The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-06-13
ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

, c.l ECldRSk sOf1fAE .SpN.l s-r--f =
A solar eclipse IS caused " the moon
running between the earth. and the sun.
The moon being an OPAQUE body, spher
roidal in shapes and generally lofo the
same apparent size of the sun, when it's
translatory motion around the earth
carries it into line between the earth
and the sun, it naturally, shuts off the
sunbeams from the earth, The solar
eclipse always takes place at new moon
The moon is then in CONJUNCTION, or al
most in a line with the earth and sun
and between the earth and sun. If the
path of the moon were exaetfy on the,
ecliptic or apparent, path sof the sun,
there would be a solar eclipse at every,
new moon. But the path Of the moon
is inclined to the SUMS path OF the
ecliptic, by an angle.g The plane of the
moon 8 path being thus Inclined to the
plane of the ecliptic by this small angle,
it necessarily crosses the; plane of the
ecliptic at two points. BALI Of this
plane is above and the other half below
the plane of the ecliptic. I. The moon
makes a revolution of It's orbit in twenty
nine and a half days, which is the
length of lunat1on. The moon is half
of lunation above the plane of the
ecliptic, and the other half below it.
The two points where the plane of, the
moon's path intersects the ecliptic are
called the moons nodes. T afs Eeag 20
Where it crosses to go above the
ecliptic is called the ascending node,
and where it crosses to go below the
ecliptic is called the descending node
1.-the moons path were less inclined to
the ecliptic there would be more eclipses
in any given number of years than now
take place. If the moon's path were
more inclined to the ecliptic than it now
is there would be fewer eclipses. no5ifTrs
The time of the year in which eelipses
happen depends on the position Of the
moons nodes -on the Iecliptic, and If
that position were always the same the
eclipses would always happen in the
same months of the year Owing to
the effect of the earth's bulge At the
equator upon the moon, the moons
nodes move backward at the rate of
nineteen degrees and nineteen minutes
per year, and il takes the, sun twenty
days to travel that distance, so that the
eclipses must take place twenty days
earlier each year, or at, intervals OF
about three hundred and forty-six days.
In period of two hundred and twenty
three lunations the nodes return to the
same place. This period of two hundred
and twenty-three lunations requires
6,5S5.32 days or eighteen years and
eleven days Therefore, after lapse
of eighteen years and Ireleven days
from any eclipse we shall return to a
similar eclipse, and it will be an eclipse
of about the same magnitudeas as the one
from which we reckon. This period
was discovered by the Ghaldaean as.
tronomers three thousand years ago, and
they were enabled to calculate to with.
in less than one day OF the time of the
true time of an eclipse. The modern
astronomer, by a. more complicated
method, can tell the exact second when
an eclipse must begin. sdt u 4
The MOON is a much smaller BODY
than the sun, but owing to the suns
greater distance from us the appareni
size of the moon is generally equal tc
the suns apparent siseA The path
of the earth i'm Lifts translatory
motion around 1.-the 70 sun is an
ellipse. The sun is located at one
of the foci of this ellipse. At the winter
solstice the sun is much nearer to us
than at the summer solstice. This
variety of distance increases or dimin
fishes the apparent size of the sun, SC
that sometimes il is greater sometime.
less and sometimes equal to the moons
apparent size. y ,@-',s'i.- er-si .
- When the apparent size of the moor
is greater than the apparent size of the
sun, the moon cuts off the sunlight
completely from a portion of the eartl
and renders that portion Of the earth a.
dark as, midnight But why a iportior
and notthe1whole illuminated half oi
the earthP The moon isia imheh smaller
body than, the earth, the moon diam
eterr being only . quarter of the earth 8
so that at sits best. the shadowoof lth,
moon could cover only, the 7one-thir
ITteenth part of the zearth's face. Be
sides, the ,shadowESof the moon 4
| shaped like cone. The yolum,
of the sun is fourteen hundred thou
| sand times the volume of the earth
and the voiun1e- of the moon is only
the one-forty- ninth Of the earth $ vol
urne, Two lines drawn tangent to the
two spheroids Of the sun and moon a
their poles and produced until they NEE
behind the moon, will form the cone o
shade cast by, the moon in the earth
direction. Such is fhe distance of tn,
moon from the earth, that sometimes th'
| apex of this cone of Shade Just reaches
/ ll1C anu cOtuctlt1co IL uOCS nOI
When the apex of shade reaches th,
earth and laps little over, as it rarel,
does, atEthat place on the earth's sur
| face there VIII be "a total eclipse. .Whel
the shadow does not reach the cart
there is only a parsial eclipse. At mos
the space, covered by a. total eclipse i
very small. The limits circle Of fift,
miles. But this black circle runs alony
after the moon, and In that way dark
ems a longe narrow strip of the earth
surfaces The 7durSfion OF an eclipse j
variable. We must distinguish, howev
| 'er. between its duration ms regards tn
whole earth and ther,one, given place
The greatest possible duration of a
| eclipse at the equator is four hours
twenty-nine minutes and forty-four sec
ondsqa The greatest possible duratio
of total obscntity at one given place o
the equator is seven minutes and fifty
eight seconds. ivr r-sr sai5r-,-f .rg47sC1--l
- Total solar eclipses are indeed very rar
for the earth in general and much NOR
so fer any particular 1plaee. From tn
/ sixteenth t0the nineteenth century ther
/ wereT:only nine total solar eclipse:
1 There viii bea totafeclipse of the sur
visible in the United States, on the st
of May in the year 1900. -. -; -1.i1sn ~ -
When the apparent size of the sun is
excess Of that Of the neon. a cirenla
q"