The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-05-02

Yesterday was wet and cloudy up to Late in the after
noon but the evening proved clear and comparatively
coudess Tie utmost anxiety was manifested to see
the eclipse and from every window commanding view
of the heavens might bs groups Of eager facss
the lookout for the phenomenon about to come OF TAe
moon rose in the east quite early in the evening her
color like unto FURNISHED copper, but as the evening
wore on becoming bright untl the time
9h. 20 M when the southwesterly limb gave eyidenc
OF q slight diminuton Of light Once commenced tn
obscuraton visbly spread the whole disc. While
this was going the was most beautiful and was
egarded with intense interest throughout the city The
time Of the total rendered Somewhat un
certan BY Light feey clouds which passed and passed
over the disc Of the moon alternately obscurng and 70
vealing it. but enough justify the prediction
of the astronomers that the total eclipse would begin at
10 b. % m.
During the middle Of the eclipse the moon presented
the usual dull coppsry appearance and could bs com
Tared to nothing better than ball Of newly melted
metal before it arrives at white heat. In the tae.
ments published in Of the papers to the appear
ance of the moon during the continuance of total
eclipse, 1t was stated that the disc rayless at
the time ascribing the the refraction OF
the SUMS rays to partially luminous condition Of
the itself. In either there must have been an
emission Of rays, and consequently the original state.
ment was erroneous. At IL M. part of the luminous
disc on the southern limb visible aud at FIVE mi
nutes past this morning. the fanes evidence of the
penumora had passed away, and the moon rode out
ooscured by earth or cloud. The next total lunar
eclipse visibe in this country win be October Oath of
this year Perhaps statement here OF the cause Of
eclipses may be interesting.
An eclipse Of the moon only happen when, in the
course OF its monthly revolution, 1t within the
moon comes between II and the earth thus obscuriny
from view either the whole part Of the solar disc
the orbit Of the moon in the plane with that
the eafth or II consded with the eclpc eclipse Of
the sun woulk take place at every conjunction wnen
the earth and sun In the part Of the heaven)
or new moon and eclipse Of the at every oppo.
stion (when 1s0 degrees distant from the SUM- or full
moon for as the sun and earth both lie in the
the same plane being directly opposite to the sum- and
the In her monthly revolution would conseq uenty
fail into ts shsdow But this sprevented by the fact
that the orbit OF the is inclined to the ecptic at
shadow, which is always the eclptc. The ecliptc
limits Of the sun are II oegress and hence is otener
eclipsed than the moon; yet from the fact that
the obscuration of the moon is more uni.
veIsai phenomenon than that of the sun, 1t is
vast size Of the sun compared with the moon, the
former being $50 miles in diameter while the latter
only 100 miles thus the passage Of the moon over the
clear sky and the eclipse is consequently total only
certain portions of the earths surface while the lunar
phere on the side furthest from the sun.
the sun were Of the same size as the earth, the
finite in length since the tangents drawn from the sun
forming the boundaries Of the shadow would be parele
to each other but account of the vast of the
the tangents converge and meet in point at some
distance behind the earth forming cone Of which the
earth is tie base and whose vertex is in the eclptc
In the greatest number of ecpses that occur in
year is seven there less than two; the most
usual number four; and it is very have
than six
In the course of the SUMS annual revolution it is sue.
cessivey in every part of the eclpc, and
the conjunctons and oppositions Of the and moon
when in the same degree $50 degrees apart may
either when the is in the moons node in the
eclptic, when mir ETY. six degrees from the moons
NODE, when the lunar and solar orbits at the
grestest distance from each other 1t at
any intermediate point