ECLIPSE OF THE SUN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21277, 2 September 1932, Page 11

ECLIPSE OF THE SUN

CANADIAN OBSERVERS J A COMPLETE SUCCESS OTHER SCIENTISTS' FAILURE By Telegraph—-Press Association-'-Copj'rigW NEW YORK, Aug. 31 Complete success marked the work of the Canadian branch of the Royal Astronomical Society to day in connection with the eclipse of the. sun, at Louiseville, Quebec. The members stationed thero secured a perfect view of the phenomenon and also fine photographs of the shadow, bands which occurred just before and after totality. Valuable data on temperature changes during the eclipse were also obtained. Although the pictorial quality of the total eclipse was not entirely lost at Magog (Quebec) its value to the 60 scientists posted there was nothingColonel J. Waley Cohen, one of the ofS*; cials of the British Eclipse Expedition, described it as a total failure. The heavens became increasingly dark. There was a slight rift in the clouds and the narrow rim of the sun appeared like s new moon, then the darkness became suddenly more intense, and 100 seconds' totality occurred. The light returned as though the dawn were breaking. There was a pinkish glow in the clouds but the sun did not. reappear. At Conway, New Hampshire, the eclipse apparently was a total failure from tha standpoint of most of the scientists gathered there. Dark clouds obscured the j phenomenon at the moment of totality.

A large party of scientists sailed from Southampton by the Canadian Pacific liner Montcalm on July 20, in order to take part in the observations of the eclipse of the sun.

Sir Frank Dyson, Astronomer Royal, explained in non-scientific language the objects of the visit. He said: "The moon gets in the way of the sun, and when that happens you see for a short time flames sticking out of the sun. Surrounding the sun there is a mass of grey light called 'the corona.' We are going to see if we can find out more about the red flames and the corona.

"All our work is done by photography, and in the ordinary way there will be » short exposure for the flames and a longer exposure for the corona. The: most important thing is the. observations we are to make through the spectroscope, which splits up the light into different colours, and at this coming eclipse we are particularly anxious to observe the infra-red parts." Lately there have been made some new plates, which would photograph red. The plates should help them to get the particularly bright lines in the spectrum and they hoped to find more or less what was in the corona and the prominences. They hoped to get a clue to some of the other lines of light.