The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-09-02
ECLIPSE LAST NIGHT.
The Moons Bright Face Was Partially
0bscured.
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ISoS> ~ ~ oSe@o e'A'tsss
eclipse of the moon a few minutes af-
ter midnight. While the eclipse was
not total one, the moon was little
more than half obscured, and being
high in the heavens at the time, the
phenomenon could be observed with
great satisfaction as the skies were
clear.
The first contact occurred on the
Eatern limb Of the moon, 101 degrees
from its North point, and the last con-
tact ON the Western limb, 153 degrees
from its North point. The magnitude
of the eclipse was 0.735, the moons
diameter being 1.
A lunar eclipse is caused by the
passage of the moon through the
earths shadow. The moon is a dark
non-luminous body, and shines by the
reflected light Of the sun, and its jour
ney around the sun it sometimes plum
ges in the dark shadow of the earth,
thus becoming totally or partially OBJ
scured from view.
If an orange or o ball is held up in
the sunshine long, tapering shadow
will extend out into space, but it will
be invisible unless it falls upon some
illuminated body. In like manner
the earth casts a long shadow out into
space opposite the sun, and to dis
tance about three times that of the
moon from it. The diameter of this
tapering shadow at the moons distance
is about three times the diameter Of
the moon, so that if the moons course
lies centrally through this shadow it
becomes entirely obscured, or totally
eclipsed. But on account of the incli-
nation of the moons orbit to the eclip-
tic, the moon sometimes, as in the case
last night, passes only through the
edge Of the shadow, producing par
tial eclipse.
An eclipse of the moon always hap
pens at full moon, and at no other time,
while an eclipse Of the sun always oc-
ours ut new moon.
Before the real causes of eclipses
were understood these phenomena
were regarded with much superstitious
dread, and theirrecurrence is strange.
ly interviewer in the history of the
worlds religions. Columbus once
took advantage of an eclipse to fright
en- the ignorant Indians into supplying
him with food. More than 1000
years before Christ the Chinese royal
astronomers were required to predict
the eclipses for their national religious
festivals, and on one occasion Hi and
Ho, two of these astronomers, were put
to death because they failed to pre-
dict an eclipse of the sun. Many of
the church festivals Of to-day, such as
Easter, Good Friday, ETC., are regula-
ted by the moon, and the astronomer
now, as in ancient times, must calcu-
late all these dates for The various
churches.
The moon is 2,16O miles in dame
ter, and its average distance from the
earth is about 100000 miles. As it
rotates upon its axis once for every
revolution around the earth, it keeps
the same side always toward US, so
that we never see but one side of the
moon. The surface of the moon is
extremely rough and mountainous,
with abundant evidences of former
volcanic activity. Huge craters and
mountain ranges abound on every
hand, and some of the peaks rise to
an elevation of more than FIVE miles.
An opera glass will reveal much upon
the moon which cannot be seen by the
naked eye. The bright portions are
elevations, while the dark areas are
supposed to be the bottoms of dried
up seas and lakes. One of these dark
spots on the Northwestern side of the
moon, and known as Mare Crisium, is
almost exactly the same size as the
State of Georgia. 1t appears rather
small, but it will serve as a compare
tive guide in estimating areas Oh the
moons surface. The moon has no
water, air or clouds, and hence no an-
imal or vegetable life, and no fire Or
sound. 1t is believed that the moon
once possessed all these, but as it grad
ually cooled off the water and atmos-
phere were gradually. absorbed into
its porous mass, leaving it as It is, q
fossil world and fit prototype of our
own, for so far as science reveals this
same process of radiation and absorp-
ton going on in our earth, and time
will come when this old earth, like the
moon, will become a cosmic wreck,
without life, air, water or fire.
According to the nebular theory,
the moon is composed of the same ma
terials as the earth-indeed, its mat
ter was once mingled with that of the
earth. For two weeks at time the
sun shines down upon one eide of the
moon with unmitigated fury, then for
two weeks more night Of black dark
ness and intense cold prevails. Thus
the moon is subject to great extremes
of heat and cold.
There is very widespread belief
that The moon in some mysterious way
affects the weather, and exerts some
unaccountable control upon the pro-
cesses of animal and vegetable life.
Many impartial scientific invcstiga-
tions of these matters have been made
by observations covering many years,
and the conclusions do not justify the
belief.
People are fond of traditions, and
are loath to give them up. Coinci-
dents are noticed and discordances
are overlooked, and the conclusions
drawn from the data are bound to be
erroneous. Let anyone make honest,
impartial observations on the moon
and the weather for many years, per-
hitting no pet theory to influence his
records or conclusions, and he will
find that his theory Of the moon and
the weather will be demolished.
The dark shadow of the earth upon
the moon last night was by its curved
shape proof of the earth's rotundity,
and though it seemed to encroach