ECLIPSE OF SUN

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 May 1937, Page 5

ECLIPSE OF SUN

EXPEDITION LANDED. [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] SYDNEY, May 28. _ A radio message from the warship AVellington states: The eclipse observation party and equipment were landed this morning. Assisted by the sailors, a camp was erected alongside the American camp here. There is only sparse vegetation and scattered cocoanut trees on the island. Frigate birds and boobies are nesting within a chain of the camp. The National Geographic Society’s flag is flown at the American camp. The New Zealand ensign is flown at our camp. Tanks were left by the warship Leith which contained a small quantity of water. The American.-, first. attempted to land at Euderbury Island, but found it impossible, as there was no anchorage. “Here al. Canton Island they have eight astronomers, four technicians, and 1.3 naval ratings in a large camp, with power plant, also a radio to send and receive. They have a refrigerator, developing Croom; and instruments electrically driven. All are erected, bm not yet adjusted.”

OBSERA r ATIONS ON JUNE 9. SYDNEY, May 19. The moon will pass directly between the earth and the sun on June 9, forming a total eclipse of the sun. In many places on the earth, day will be turned into night for periods up to seven minutes. In no portion of Australia will even a partial phase of the eclipse be seen. Scientists from New Zealand and from America are now travelling to the Phoenix group of islands, just south of the Equator. They are equipped with . photographic telescopes, spectroscopes, and other scientific gear; they are travelling thousands of miles to see the sun obscured by the moon for four and a-quarter minutes at the most. Scientists, however, consider that the months of preparation, the expenditure, and the long journey will be well worth while if they are able to add more data to the world’s knowledge of the sun, the source of all terrestial energy. “A total solar eclipse is the most awe-inspiring of Nature’s phenomena,’’ said the Government Astronomer (Mr. James Naugle) yesterday. “I shall never forget the spectacle of the total eclipse which I saw from a backyard at Goondiwindi, in South Queensland. in 1922. "A scientific party, of which 1 was a member, rented a shop and we erected our apparatus in the back yard. For some days we each rehearsed our tasks so that when the great moment arrived, scientific observation could proceed as rapidly as possible.

"When the day did arrive we were nervous, excited, and on edge. Just before the total eclipse, shadow hands, about three inches wide and three inches apart, raced across the earth like millions of snakes. There was a galvanised iron fence at the back of the yard, and it seemed to me that reptiles were crawling all over it. “Meanwhile, the moon was rapidly covering the face of the sun. The light became a bilious green. Animals became uneasy, and fowls, thinking dial normal night was setting in, letumed to roost. Then, suddenly, i .lay iurned to night. We were able to look toward the sun with the naked eye. EERIE SCENE. “The scene for three minutes was indescribably lovely and eerie. We saw the great streamers of the corona suspended from the disc of the

moon. Their colour was a combination of silver and pearl. AVe saw, also. the chromosphere, which can best he described as a ring of rosy light at the outer edges. The chromosphere is irregular and its predominances extend for thousands of miles. “There were two incidents during that eclipse that I shall never forget. I saw a crow, completely bewildered by the turn of; events, endeavouring to gain a foothold on the revolving arm of a windmill. “And there was the man from whom we rented the shop. Before the eclipse, he used to watch us making our preparations, but he was certain that there would not be an eclipse. He probably regarded us as a lot of crazy scientists. “I saw him after the eclipse, which he had -witnessed from a meadow, and he said that if anything similar was likely to occur again in Australia, he would leave the country.” Mr. Nangle added that during the total eclipse, the temperature fell several degrees and there was generally a slight breeze. The Phoenix group of islands, where scientists will observe the eclipse, lies approximately 250 miles south of the Equator. The islands are on the direct route between Fiji and Hawaii.

The most favourable point to observe the eclipse on June 9 would be at latitude 11 degrees one minute south, and longitude 130 degrees 40 minutes west. There the eclipse will have its longest duration —seven minutes four seconds, with the sun’s altitude at 77 degrees. But this point is in mid-Pacific Ocean, with no land within hundreds o- miles. It would be necessary to charter a ship to observe the eclipse for its longest period. In the Phoenix Group the sun will be obscured completely for approximately four minutes, and its altitude will'be 22 degrees. The Phoenix Group was chosen because it is the most suitable of the few accessible places. A small partial eclipse will be seen in the North Island of New Zealand.

There will be three eclipses this year—the total solar eclipse on June 9, a partial eclipse of the moon on November 18, the ending being visible in Australia, and an annular eclipse on December 3, which will not be visible in the Commonwealth except in the extreme north of York Peninsula, where it will be seen for a few moments as a partial eclipse.