Daily Kennebec journal., 1891-11-16

IL vouIda't req aire . voyage around The
world % convince aDyone sho aas The cir
eslas shadow which the eaFth cast upon Il Q
noon last evening, that this esrth il round
Rouod bodies throw round shsdoss AID
that which crsps over the surface Of the
faif mooa las. evening was - circular -
the old moon herself. The days Of bringing
out the 'scm tens" and beating them in
superstiiicas fear to eriys the shsiovs Of
the evil spirits Cd the mooa sre past, bot
none the less interest 10 taken in lunar
sciipse, which occurs once in Is yss,s and
ii days. AmoEg otasrs Who we're espe-
clsliy attracted to this eclipse we're the
Thousands of sustsuf photographers ir this
eountfy. Who fell dssirous Of seitisg fns
negative Of ths vordssfnl phsnomeron.
Il 10 safe to cay that. outside those Who
take > scientific interest ins This eclipse,
there we're . greater Lumber s.issct<d to
the paenomenen last evening than ever be-
fore in New England, IL rot ia the whols
world.
Toe eclipse vas on time, though quite .
number forgot that the almanac doh's give
standard lime for thsse sppesrances, bat
the solar time. According then to local
time the moon entered the penumbrs, or
partial shadow, As three minutes Of five
In the afternoon and passed entirely
out st ~ minutes s.s .e2 i, the evening.
The SUP, earth sud moon we're ia difsc. line
att 70 ? NJ, the moon then being in the
middle Of the eclipse. Of course the earth
vas between the s1n and the moon, and s.
the earth is much larger than the moon tie
SHADOW ih 1t vas cast upon the latter CON-
plstely covered ii. The time Of the eclipse
10 prolonged more than the time necessary
for the NOON to pass through the shadov
for the latter 10 moving 10 the same direc
lion as the moor, though the latter moves
much the faster 20 as 70 psss completely
through the eclipse proper ia 81 minutes
The eclipse vas visible over half Il e
earth, tu. the people Of New England wei e
sspe clslly favored both by position And ty
the clesrness Of the sky, which vas cloud
less. A. 10 time was the moon Invisible,
though this has been true in soma instances
ss in 1912, l76l snd 1916. The appssrAece
OF the moon during an eclipse depends
much on the atmospheric conditions su--
rout ding the earth. These conditions vary
so thst il Is impossible to predic. with GER
tsinty the appearance the lunar orb vii
present A handsome spectacle was
Afforded last evening, just when the moo
was almos; entirely in total eclipse the
: fec; vas especially pleasing TO the nakel
eye. Il seemed as IL the varied tints OF
the rainbow were merged into a red that
reminded ore Of molten iroa.
Q1ite large rumber Of people visited |
during The evening Tue uoseryatory Of Mr.. |
Melville Smith, VINO is the possesser Of an
excellent rtflectiag telescope Of great pow
er. and were more than repaid for goiDg. |
rhe sight there afforded will not soon be
forgotten by those who hsd toe pleasure of |
Witnessing it through Mr.. Smiths glass.
Pfof. Cspen was there ard got several foe
negatives Of the eclipse at different stages.
To those seeing the eclipse v i.hout the aid
Of = glass there Was distinctly presented |
the appearance of the new moon ~ tie
shadow Of .hs earth had nearly covered the |
moon and on leaving il the appearance OF
the old moon fesesnr.