The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-26
IN TIE SHADOW OF THE MOON,
The Annular Eoiipso OF tho Sun.

Owing TO the fact that annular eclipsas
OF the sun are Of frequent occurrence and
that their coming 10 invested with little
or no information to the modern astrono.
mer, comparatively little attention Ia
paid 70 this now well explained pheuom.
enon.
An eclipse Of the sun ia caused by the
moon passing between the earth and the
aun on, or nearly on. the Same plane
with theas bodies. The moon being
between the earth and the aun hides the
latter, Ia whole or iu part. from portion
OF the earth. It does not hide the sun
from all parts Of the earth, because the
moon il very near an compared with the
sun. a+ we'll an very email, and little
away from the direct line, 10 seen either
above or below the sun. II you put two
discs OF cardboard several feet apart 10
such relation that one bidea the other,
aud then step upon chair, you immedi.
ateiy zee over the nearer diac whole or
pErt of that which is more remote.
80. while o total eclipse of the sun Ia in
progrssS, the spectator, in q higher ny
lower latitude, looks over or under the
moon aud sees the aun In whole or In
part. As everybody knows, suaall
object near the eye may hide o large
object Ghich iS at distance. A nickel
seven feet from the eye will hide the auu.
10 the same way the little moon, 240, 900
miles away. occupies the same anc!s and
hides the sun. When the ceE:ers Of tho
sun and moon and any part of the earth
are In the aane line, and the discs OF the
"un aud monn are centrical, or nearly so,
there IN commonly total eclipso.
Sometimes, however, tho moon passes up
or down across the earth's path little
10 the right or left of the sums centre.
and then its disc covers only part of
the suns disc, and wo have psrtjal
eclipse. Besides, the relative distsncea
of the sun and the moon are not alwnys
precisely the eame.
Both the moon rud the earth, moving
in elliptical orbits, each 10 soueti,ra5
nearest TO the earth. It happens, there.
tore, that In one eclipse tho disc Of tho
moon ia little larger than that of the
run, while in another the eun'e disc Ia
little larger than that Of the moon. In
tho latter case rim ar ring of the Roiar
disc will be seen girdling the moon, and
the eclipse which otherwise would have
neen total over o certain, geographical
area. ID an annular eclipse, 40 called from
the Latin word annuius, which means O
ring. '.
The path of the annulus lay on yeBter.
day ab"ut two thousands miles due West
"f San Francisco. and ended In the Arc.
tic Ocean, just East of Greenland, and
although the eclipse was visible all over
the United States, it was only seen as al,
nnhuiar eclipse within the belt between
Cape Meud0cino, CAL, and Greenland.
The weather yesterday in Cbarleston
was favorable for viewing the eclipse.
AZ first the sky in the neighborhood OF
the sun was tolerubly free from clouds,
but during the latter part of the eclipse
the face of the sun became overcast with
light, haZy clouds, which prevented the
perceptions uf any diminulion of light
"hich might have been caused by tho
eclipse. Precisely ut three minutes Of
IL o'clock by standard time the black
cireie OF the m'un was seen gradually
creeping upon the SUMS edge, several
degrees Westward Of its Northern point.
and slowly increased In size-slowly ct
east to the observers here--but in reality
some thirty five or forty times faster than
the fastest express train on our raiIroads
aver run. Sume idea of the terrific rate
of epeed at which the shadow of tho
moon was travelling may be gained from
the fact that it has been calculated that
It lightning express train, moving at
full speed. had one hours start Of it, tho
shadow would have 0verieksn it In about
TWO minutes. Al about fifteen mipntes
after O'Clock yesterday rha shadow
renched It's maximum size, at which
time, aa>v!ewed from Charleston, little
nver o quarter of the sums. surface was
"bscured ami that fiery orb resembled
'arge crescent, the points Of which were
turned upwards to the north. About
twenty five minutes after 2 O'Clock the
eclipse ended, tue last point Of contact
''sihg 10 nearly the same position on the
,dgo of the sums aurfacs "a tie fret
Isiint of contact. THIS Ia fact which
probably struck the unscieDtilic 40 being
very peculiar, most Of them thinking
that the shadov of the moon would
commence to obscure the surface of the
Gun at one side, pass completely across
its surface and leave Il at u point oppo.
.ite 60 that point at which IL entered.
ibis etriking phenomenon was cause i by
the transportation Of the heavens with
regard to uhe earth. It is self evident
fact that that portian Of the suns surface
which 10 first sisible at its rising Is the
dnt TO disappear at the setting OF ; in
nlheF vnrds. the opposite extremity Of
the sumo surface 10 the last TO be seen.
The eclipse commenced before IL o'clock,
sud at the midday hour the aun crossed
the meridian Of the earth, and although
It appeared as IL the same portion of the
anrface OF the son was turned towards
the earth 40 before II o'clock, it was 10
reality the opposite portion. ]. !
In truth 1t might be said that man
cnuld desire t. behold no moro wonder.
fnl or ins' ructive spectacle than the hid
iGg OF one world in the shadow Of
another through the operation of laws 90.
ample that child can understand them,
but which in sE:b case are displayed
upon scale If grandeur that ,msn can
only grasp BY the exercise Of the highest
faculties. .-1te,rs and Cburier. Z,
Tho transferable Caravan. 3.