The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-05-22
CAUSE OF HE ECLIPSE.

CAUSE OF HE ECLIPSE.
There has ceased TO he any mEs
terry connected with the phenomena
of eclipses. whether solar or lunar
The moon makes the complete circuit
of the heavens nee IN about twenty
nine and one-half DAYS: the sun APP
pears to do the same. owing TO the
actual circuit made BY the earth,
once in a wear. The moon. there
fore. makes more than twelve circuits
while the sun is making one. ton-
seuuently. the moon must ov Hrfake
and PASS the sun as many as twelve
times in a wear. SIM and moon not
only appear to be moving II the same
direction. but III nearly the same
path. If they moved IN exactly the
same path the moon would pass II
between the sun and the earth ct
every circuit. and there would DC an
eclipse of the II at every new moon.
But n paths are not dlrecfi: the
same: 50 the moon usually gOes DE
either above or below the sun. There
are points. however. where those two
paths intersect: and if sun and moon
both happen at one Of those points
at the same time. then an ecii, )se
inevitable. At such a time. We're
these two bodies at the same distance
from the earth. there WOuld be q col
lision: but as they are at different dis
tances. the moon being the carer
of the two. simply shuts Oft the view
Of the sun. and the latter IS eclil;'i.
II the moon were actually Sm:titer.
fore. apparently smaller. then there
would BE simply a transit OF the
moon. like the w~ell-knovn %transits
of Venus and Mercury, both CT which
planets are immensely mora distan.
than the moon. That is the moon
would then be seen as !. dark body
passing across the suns ilc.a. ant
shutting off more or less Of its light
according to her apparent. size. Now
as Il matter OF fact. we 90 have
transits OF the moon. though they
are commonly called "annular
eclipses.' There are times when the
sun is several million miles nearer
than at other times. and when the
moon is several thousands Of miles
further off than at other times; if
an eclipse occur at such time the
suns body is apparently enlarged.
and the moons body apparently di-
minished so that the noon fails to
| cover The face Of the sun and a ring
Of sunlight (calied in Latin. annu-
lus) surrounds the moons body.
| LASTS TWO AND \ HALF HOURS.
If. on the other hand. the noon
were actually larger. or ii she were
nearer and therefore apparently la:g-
er. there would be an occuitation OF
the sun. That is. the suns bright face
not only would be hidden from view,
but also that vast brilliant corona
which surrounds his face, and which
is never seen Except during an eclipse,
| The sun. with all that pertains to
him. would appear utterly eXtingnish-
| ed. and that state of things would
continue for a period OF time pro
| p~OrtiOnate to the size. on apparent
size. of the moon. During such an
cccultatiOn all the stars. which are
as truly in the heavens by day as
by night: would come out to view:
and consultations which are seen only
at the opposite season of the year
would be on full exhibition. Planets
which. by reason of their apparent
proximity to the sun. could not or
dinarilv be seen. would shine forth
with their proper glory: and this lat
ter fact would be q consoling evi-
dence that the sun had not actually
been annihilated. since the radiance
Of the planets is nothing but the re-
IC1tNb Il vi t0 Hhi II III
were destroyed. they. too. would cease
to glow.
Now. it is a remarkable thing that
the distance OF sun and moon are
so proportional TO their size tina
usually the moon fits quite exactly
over the face OF the sun. Hence,
instead of a transit or an occultation.
we have an eclipse: it can last but a
few minutes. and in the present IN
stance a minute and a half is the limit
of ~tOtaltN. for the moon haStenS on
and the sun shines out ono more.
However. for Il long time it can be
seen approaching and receding: thus
the duration Of the entire eclipse
will be about two hours and Il half.
SCIENTISTS AT PINEHJRST.
\ telegram from Pinehnrst, Moore
county. where a party Of astronomers
from Johns Hopkins University is sta
toned. says that although the rain
has intcrfered with the preparations,
Friday and yesterday saw the nearly
complete adjustment for the plane
grating and concavc grating spectre
scopes of the Hopkins party and the
preparation Of the delicate instrn-
ments for determining the exact sec
ond at which the eclipse becomes
total.
Nj Pinehurst the eclipse will be
gin about 40 a.. m. The moon will
seem to Overtake the sun slowly and
obscure his light. AS one looks at
the sun ordinarily. through a piece
of colored glass. it appears like a
round disk. but as the moon gradually
passes in between the earth and the
sun a portion of the suns disk is
Obscured, exactly as when one slides
4 50-cent piece over a 2J-cent piece.
There comes Il time when the adj
vancing edge of the moon lust seems
to reach the farther edge OF the suns
disk. an instant called the second
contact and now the eclise is total.
So it will continue for a minute and
a half. as viewed from P%inehurst.
Then the back edge of the moor
meets the edge of the sun, and a
minute crescent of the suns surface
becomes visible. This is the instant
of third. contact After this the
crescent OF the sun wakes until the
full disk is clear Of the moon and