The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-16
THE ECLIPSE OF TIE SUN.
1t VIII Take Place To-day and Pc Pho
rogrspaed by Scientific il xperts.
From the Neto York Tribune.


From the Neto York Tribune.
The total eclipse Of the sun. which is TO
occur on Thursday. will be an event OF
more than ordinary scientific interest. 1t
viii not be the last total eclipse of this
century. others being due in 1894, 1896 ana
1900 But it will be the last for some years
from which material gain Of knowledge
may reasonably be expected. That Of next
year will be visible for brief space on tie
coast Of British East Africa, and that OF
1896 in parts OF japan and Siberia. but only
for about half as long a time as that OF
Thursday. So that after this week there
will probably he no important attempt at
| observations of such a phenomenon until
the closing year Of the century, when there
will be an eclipse visible in this country and
in Spain. The eclipse Of Thursday will be
visible in Brazil aud in Africa, and in both
OF those countries elaborate preparations
have been made, especially by the British
government, for all sorts of telescope, pho
tOgraphic and spectroscOpIo observations:
and these will be greatly facilitated by the
long period Of total obscuration in Brazil !,
amounting to nearly five minutes.
In thus studying the circumsolAr regions,
the object Of chief interest is, OF course, the
corona, and after it the rose-colored flames
called prominences, Are there important
changes from year to year IN the corona?
To what extent does its luminous intensity
varyl Does ii revolve with the sum- And
Of what elements is it composed! These
are some of the questions to which 1t is
hoped to secure more or less definite an
swers. According TO Prof Lockyer, the
cor ona in 1873, at time of solar qliescence,
was only one-tenth as brilliant as
in 1871, at a time Of marked activity.
Again, in 1888. solar disturbances, as
indicated by 'sun spots, were very active,
a . H.. I'LL
in 1878. AT the present time conditions
greatly resemble those Of 1888. Solar ac-
tivity is at an extraordinary hight, and the
south pole Of the sun is on the visible por-
ton of its disc. Tbs presumption is, there
| fore, that the appearance of the corona will
pretty closely resemble that seen In 1888;
and, II such prove to be the case, the belief
will be greatly strengthened that the
| corOnal phenomena differ only according to
| the state Of solar agitation, and according to
the position of the observer in respect to the
| suns equator
The advance of science, especially IN pho
| Biography, also affords added powers OF OBJ
servatiOn of each eclipse. For the first time
| on Thursday photographs will be made
| through a double telescope. OF the two
| pictures simultaneously made, one will be
| small the solar diameter being only FIVE
| eighths of an inch; and in this the extern
| sions of the corona will be indicated. The
! other will have a solar diameter OF IA
inches, and in it the structure of the bright
! est part of the corona should be seen. To
| ascertain the composition of the corona a
| spectroscope mounted with series Of Sits
will be used, which will show the 'lines" in
the corona. An migrating spectroscope
will also be employed, giving a succession
| of images OF the corona corresponding
| to its different elements as indicated by the
! color lines. AS the corona varies greatly in
| intensity, in order to get pictures of all its
| parts, Photographic exposures of varying
! length must be made. These will range
from 2 seconds to 216 minutes in duration.
and for this part of the work the long time
| Of total obscuration affords marked ad-
vantaRes. Astronomers the world over
will therefore hope for cloudless skies in
Africa and South America on Thursday !;
and, if such condition should prevail, we
may reasonably expect to learn some new
| facts Of real interest concerning the center
of our planetary system.