The New York herald., 1871-12-30
THE SOLAR ECLIPSE.
The Tract Marked by the SUMS Eclipse-T The
English Expcditionary Observers ut Cey.
lon-Pinn Of Operations-O observations by


The Tract Marked by the SUMS Eclipse--The
English Expeditionary Observers at Cey-
Ion-Pinn Of Operations -Observa ations by
the Observers.
From the London Standard, Dec. 1871
. The total eclipse OF the sun which took place On
Tuesday had Its line OF totality marked across q
tract commencing north OF Zanzibar, passing
northern part Of Australia, and ending IN the North
Pacific Ocean. The sun rose ecitpsed on the east
coast Of Africa AT the chief station Of the British
expeditiOnary observers at CeyOn there will prOba-
bly, be time or tOJaty OF about min. rs sec., the
du uration Of the total phase varying at places aong
The expedition Is under Mr.. J. Norman Lockyer,
with whom IS associated Mr.. r. Abbay, OF Wadham
Sosg acsn M Of s KSsS
OF the College or Chemistry, and four or five
other observers. Professor Respighi Of Rome, &C.
companies IT, and Mr. Jansen will JOIN at the Observ
ing station. 1t lett England on the 26th OF october,
by the Peninsular and oriental Companys steamer
Mirzapore taking out chiefly spectroscopic appara.
tus OF unusual power and perfecIion The principal
instrument to be used in observing viii be svered
glass rejecting telescope nine and nall inches IN
diameter, by Browning, lent lOr the purpose by tile
committee OF the Royal Astronomical Society. The
most novel and important instruments for this
q large framework Of gun metal. which revolves
by means OF rings on the body OF the above
poWer win large eld; the ' other @ very
nigh disperse power produced by several
be brought to bear on the SUMS image, which IS
formed at the side OF the telescope tune. the plan
OF operations will probably be somewhat as fol-
l0ws:-A map OF the solar prominences will be
made by means OF the highly dlspersive spectre
scope previous TO the total pnase. These Observa-
tons will be continued until few minutes previous
70 tOtaty Just before the commencement OF the total
phase the low power dlspersive spectroscope Will be
brought to bear upon the corona, the chief interest
ccntring the results which We hope Will be thus
obtained, the purport OF these observations being
70 determine the physical constitution, Of
c0incIdences the lines In the spectra
will be noted and compared with the lines
nRffA 1lu trtk.au
ing hydrogen gas at various low pressures or
degrees OF attenuation. The spectrum oil the
observed during previous eclipses appears to con-
with a well known line in the spectrum OF iron
THIS green kne has also been observed in the
spectra OF the Aurora, OF the ZOdaCal light and also
IN that OF llehtnigg. Polariscopc observations viii
prove Of much service as such results have hitherto
been always capable OF various interpretations. In
al solar ecllpses which have occurred during the
past twenty years such observations have been
made, but IN no case nave any lndisputable concu-
siOns been arrived at. The government have con-
tributed at the request Of the British Ass0ca
apparatus having had to be conveyed to It's destna
ton by the ordinary means Of transit.
Lord Lindsay, VINO has lent the government ex-
petition numerous valuable Instruments, mas also
sent, at his own expense, an observer to take
photographs OF the eclipse and It IS considered that
these may prove the most interesting OF all the data
obtained In the present researches. There viii
also be an Australian party at the Gulf OF Carpen-
tarla, the promo lon Of whose observations Is due
to Mr.. Russell, the Government Astronomer at
sydney.
may be telegraphed TO this country in the course OF
few days; but 1t Is not likely any important ad.
dltiOns to our present state OF knowledge will be
made until the return OF the observers themselves;
conclusions can be drawn without long and careful
discussions OF the data obtained.