New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-06-22
THE SOLAR ECLIPSE.
ACCOUNT OF THE CAROLINE ISLAND OBJ
SERVATIONS.

r.cToRY-RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION.
o,,, CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUNT.l
pS.y Fp .NCIsco, June 1.-THE expedition sehI
hv the National Academy of Sciences to observe
ths solar eclipse of May G arrived here To-day
bripgng intelligence of success III their WORK. ine
nartv was conveyed from Calao, Peru IN the Oni'eu
States steamer Hartford leaving that port on Maron
%. They numbered eight, including TWO oOSer'0''
sent by the Royal Society OF England, VINO co-op'i
ated with the American observers. Inc 'oy"So
from Callao made almost wholly unuer S'i
and was without special incident sinoo'n So So
steady wind and fair weather prevailing with
.ooros,v onv exception. The admira's quarters
were assigned the party, who are indebted 10 the
oe8csrs of the Hartford for innumerabe courtesies
and attentions both on the voyage ana IN cohne0'
t;on with the scientific work of the expedltion.
Corol;ra Island was reached on April ~, ana
,,rovad IN no a chain of small coral ISLANDS encH'
cling lagoon. These islands are not barren OUT
nroduoe an excellent growth OF vegetation, ihciuu-
ing a large number of cocoanut and other trees a
anal denosit of puano is found, and together with
cocoanuts Is made an article of export by the firm
of HouIder Brothers, of London who lease tins ana
other Pacific islands from the English Government,
At the time of the visit of the Astronomical
expedition, seven persons were Nihg
on the island; four men, one OF
"
aren These had been brought from Tahiti two
,,ontbs hefors bv the agent of Houlder Brothers
70 take care of the young cocoanut trees and the
rronerty left on the island. The latter included
sxeraI substantial frame houses and quantity of
TOOLS stores, ETC. The houses furnished acceptable
accommodations to the visitors who thus found un-
expected luxuries in their camp life.
PREPARATIONS FOR WORK.
The unloading of the cases forming the outfit of
The party was attended with some difficulty, as
everything was necessarily brought from the ship
IN small boats which grounded on the coral rock
several hundred feet from the shore From this
point the boxes were carried 10 the shore, which
was composed of rough blackened coral rock, ana
thence to the site selected Tor the observations,
total distance of 2, 200 feet When the unloading
was finished tue Hartford, which, on account OF the
impossblty of anchorlng, had been Obliged to lie
off shore, went to TAHITI and returned after the
eclipse A party of French astronomers arrived ON
IEcalreur, on April % and also found accommO-
dations on the island They were NJ. Jansen, the
distinguished physicist whose observations in
former eclipses are well known; NJ. Tacchini. the
spectroscopist of the college at Rome; NJ Palisa.
the discovcrer of many asteroids; and h Irou-
yelot formerly of Cambridge Mass. who is espe-
cially known for his skilfu astronomical drawings
They were accompanied by NJ. Pasteur the photog
rapher of the observatory at Meudon.
The American party was increased to twelve by
the addition of four officers from the Hartford,
Messrs. Qualtrough, Dixon, Fletcher and Doyle,
who were assisted by ten members of the crew.
The two weeks preceding the date of the eclipse
were spent in mounting the instruments and in
other preparations in making observations for time
and latitude, aud noting the meteorological cond-
tons of the island Messrs. Preston and Brown also
carried out the instructions of the United States
Coast Survey by making pendulum observations to
determine the force of gravity at this island The
weather during this fortnight was in general pleas
ant but characterized by flying cumulus clouds
with occasional showers. There was one rainy day,
the rainfall amounting in eight hours TO nearly five
inches while the total rainfall during the stay on
the island was eight inches The wind was uni
formfy from the north east. but never from
point south OF east, though the island is in the
gion of the southeast trades.
OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS.
On the morning of the eclipse the weather condi-
tions were very unfavorabe; the sky was overcast,
and the clouds threatened rain After two showers
the sky cleared about half hour before the time of
first contact and remained nearly clear till after the
eclipse. There was at all times however, haze in the
atmosphere and passing clouds frequently concealed
the SUM- In the first minute of totality thin cloud
partially obscured the corona for about 20 seconds;
with this exception which did not interfere with
the observations the period of totality minutes.
% seconds was favorable for the observers though
the total phase had scarcely passed when heavy
cloud covered the sun. All four contacts were OBJ
served and during the total phase the observations
were made in almost strict accordance with the
plan already made known to tue readers Of THE
TRIBUNE. The results of the observations, so far
as they can be gwen in advance of the detailed
reports of the observers. were as follows:
No intra-Mercurial planets were discovered the
search being conducted by Professor Holden, Of the
American party; by NJ Palisa. of the French
party. and, during a portion of totally, by NJ
Trouvelot also. In addition photographs were
obtained by the Frenchmen of the sky in the vicn-
ity of the eclipsed SUM- The spectroscope observa-
tons give interesting results. especially those of
Dr. Hastings, who used 500 prism attached to
6la-nch equatorial. The special feature of the
apparatus however, was two total rejecting prisms
placed in front of the slit, by which the spectrum
from two opposite sides of the limb could be
brought into juxtapostion and examined smulta-
peously This was used 10 observe the appearance
of the 1,474 coronal line on the eastern and
western limbs of the sun and to note
the changes as the eclipse progressed. At the
beginning of totally the 1.474 line on the east
ern limb was bright. aud extended about IL from
the SUMS edge while on the western limb it was
faint and only about A. in length. AS the eclipse
advanced this inequality vanished; the lines be-
came seusby equal in height and brightnessat mid
eclipse while at the close OF totally the conditions
at the beginning reversed the line on the west
srn limb being the longer and brighter. DIR. Hast
ings regards this observation as conclusive proof
that the outer corona is mainly phenomenon OF
diffraction, since this change was many times
greater than any due TO the moons motion alone.
Other spectroscopic observations were made by
Messrs. Rockwell, Upton and Brown The bright
hydrogen and magnesium lines were seen, and DR..
Hastings noted the dark ID lines. The relative
heights and brightness of the coronal rings Z, ID,
and 1.474, were estimated. Mr. Preston noted
II. osfn