surface. With these maps scientists can find out how the concentration of elements from place to place at the sun's surface varies and how the concentration changes over time. Data this accurate can't be collected from the earth's surface because the atmosphere blocks the ultra-violet rays used for the observations.

Exact Temperatures

In addition, scientists now can measure the exact temperature anywhere on the sun's surface as it changes with time, because strong lines appear at different wavelengths according to the temperature and the elements present. Each element has a unique combination of lines which identify it absolutely.

During the next six months scientists wil be analyzing the correlations between solar disturbances (sunspots, for instance), temperature changes, and the presence or absence of various elements.