Edgefield Advertiser

Black Spot on the Sun.—A black spot upon the Sun's disk, larger than a star of the first magnitude is plainly visible to the naked eye, by looking through a piece of smoked glass. It is upon the western or northwestern side, about one quarter of the distance from the centre to the periphery, and must be several thousand miles in diameter. It is to be hoped that some of our astronomers will watch its course and progress, and thereby learn the period of the Sun's revolution on its axis; and the inclination of its axis to the plain of the earth's orbit. That this phenomenon may have an influence upon the temperatures of our atmosphere is not improbable, when we compare the season thus far with the cold summer of 1816, when a similar phenomenon was observed. The abstraction of a column of rays of a few thousand miles in diameter, or the space of six or eight months only will certainly be no mean fraction of our ordinary supply.—N. Y. Express of 21st ult.