The Sun Kings: The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began

225 Pages·16.267 MB·English

The Sun Kings
!@

The Sun Kings
!@
The Unexpected Tragedy of
Richard Carrington and the Tale of How
Modern Astronomy Began
stuart clark
Princeton University Press
Princeton & Oxford
Copyright © 2007 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press,41 William Street,
Princeton,New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom:Princeton University Press,6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock,Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
All Rights Reserved
Second printing,and first paperback printing,2009
Paperback ISBN:978-0-691-14126-8
The Library ofCongress has cataloged the cloth edition ofthis book as follows
Clark,Stuart (Stuart G.)
The sun kings :the unexpected tragedy of Richard Carrington and the
tale of how modern astronomy began / Stuart Clark.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-691-12660-9 (hardcover :alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-691-12660-7 (hardcover :alk.paper)
1. Carrington,Richard Christopher,1826–1875.
2. Herschel,William,Sir,1738–1822.
3. Herschel,John F.W.(John Frederick William),Sir,1792–1871.
4. Maunder,E.Walter (Edward Walter),1851–1928.
5. Hale,George Ellery,1868–1938. 6. Astronomers—
Great Britain—Biography. 7. Solar flares—Observations—
History—19th century. 8. Sun—Observations—
History—19th century. I. Title.
QB35 .C53 2007
520.92(cid:2)241B—dc22 2006940123
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Adobe Caslon
Printed on acid-free paper.∞
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
5 7 9 10 8 6
To Nikki,
who temporarily lost her husband to
the court of The Sun Kings.
i’m back now.

Contents
List ofIllustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
prologue The Dog Years 1
one The First Swallow of Summer 9
two Herschel’s Grand Absurdity 25
three The Magnetic Crusade 47
four The Solar Lockstep 58
five The Day and Night Observatory 71
six The Perfect Solar Storm 80
seven In the Grip of the Sun 93
eight The Greatest Prize of All 98
nine Death at the Devil’s Jumps 117
ten The Sun’s Librarian 129
eleven New Flare,New Storm,
New Understanding 148
twelve The Waiting Game 168
thirteen The Cloud Chamber 179
epilogue Magnetar Spring 188
Bibliography 191
Index 207
vii

Illustrations
The sunspot groups responsible for the 2003 Halloween flares 5
Richard Carrington’s sketch of the solar flare 14
William Herschel 45
John Herschel’s 20-foot telescope at Feldhausen,South Africa 55
John Herschel 59
Richard Carrington’s house and observatory at Redhill,Surrey 72
An engraving of the aurora 85
Warren de la Rue and his team at Rivabellosa 106
Warren de la Rue’s picture of the totally eclipsed Sun 108
George Biddell Airy 132
E.Walter Maunder 141
The Royal Observatory at Greenwich 144
George Ellery Hale’s July 1892 solar flare photograph 149
Annie Maunder’s photograph of the 1898 eclipse 157
An accompanying sketch 157
Note on Illustrations
No portrait of Richard Carrington is known to exist. He signed a letter to
George Airy, along with nine other scientists, urging the Astronomer Royal
to have a portrait taken. In the letter, all ten gentlemen claimed to have
submitted themselves to the camera of Messrs Maull and Polybank (55
Gravechurch Street,London).The search continues....
ix