Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-12-16
SUNS ECLIPSE IN JANUARY
Will be Seen in India Along a
Strip 80 Miles Wide.
PREPARATIONS FOR OBSERVANCE
Interesting Results Expected
by Astronomers.


spring That the Eye OF Man Can Behold
VIII Continne for Two Minutes.
Florida Times-Union.
India will be the hub Of the scientific
wheel on January %, 1893. On the al
manucs for the coming year TINT date
should he marked with a red sign, for,
during the space of one hundred and
twenty seconds, the suns light will be ex-
tinguished. and possibly many scientific
secrets revealed to the army Of wise men
whose telescopes will he turned sunward
to witness the wonderful eclipse. Among
the most important of the numerous eNpe-
ditlons that are starting from all parts of
the world to view the eclipse are those
that have left San Francisco under the
leadership of Charles BurclShalter, II. Il.
A. s., and Professor Campbell of the Lick
Observatory. Professor Burckhalter
takes with him number of ceverly con
structed instruments specially devised for
photographing all parts Of the solar CO.
roma simultaneously during total
eclipse of the sun. Ii is TO be hoped that
this time nature will be kinder than she
was when Professor Bnrckhalter cndeav-
ored to use these same ingenious instru-
ments in Japan during the last eclipse.
and was foied by the sky being covered
with an impenetrable pail at the critical
moment.
Provided another unlooked-for veil is
not drawn over the scene on January =,
tho scientists gathered in India will have
ample time to view the eclipse. lis durn-
ton will bc two minutes. and the exact
time Of the occurrence ] y. IN. More
over, there will he wide range OF coun-
try from which to select ones post OF oh
servation. The eclipse will be total
along a tract of land some eighty miles in
width. and will pass right across India III
a northeast direction from Bombay 10 e.
Dariceling. or. to he more exact, will
start from the west coast a little below
Bombay aud enter the Himalayas little
west of Darjeeling. This zone of totality
is crossed by the Indian railway system
at eight different places.
To view this eclipse the Indian Govern
ment and several astronomical societies
have arranged to occupy all convenient
spots along the whole line of totality,
wherever the railway system intersects
this line. They will witness a sight that
few men have been privileged to see. A
total eclipse of the sun is one of the most
stupendous, most sublime and most awe
inspiring spcctacles that the eye OF man
can behold; and nature, as II to impress
upon lis the grandeur of her beauty. lifts
the veil from before the borderland and
permits us glimpse of the unknown
realms of creation but seldom and for
transitory moments. A total eclipse oc-
ours in any given spot of the earth only
ut long intervals, and even then thou
sand and one casualties may rob the spec
tators of the longed-for spectacle. As the
dark shadow of the moon steals over the
| face of the sun, the distant landscape
grows DINNER and DINNER on the horizon
with an ashy paleness, and weird, dim,
religious light" surrounds us, till at last,
| like the rushing of many waters, tho
moon sweeps over the entire sun and en-
1 shrouds the earth in pail of darkness.
| What else is there to be seen? Just be-
| fore the moment of totality--when the CO.
roma is almost lowering in sight--sud-
denly right round the moon, shooting ont
| into the surrounding darkness, appear
huge tongues of fire, often 100000 miles
| in length. Their appearance varies in
color at different eclipses-sometimcs
blood-red. sometimes rosy-pink; and some
| times all the colors of the rainbow, Then
| comes the supreme moment of totality,
| when the corona bursts forth In all its
glory. 1t can be seen only, never de-
| scribcd. Bright ethereal waves of white
surround the sun just outside the lurid
| rcd, and stretch into the sky, often for a
million miles. Nor is this all. Around
the outer corona sometimes appear white
streamers of light, radiating from differ
ent parts of the corona and reaching far
into space for many million miles, And
| vet there is more to he seen; for, at the
moment of totality as il by the touch OF n
| magicians wand, the whole sky is lit up
| in one instant by II multitude Of bright
stars dotting the heavens as so many fairy
lamps. Then. when tue few precious mo-
ments of totality are over and the sun ap-
pears with yet more sudden swiftness
| than he disappeared, the stars are extin-
guishcd by the same magician's touch, the
corona vanshcs before our gaze, and the
| red flames of the sun, after casting 4 lin
| eering look behind, as il 10th to hid us
| goodbye. shrink into the disc OF the fiery
orb.
Besides these wonders. the observer
might note some minor though interesting
fcatures--i O., ~ the effect of the eclipse
on plants and animals; these generally
behave as at Observation-Disclosures close.
| fowls hasten TO roost, cattle low. and the
| whole animal kingdom is seized with IL
sudden fright; (2) the shadow bagls-
these are mysterious and unexplained
bands of alternate light and darkness
which appear before and after totally
and travel over the ground at the rate
of twelve feet or fifteen feet per second;
C3) "Baieys beads;" just before and af-
ter totality the suns crescent seems broken
up into circle Of bright beads, this
effect being produced by the suns rays
passing through the gaps between the
mountains situated on the edge of the
| moon