Colour print of close-ups of the visible surface of the Sun

One of eight colour lithographs (Pl.5) with window mounts of six colour sketches showing sunspots in white light, drawn by Etienne Leopold Trouvelot in 1872. Successive views of a sun spot, March 28th, 12 20; March 30th 3 30; April 1st, ; April 2nd; April 3rd; April 4th;

Lithographic colour print issued by Harvard College Observatory in 1876, showing close-ups of the solar photosphere, the visible surface of the Sun. Based on sketches made Etienne Leopold Trouvelot (1827-1895), a French artist, they show the appearance sunspots in white light on six dates during 1872. These black markings with a dark (umbra) surrounded by a lighter region (penumbra) are areas of cooler gas on the Sun's surface. With a dazzlingly bright surface and a temperature of over six thousand degrees centigrade their darkness is a contrast effects. The number of sunspots slowly increases to a maximum and then falls back in a clear 11-year cycle first recognised by the German astronomer Heinrich Schwabe in 1843.

Details

Category:
Astronomy
Object Number:
1887-23/2
Materials:
paper
type:
prints, lithographs and sun
credit:
Normal School of Science (Astronomical Laboratory)