SUN'S ECLIPSE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 152, 30 June 1927, Page 7

SUN'S ECLIPSE.

RAIN IN LONDON. I I Totality Area Has Perfect View. ENTHUSIASTIC CROWDS. (By Cable—Press. Association. —Copyright.) (Received 0.30 a.m.) LONDON, June 29. The eclipse of the sun was seen perfectly in a cloudless sky at Giggleswick, Southport, and some other districts in the totality area. The corona was a most brilliant spectacle. Heavy clouds and rain in London and most other parts of the country drenched hundreds of thousands of would-be observers who saw nothing. The Prince of Wales, who went to Westmoreland, led the rush of 500,000 enthusiasts who made for the totality belt. Hundreds of - people climbed Mount Snowdon, 200 motor cars being parked half-way up the mountain. The little village of Giggleswick, in Yorkshire, was crowded by strangers wearing smoked glasses and carrying blankets. Nearly 50,000 people left London by special trains, after making preparations which placcd alarm clocks and. smoked glasses at a premium, and seven aeroplanes flew from Croydon. The scene in the township last evening was akin to that of a bank holiday. Earlj' in the morning the cinc-ma theatres were open, and there wero midnight picnics and campfires.

A few members-of a society of religious zealots improved the occasion by uttering lurid warnings about the last judgment and reciting passages from the Book of Revelations relating to the opening of the Sixth Seal.

ASTRONOMER ROYAL.

Gets a Perfect Sight And Valuable Data. BEST EVER SEEN. (British Official Wireless.) (Received 11.30 a.m.) RUGBY, June 20. Information from various points along the centre of the totality zone at which astronomical observations of the eclipse of the sun were taken, shows that rain clouds more or less obscured the phenomenon except at Giggleswick, which was the headquarters of Sir Frank Dyson, Astronomer Royal.

This was regarded as the most important of all the observation posts, and although, until within three minutes of the moon's passage across the sun's rays, Sir Frank Dyson and his party feared they would be disappointed, the clouds suddenly cleared, and the eclipse was perfectly observed.

Sir Frank says that although the eclipse was short, it equalled any he has sean. The corona was very bright, and he was able to see flames and the chromosphere which is not generally visible. The photographs taken are said to be excellent, and some important recording is effected. The eclipse, as anticipated, endured for 23 seconds, but Sir Frank Dyson says the chronometer showed that the moment of totality arrived three seconds after the calculated time. The next eclipse takes place in North Siam in 1029, and the Astronomer Royal says he will send a party to observe it. IRONY OF FATE. LUCK DESERTS THOUSANDS. (Received 12 noon.) LONDON, June 29. Giggleswick definitely goes down in history as the only spot in a totality belt 30 miles wide across England, where the conditions were perfect. Elsewhere, including London, it was a ghastly failure. Rain fell in sheets and at many favoured observation posts, thousands were drenched and chilled, but saw nothing. Certainly England has not had such an amazing event for years. It seemed as though everybody had gathered in every available open space trusting to luck which deserted them. Giggleswick showed the whole country how to do things and will now retire to its accustomed seclusion for another 200 years.