OF CURRENT INTEREST

Taranaki Daily News, 11 March 1933, Page 11 (Supplement)

OF CURRENT INTEREST

ECLIPSES BY TELEVISION

(By

Rev. B. Dudley,

FJI.A.S.)

How the Eclipses Affect Animals. It is quite a common thing for members of expedition parties, when undertaking scientific observations of a total eclipse of the sun, to have their work apportioned amongst themselves; so that while some study .the solar corona, for instance, others will note the phenomenon as it affects terrestrial scenery, the behaviour of animals, birds, etc. This guarantees that all the various phenomena connected with an eclipse have the required amount of attention bestowed upon them: nothing is overlooked. During the eclipse of last August one of the observers, interested in the behaviour of birds and insects records that a small flock of goldfinches was seen near some thistles; and many tree swallows were busy hawking overhead. “As the darkness came on,” he states, “the finches and swallows gradually disappeared to their usual roosting places. Crows, in twos and threes, were seen winging their way to roost, probably some miles distant While yet a long way from their accustomed place they were taken unawares by the sudden darkness. They circled and decided to settle in some spruce trees nearby, where they remained till after totality. With the return of light there was the usual concerted cawing as at daybreak hi a rookery, when they again took to wing. When the sun was nearly obscured there was a great hush as of impending* 1 disaster; not a bird was seen or heard save the crowing of a cock at an adjacent farm. “At 3.30 p.m. another day had apparently dawned for the much-bewildered birds. They appeared everywhere as by magic, while cock-crowing became general from every farm, as would be natural at sunrise.” The quotation-is rather long; but in a case like this it is better to let a direct observer describe in his own words what he saw and heard. One of the party visited a patch of golden rod, about 60 square feet, and there he saw the bees, flies, and insects together busy on the blossoms, a tenth or thereabouts being bees. The patch was inspected closely at separate. times—2.2o, 2.30 and 2.45 p.m.—and it was noticed that there was “no diminution in numbers or change in behaviour.” But when, five minutes after the total phase began, a further examination was made, it was found that only the humble bees and a few flies were left. All the rest had clearly gone to their night quarters. The chirping of field crickets, which was kept up incessantly all the afternoon, stopped as soon as the darkness came on. “It ■is quite safe to *say,” states this observer, “that all insect life observed reacted to the unnatural oncoming of darkness in the same way as when dusk and night come on.” These habits among lower creatures are, of course, known to experienced eclipse observers. But it is only in comparatively recent times that so much detailed attention has been given to the matter.

Seeing Eclipses by Television. It is not without interest to note that television experts point out that by means of this new discovery of broadcast vision' it will be possible sooner or later for the whole world to witness a total solar eclipse. This would be ( a truly remarkable development of modern science; Solar eclipses are phenomena which, unlike those of the moon, are visible from but limited areas of the Earth’s surface, and for that reason very few people have ever witnessed them. If television is to be the means of bringing this wonderful abnormality of nature within the reach of all, it will mark a forward move. , Whether the “niceties” of such an event can be brought to our doors in this way would depend upon the degree of perfection attained. Needless to -state, television is scarcely likely to render the watcher aware of all the details connected with eclipses; such, for example,'as are mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. It may be worthy of note here that the solar corona and coronal streamers observed during the last eclipse of the sun were, according to a statement made in the recent issue of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association, “almost an exact repetition of that of 1878. as depicted on Plate V. in Ball’s Story of the Heavens.” Some readers will still have possession of this delightful volume which was for many years after publication a “best seller.” It is a book which found its way into public libraries all the world over, and so can easily be consulted. The plate named will be found opposite page 48, and represents a photograph taken at the time by Harkness; Mr. F. J. Sellers, a prominent member of the Association, describes the eastern wing of the coronal extensions as reaching out fully 1J diameters of the sun, while the prominences were of a brilliant red colour. The inner corona shone, he states, like liquid silver, while the polar plumes were very pronounced and of a .delicate texture. » Life From Other Worlds.

Attention has been given from time to time to the possibility or otherwise of life being brought to our earth from other spheres in outer space. It will be remembered that the name of Lord Kelvin, of Belfast, was intimately associated with this question. Dr. G. F. Kunz, of the American Museum of Natural History, after a thorough study of 850 meteorites, has reached, the definite conclusion that there is not the least evidence that such bodies contain traces of life, and that there is no sign of life anywhere in the solar system outside our own planet. He would not aver that there is no such life, but only that we have no signs of it.

The suggestion made by Lord Kelvin (formerly Sir William Thomson) towards the close of last century was to the effect that possibly life was brought to the Earth by the falling of a meteor from outer space, a theory not now seriously entertained. In no case was it a satisfying solution of the problem of life upon the planet. Rather would it make that problem greater; since it still leaves open the question how life began on the meteorite, and granting this, why it was not destroyed by the heat generated as the meteor plunged through the atmosphere. ' The true explanation must be looked for along entirely different lines with which science has nothing to do—for the present, at all events. That there is life in other spheres than the Earth is a natural ■ inference, but .exactly how creative activity brings it to pass neither science nor philosophy can explain.

Mars and Jupiter. The two bright stars in our eastern I skies at the present time are Mars and > Jupiter. The former is the less brilliant (object and has a ruddy hue. Jupiter is the more easterly gem and outshines the I brightest of the fixed stars. Mars and [Jupiter are getting further apart, -