TODAY’S ECLIPSE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 295, 14 December 1936, Page 6

TODAY’S ECLIPSE

annular in north PARTIAL PHASE IN WANGANUI INTERESTING OCCURRENCE 'liiough me eclipse of the sun tlii» n.jiiimg will not oe a total ecl.p.e, it will, because of its particular jeatui )•, be even more interest.ng Inan a tornplcte black-out. As Lie moon is at me present time at. almost maximum uistance iroi.i Lie cairn her apparent diameter is a lutie less' tnan that ol tne sun. lienee, although the moon will i,e exactly oetween lhe earth and the sun this morning, the latter will not uo wholly obscured. Tne moon, wneu centred on the sun's disc, will leave a narrow ring or annulus v.s.b.e round the outside edge ot the sun, ihe eclipse, therefore, will be an annular one, not a total one, but tne phenomenon will be seen as an annular eclipse only from a favoured oell stretemng across the northe: i pail ol tne north Island. The rest ol New Zealand, inc.uding Wanganui, will be treated to the spectacle of a partial eclipse, how nuic.t ol lhe sun uetng obucuied varying sligntiy according to locality. As seen from v.anganut i. will be a very interesting partial eci.psc, »ince very nearly nine-.earns 01 me suns disc will be onliterateu by toe moon. This will be sufficient t> cause a very percop.idle uinnnui on of daylight, so that, even n me eclipse pnenomenon is irvisiuie o.vm, to CIOUCI, its enecl will oe very nolle. - able. as far as Wai.ganui is eanceL.e.l the moon is due to niasc us nisi contact. wim the sun al b.aJ a.m. (bummer lime), inis coiitae., n tile sun is regarded as a clock race, takes place wlicre me ngure mice would oe. Gradually the moon wnl cover more amt more 01 the suns lace until al llt.bO a.m., the time or inc maximum phase ol tne pai.ial ecupse, only a relatively sman corner of the sun will be visiote. oust as slowly will the moon then begin to leave the sun, tne last contact, exactly opposite to the initial one, occut.mg at 12.38 p.m. 'Ulus a whole mornings entertainment will be provicl.’d tree ot charge tor all who care to watch. Althougn it can be guaranteed mat the eclipse will take place, no guarantee can be given about the weather. It may not. oe possible to predict with any certainly what to-day's weather will be, but the recent line spell gives groun t for hope that a more settled type of summer weather has come to stay’ and that the sun will be shining th.s morning. The point cannot be too strongly emphasised that it is but courting disaster to the eyesight to attempt to observe the sun without adequately protecting the eyes with smoked or deeply-tinted photographic films or plates. Mr W. H. Ward will be on duty in the Wanganui Observatory this morning and will study the eclipse, his main duty being to record the exact time of contact. This will be checked with a chronometer, and although the time has already been predicted, it is necessary from an astronomical point of view to be very accurate.