The times., 1898-12-28
7HH MOON IN ECLIPSE
Passes in the Shadow Of the
Earth.
WITNESSED BY THOUSANDS
Began at Four O'Clock and Thirty
Eight Minutes, Lasting Until
Twenty Minutes Past Eight - As
tronomers Had Calculated to the
Exact Minute-DulI Red Color.

The old moon. who for uncounted CEN
| turtles has faithfully followed us in our
| travels around the sun, did unusual things
last night
He buried himself in the earth's shadow.
Astronomers say that he was in eclipse.
J Just why this puryeyor OF nocturnal light
should seek seclusion could not be deter
mined up to the hour of going to press.
Some smart men explain it on the ground
that opposites attract some cynical men
insinuate that the moon, having been en-
| gagged in certain Irregularities. sought to
screen his face from the world; some seri-
Gus men affirm that the action of the
moon last night was obedient TO one OF
those immutable laws prescribed by the
supreme power in the universe. which
passeth the understanding of men.
/ The moon likes notoriety. He let's pass
very few opportunities TO keep himself be-
fore the public. He is popular. too. In
the eyes of men he is the chief celestial
actor. All the sky is his stage and the
stars are his footlights. He is versatile
old moon and appears in a number of roles,
which he calls phases Now, he will put
on a pair of silver horns, then he will give
us a side view of himself again he will
turn his full and radiant face upon the
He travels all around the world and speaks
language which all men understand. He
never rests. Vacation is a thing TO him
unknown. He is always on the move. A
mile of poetry has been written in his
honor songs have been dedicated to him.
lovers have sworn by him. Once men
worshipped him and set aside day in rev.
erence of ihm.
He is an experienced old moon He has
witnessed great battles. His gaze has fallen
on red carnage. Mighty confiagrations
have roared in his presence He has be-
held many tragedies. Not one of these
seems to have disturbed him or to have
swerved him from his duty and allegiance
to the earth
He has beheld much lovemaking Lovers
have bade him welcome He has seen
much that would make mighty interesting
reading. yet through all the untold ages
no breath OF scandal has escaped him He
is the matchmaker OF the heavens
The moon essayed part last night
which he does not often undertake. A
vast concourse OF spectators in Europe.
Asia, Africa and Washington watched him.
Now and then envious clouds shut him out
from view. but the whole world applauded.
His manager at the naval observatory
advertised that he would betake himself
into the retirement of the eaIth's shadow
at 4:3s p. m. And he was prompt At
4:3s he was visible Tor dawn in the East
He vas silver gray In color. AT i:39 red
glow began to steal over him, and at :49
the dull and glaring red completely over
came him. AT 7:1S he began to reassume
his siivery aspect but clouds overcast the
SKY and curtain of mist obscured him.
The eclipse was concluded at S:2S, and
the constant moon sailed on in his usual
way. The moon was also full last night.
He may have had TOO much Christmas
An eclipse of the moon happens when
the moon IN its revolution around the
earth falls into the earth's shadow The
earth and moon being both opaque g,obu-
lar bodies exposed TO the suns light they
cast shadows opposite to the sun, like any
other bodies on which the sun shines
Were the sun OF the same size with the
earth and the moon, the shadow would be
cylinder infinite in length; and were the
sun less than the earth or moon. the shad-
ow would be an increasing cone its mar
rover end resting on the earth but rs the
sun is vastly greater than either of these
bodies, the shadow of each is a cone whose
base rests on the body itself and which
comes TO a point or vertex at certain
distance behind the body.
The earth's shadow is about one million
miles long, and more than three and a
half times as long as the distance from the
earth to the moon. 1t is at the distance
of the moon three times as broad as the
moon itself. AS the sun and the earth are
both situated in the plane of the elliptic If
the moon also revolved around the earth
in his plane we should have solar
eclipse at every new moon. and lunar
eclipse at every full moon. But the
moons path is inclined to the elliptic
about five degrees.
Multitudes wondered last night at the
dull red color of the moon. This light
cannot be derived directly from the sun.
since the view of the sun is completely
hidden from the moon.
1t is not derived from reflection from the
earth, since the illuminated side of the
earth is wholly turned from the moon The
dull red, then, is owing to the refrac-
ton from the earth's atmosphere, by which
few scattered rays of the sun are bent
round into the earth's shadow and con-
veyed to the moon, sufficient in number to
afford the feeble light in question
Astronomrs say that it is impossible to
fully understand the method of calculat-
ing eclipses without a knowledge of trigo-
nometry. Still it is not difficult to form
some general notion of the process. 1t
may be readily conceived that by long con-
tinued observations on the sun and the
moon the exact places which they will oc-
cupy in the heavens at any future times
may be foTeseen and laid down in tables Of
the sun and moons motions; that one may
thus ascertain by inspecting the tables the
exact instant when these two bodies will
appear together in the heavens, or in con-
junction, and when they will be $50 de-
grees apart, or in opposition.
Moreover. since the exact place of the
moons node among the stars at any par
ticular time is known to astronomers. it is
not difficult to determine when the new, or
full, moon occurs in the same part of the
heavens, as that where the node is pro-
jected as seen from the earth.
In short, as astronomers can easily deter
mine what will be the relative position of
the sun, earth and moons nodes for any
given time. they can tell when these lumi-
naries will meet SO near the node as to pro-
duce an eclipse of the sun, or when they
Will be in opposition so near the node as to
produce an eclipse of the moon.
WHAT PROF. YOUNG SAW.