The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-30
THE ANNULAR ECLIPSE OF
THE SUN ON MONDAY
For the Tribune.

Il Vi lile L Iiipuile'
The eclipse of the sun, which occurs
Monday, while directly of no local
value, 1t may, because of it's near ap-
prach to u.s. cause q passing interest
in these phenomena.
Our satellite in it's course around the
earth when crossing its mode will cast
it's shadow upon this planet, and into
which we will plunge at the rate of
siXty-five thousand of miles per hour.
OF course, the shock will be impercepti
ble since a sunbeam travelling at the
rate of one hundred and eghty-three
thousand miles per second does not
cause the most delicately constructed
scale to vibrate.
The earth will first enter the shadow
in the Atlantic ocean and it will be seen
as a partial eclipse at Washington, d.
c., a few minutes before sunset. 1t
will then be central. It's last contact
will be on a line drawn through Cuba
and central South America.
The distance in width over which the
eclipse will be seen as partial or an
nular will reach from Washington, D.
c., to Buenos Ayres, South America:
over five thousands of miles. The ter
ritory over which it will travel is about
| one-half of the entire globe, from the
northeastern part of Brazil to the
mountains of New South Wales. The
eclipse will be visible, projected upon
the western line of the sun, north of
| the equator as far as the thirtyseventh
| latitude and south on the eastern limb,
as far as the seventy-fifth degree of lat
| itude; also within a narrow strip about
| forty miles wide, beginning al the Gulf
| of Paria, Venezuela, and passing over
| Caracas, the capital; then through the
| United States of Colombia and cross
| ing the equator about three hundred
| and and fifty miles west of Quito, con-
| tinuing its course down to the fortieth
| latitude, then back to the thirty-sec-
| ond and ending beyond the north cape
| of New Zealand.
If a passenger train started from
| Caracas to keep in view of the annulur
| it would have to travel at the rate of
| over one thousand miles per hour.
| Under the most favorable circum-
stances the greatest length of time for
| a person to see the annular eclipse at a
| given place cannot exceed twelve min
utes, 1t may, however, travel over a
long distance, because the moon is
moving in the same direction as the
earth, only faster, which causes the
shadow to linger upon the earth, which,
at the equator, is revolving at the rate
Of ten thousand and thirty-eight miles
| per hour. The conditions of an eclipse
of the sun are The moon must be new
| 1t must be on or near one of its nodes;
| the places over which in the present
| case the annulus will pass may never
see it's Recurrence. At any rate it will
| be an indefinite period. The moon
crosses her node twenty days earlier
every year, and it follows that after a
| lapse of eighteen years and eleven
days the sun and moon cross their CEN
ter, but the shadow will not be cast
upon the earth at the same place.
England has not seen a total eclipse
since the year 1140, though there have
been during this time some forty total
eclipses.
We see the lunar orb projected
against the disk of the sun with ring
of light surrounding 1t. Should our sat
elite be at Perigee and the sun at
Apogee then the apparent diameter OF
moon would be greater than the shod-
| ow, and we should see total eclipse OF
the sun, the space within which to to-
tality would extend could not exceed
one hundred and eighty miles in width
The earlier inhabitants of this planet
We're no doubt alarmed and terrified al
the recurrence of these eclipses, while
today our school children are acquaint.
ed with their causes. There are many
wonders revealed by total eclipse OF
the sun, and even the far-advanceG
science of today is unable to explain
some of the phenomena.
w. B. owen,
Holden Mines, Taylor Pa.