The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-04-05
HE COMING ECLIPSE Oh THE
Elm

kUN.
frederick Campbell in Lsslis's Weskly)
Eleven years have passed since the last
tosal eclipse Of the sun in this COUNTRY;
eighteen years more are to pass tefore the
next; consequently the total eclipse OF
the sun, visible In the United States, on
the 2sth of next May. being the only
event of Its kind within period Of more
than q quarter of a century Is to DO re-
garded ne Of great Importance.
There has ceased to be any mystery
clnnscted with the phenomena OF
ollpses, whether solar or lunar. The
moon rnakss the complete circuit Of the
heavens once In about twenty-nins and
one-hnh days; this sun appears TO do the
same, owing TO the actual circuit made
by tee earth, once In o year. The moon,
Their efore. makes more than twelve ciT-
cults wbile tks sun IL making one. Cor
sequeutly the motion must ovsrtake ard
pass the sun as many rs twelve times In
year. Sun and mooa hsta appear TO be
moving in the same direction, not only,
bot in-nsarly shs same path. IL they
moved In exactly the same path the moon
would pass in teswesn the sun and earth
e every circuit, and there would DO an
eclipse OF the sun at every new moon.
But the paths are not exactly the same;
so this moon usually goes By either
above or below the sun. There are points
however, where these two paths inter-
ste2t; and If sun ana moon both happen
at one OF those points at the same time
Ia Ea-A
a time, were these two bodies at ths sam
distance from the earth. thsre would be q
collision; but as they are at different
distances, the moon, being the nearer of
the two. simply shuts off the view OF the
sun, and tho latter IL eclipsed.
If the moon were actually smaller, or
II she were more distant and therefore
apparently EN- ller, then there would be
sim ply q transit Of the moon, like the
well-kuoun trHnslts Of Venus and Mer-
curry, both OF which plansts are immense
IL more distant than the moon. That Ia,
the moon would then be seen as dark
body passing across the suns face. and
sd utting Off more or lsss OF It's light 40
oording to her apparent eliza NOW,
Bs IN after Of fact, we do have transite
Of the moon, though they are commonly
called "annular aolipses." There are
times when the sun is several million
miles nearer than at other times, and
" hen the moon Ia several thousands OF
miles farther than at other times II an
eolipIe occur OF such times thu suns body
IS apparently enlarged. and the moons
body apparently dlminishSd, 30 that the
IL DON fails to cover the face Of the sun,
and q ring OF sunlight (oall53 In Lstin,
annulus) surround the moons BODY.
II, ON tbs other hand, the moon were
actually larger, or II she were nearer and
L. Nknxm AUVlA
be an oscillation of the sun. That Is,
the suns bright foe not only would BIS
hidden from view, but also that vast and
| brilliant corona which surrounds HIS face
and which Is never seen except during an
eclipse. The SUD, with all that pertains
TO bin, Wonld appsnr utterly extiB-
uishsd. and this state Of things would
continue fer o period OF tine proportion
ate to the size, or apparent size. of the
moon, During such an oocultation all
the stars. which are as truly In the hsav-
ems by day as by nisht, would come out
| to view; Snd cancellations VII ich are
seen cnlf at the opposite season OF ths
year would bs on full exhibition. Plan
cts which, by reason OF their apparent
proximity to the sun, GOULD nos ordinnri-
~ be sssu, would shine forth with their
prcrer glory; and thie latter fact would
be q consolinE evidence that the sun hal
not actually been annlhilated, since the
radiance OF the planets Is nothing but the
red soted radiance of the sun; IL he were
destroyed they, too, would cease to glow.
Now, Ii Is u remarkable thing that the
distances OF sun and moon ore so pro-
portioned to their size that usually the
moon fits quite exactly over the face of
the cum. Hence, instead Of q transit or
an oooultation, We have an eclipse; IL
never can last but a few min utes. and In
the present instance minute and half
IL the iGit Of totality, for the moon
hastens on and the sun shines cut onos
more. However, for q long time 1t can
be seen approaching and reoedirg; thus
the duration or the entire eclipse will be
about two hours ana half.
While the eclipse can be ssen over the
whole country, Is is only within Path
OF about Ifty-fve miles width that Il
appears s total eclipse; this runs from
New Orleans in northeasteriy direction
scorse the south eastern States and passes
out to sea st Norfolk. Camp
bel in Lsslie's Weekly.