The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-04-16
ECLIPSE OF THE sun TODAY.

There viii b total eclipse OF the sun today.
The shadow which, like . long black tail. sx-
tends nearly 81. 600 miles behind the moon. will
brush its tip across the face Of mother earth.
first touching the Pacific ocean on the coast OF
Chile. travsrsipg the whole width OF South
America, crossing the Atlantic, and finally leav'
ing the globe In the middle Of the Ozark Cont
mont" Wherever il touches there viii b
circle OF darkness varying In width from eighty
to 10 miles, and IL will move with speed ex'
ceeding that of q cannon bali, occupying from
three minutes to four and three-Quartsrs in pass
ing over any spot which 10 upon the center OF
tn track. The fortunate observer so situated
will, II the weather 10 6ne, witness the wonders
OF total eclipse
The moon win appear to nrst strike the west
ern edge OF the sun, and little by little will en-
croach upon IL until the whole of the blazing
disc IL covered. Then. white the shadow 10
passing, the scarlet chromoscope. the so-calied
''prominences," and above all the mysterious
corona, the most beautiful Of all celestial OBJ
jects, will become visible for q few brief mo-
meuta. until the sunlight again breaks forth.
On such occasions the exact moments when
the moons edge first touches and finally leaves
the sun. and when ''totality" begins and ends,
are carefully noted, since such observations.
made at known stations, are of great value In
determining the moons plare and motion. But
at present still greater interest attaches to the
castro physical" observations which are posi-
BILE only during the few seconds of total OBJ
scuratiOn-0bse rvations with spectroscopes,
photometers, pclariscopes. ana especially with
Photographic apparatus OF various kinds.
With the spectroscope the observers will try TO
study the peculiar phenomena which accom-
pany the beginning and close of totality, when
for an instant the familiar dark-lined spectrum
OF the sun is transformed, and II filed with
lines that are bright instead OF dark: lines
which, thoroughly observed and identified,
would yield q most instructive record of the
constitution OF the solar surface, and settle in
stantly q long docket of disputed questions.
But the visual observations are necessarily
hurried and dificuit and afford great scope for
personal bias: IL the Photographic plate can Be
made to register the 6eeting sacts,-and the at
tempt will be made on this occasion with better
prospects Of success than ever before-then the
record, il less complete than that given by ocu-
lar observations, will be more certain and trust
worthy. Hitherto. 1t 10 true, photography has
not been very successful In dealing with this
phenomenon, but since the last attempt the in
struments and plates which are to Be used have
been greatly improved.
During the three or four minutes between the
critical instanss at tho beginning and ending OF
the totality. the spectroscopists will be busy
with the prominences and corona, seeking to
utilize the advantageous circumstances to OBJ
tain some new information as to their ccnstitu-
ton and physical condition; and in this mere
deliberate work there 10 no question that pho
Biography will be most successfully employed.
There are a number Of problems connected
with the absolute and relative brightness Of dif-
ferent parts OF the corona and polarization OF its
light, and these will occupy the photometers
and polariscopea.
But the most prominent part BY far In the OBJ
servations Of the eclipse will be taken BY pho
Biography. Al already intimated. many Of the
spectroscopes will work geographically: but
besides this there will be . multitude OF cam
eras Of various construction designed to obtain
figures OF the corona and promlnences: some of
them are planned for the detailed study OF de-
tails on large scale, others to secure pictures
OF the whole extent of the corona with
its faintest outlying streamers Some
Of them use rejecting telescopes, some
refracting telescopes OF the ordinary
construction. and some are large cameras with
specially constructed combinations OF lenseA
Some OF them employ plates sensitive only to
the invisible ultraviolet rays which are pscu-
liarly abundant In the light OF the corona, while
others will use iso-chromatio plates, giving Q
picture more nearly resembling what 10 seen BY
the human eye At present the study Of the
corona constitutes distinctly the main object OF
eclipse observations. because thu phenomenon.
In itself, 10 80 beautiful aud wonderful, IL so
imperfectly understood, and because. while all
other solar phenomena are 1t all times more or
less accessible to modern methods Of observa-
ton. this alone can be observed only while the
sun IN hidden BY the moon.
A large number Of parties viii observe the
eclipse at various points In south America and
Africa There IL NO government expedition
from the United States, but two small parties
went from this country to Chile. One OF them
10 under the charge OF Prot. Schaebsrle, Of the
Lick observatory, and has outfit almost
wholly Photographic, devoted entirely to the