THE SUN’S ECLIPSE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 261, 31 July 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE SUN’S ECLIPSE

American Expeditions “A RARE SUCCESS” The expedition of the United States Navy and National Geographic Society ta Canton Island to observe the eclipse of the sun in June was “a rare success,” according to the “Christian Science Monitor.” . "We had a glorious day, said Di. S. A. Mitchell, University of Virginia observatory director, leader of the expedition. , The observers’ study will not end, however, until after months of painstaking research into hundreds of photographs which the 16 men snapped during the 213 seconds of totality. _ It was the longest eclipse in 12 centuries. Dr. Mitchell .said his spectroscopic photographs “went through without a hitch.” preserving a pictorial record of the sun’s corona —a dazzling pearly light darting like blue streamers for millions of miles around the blotted-out sun. Captain F. J. Ilellweg, superintendent of the Naval Observatory, described the expedition as “probably the most successful ever completed.” Exceptional Detail. Dr. Raul A. McNally, director of the Georgetown University Observatory, reported that his photographs showed exceptional detail. He advised 'Washington experts to “be glad in your hearts and rejoice.” A New Zealand party camped near the Americans on Canton Island. On the open sea 2400 miles eastward, astronomers of Franklin Institute <it Philadelphia and Princeton University viewed the eclipse from a freighter near the point of maximum duration. Major Albert W. Stevens, American army aviator, observed the celestial display from the American Museum of Natural History as he soared 25,000 feet above Peru's mountains. Another group of scholars —American, Japanese and Peruvian —recorded the phenomenon from an airplane soaring 25.000 feet over the Andes. They reported perfect weather conditions and said their record included still and motion pictures. Reports from mountain stations said as soon as the sun emerged from the moon’s shadow Indians, who had been frightened as the darkness grew, rang church bells and piped on their primitive flutes tunes that bad come from the times of the Incas. News of the coming eclipse had spread through the mountains for days. Fearful Indians had crowded steep Andean paths along the coast where the Incas built temples for worship of the sun god centuries ago. Members of the American Museum expedition, which set up its instruments in the courtyard of an ancient adobe church at Llanca, reported mountain Indians flocking there in increasing numbers as time for the eclipse approached. Many wei .: obviously afraid the sun would go out forever. A Peruvian owner of a nearby hacienda was unsuccessful in his attempts to convince them the darkness would be passing, harmless. They eyed the American instruments distrustfully, apparently blaming them for the approaching terror. Moon’s Shadow Caught. Major Stevens’s greatest hope was that he would be able to capture in motion pictures the swift passage of the moon’s shadow. 153 miles wide, rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. The opportunity was unusual, and Major Stevens reported he obtained good pictures of this phase of the eclipse, which he described as “rainbow colours blending Into blue and black.” At totality, temperature at this 25,000-foot height was 4 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Just before totality began, Major Stevens reported the plane was flying blind through a storm. Then radio transmission blurred and interrupted him. When he resumed, he was describing the period of totality : “The view of the sun and the shadow is magnificent. Royal blue thunder clouds are advancing. It’s a very beautiful view through the clouds. Our engine exhaust and wingtip lights are visible. Now it is becoming light again.” In Lima, over 100 miles from the band of totality, it became so dark office lights had to be lighted. The temperature dropped noticeably. A dispatch from Trujillo, near the northern edge of the totality band, where the American Hayden Plane-tarium-Grace expedition had its headquarters, said “powerful views” of the eclipse were obtained. Reports from Cerro de Pasco, 14,000 feet above sea-level, said the eclipse was observed under clear conditions at the camp of Miss Dorothy Bennett, assistant curator of the Hayden Planetarium and a member of the Hayden Planetarium-Grace expedition. Banks of clouds enhanced the .spectacle as it was witnessed there. During the middle of the eclipse period, however, many exposures were lost when a piece of apparatus was bumped. Experienced observers said violently eruptive prominences were witnessed. There were six groups, two of which were estimated to have extended between 50,000 and 100,000 miles. Corona streamers shooting outward were estimated to have been at least 14 times the diameter of the sun. Major Stevens landed at 7.18 p.m., after a flight of four hours and 48 minutes.