The New York herald., 1874-10-24

quence OF the observer being upon the side OF the
earth turned away from the moon and many Of
them are partial. The last total eclipse visible
here was on March 80, 1866. at which time the
eclipse was nearly central The last return OF the
present eclipse, II it may be called the same was
in October, 1855. AT that time 1t was not quite
total The explanation OF the Chaldean period is
that the moons NODES do not remain
stationary, always crossing the echptic In
the same place, but gradually recede, so that
at the end OF year the moon crosses the ecliptlc
at point nineteen degrees further west. The
nodes complete the circle or the ecliptic 80 as to
return to the same point in little more than
eighteen years and q half. AS this is more than
223 lunations the NODE is a little further east
than it was at the eclipse OF 1885, ana as the
moon barely escaped being totally eclipsed at that
time in consequence OF being too far east OF the
node, and is now little nearer to the node, the
consequence Is that 1t will now be completely I'm
mersed within The shadow, although 1t will pass
as shown by the diagram In the HERALD OF Thurs
day-very near the edge. At the next return OF
the same eclipse, in November, 1892, the moon will
be still nearer the node and the eclipse win be
more nearly central, ana at each return it will
pass nearer to the centre until the time Of full
moon happens exactly at the node. After that
the moon viii pass through the southern part Of
the shadow, nearer and nearer TO It's edge until it
passes without being totally eclipsed; and, finally
the period will come when 1t Will pass without
even grazing the earth's shadow.
HOW THE EARrH WILL LOOK FROM THE xooN
It may be interesting to contemplate the phe-
nomena Of eclipses "a visible at the moon ITSELF
1t Is true that no organic life can exist on the
moon but we have left our "traveiern waiting Tor
considerable time, suspended in space at the
end of the earth's shadow, and probably he has
become, by this time, sufficiently accustomed to
breathing the interplanetary ether, with the
thermometer 45S degrees below zero, to make our
observations for US. we viii first transport him
to the dark side OF the moon, represented In the
diagram to the left Of the earth. Looking towards
the earth which will appear tour times large as
the moon appears to US, he will see small round
black spot passing across 1t, exactly as it would
be seen with the telescope from the
planet Venus, and as we see the shadows OF
the satellites OF Jupiter passing across Its
disk. Remaining in the Same position upon the
moon, as 1t passes around in its orbit the moon
gradually turning so as to keep him on the side
next the earth, he sees the earth gradually ap-
proacn Its third quarter. Then suddenly, in the
midst of blackness far exceeding that OF our mid
night SKY, in which the stars shine with lustre
unknown to us, the sunlight nasnes upon some
mountain top, and day is approaching. Another
ana another mountain top receives It's rays with
the startling suddenness and the light creeps
down the hill sides, until the sun itself becomes
visible, slowly rising in the West. shining with all
its spendor In the midst OF Egyptian darkness,
dazzling the eye that Is exposed to It, but not OBJ
securing the falntest stars, II the eye is shielded
from the suns RAYS. The earth remains still VS.
ible and stationary in the zenith, gradually as
suming the crescent form, as the sun rises to-
wards IL. maN .W
PECULIAR FACTS.
At last on October "a, at about midnight. New
YORK time, the sun reaches Its edge. The crescent
has now narrowed down to mere line. As the
sun advances, passing gradually behind the earth,
four times larger than ITSELF the earth indents the
disk to form closely resembling figure /. The
eclipse progresses until 1t becomes total at the
point oil the moons surface occupied by our hardy
traveller From that time until the eclipse ceases
10 be total AZ taat point ne will see, not the sun
by unreracted rays but an equally bright
narrow ring encircling the entire earth rapidly
fading away at short distance from its sur
lace into the intense blackness OF the surrounding
sky. And the SUMS disk itself will be so gradually
merged into this dazzling ring that It VIII be i'm
possible to determine the instant when the disk
ceases TO be visible or when 1t reappears- II will
resemble an annnlar eclipse OF the sun but win
differ from it in having no sharply defined edge,
in having the ring broken or dimmed by occasional
clouds in the eartns atmosphere, and in les Being
usually brilliant red. As The eclipse passes over,
the sun reappears and as 1t passe Shway towards
the east, reversing the order OF the apparent
ton OF the sun on the EARTH the ring around the
earth will gradually give place to the crescent
formed by the SUMS renected rays.
HENRY N. PARKHURST.
p Won nrf