The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-05-16
FACTS ABOUT AN ECLIPSE.
A GREAT ASTRONOMICAL EyENr
Total Solar tciipsc Visible in tho
United states May 2S-Thr Sun
Will Look Like lSnpninu

| New York Commercial Advertiser
On May 2S Of the present year we
shall cave an oppor tunity 80 SEQ an
unccmmon astronomical occurrence.
The sun will be totally eclipsed, and
the event viii be visible in parts Of the
United States.
Occasionally, as we know, thc moon
| passes between us and the sun, cutting
of the latters tight completely. This
we ~! solar eclipse. Luna eUiips2s,
| on the other hand, are caused by the
moons reaching such position that
the earth is directly between it and
the sun. The moon has no inherent
| brilli@ncy like the sUn it shines only
| by +, heCIug solar light and when
that light ts cut oil, the moon simply
goes OUT Bat the sun is seli-illumI-
nous, and Is in ceaiity shining Just the
| game when uuuer eclipse as at any
| other time. In the former, the moon
| having suddenly ceased to receive o.
| re ilecJ light, the eciiUSo is observable
wherever the moon, il uneclipsed,
HoulG ue visible. But at any given
fnomeut W. can usually see the moon
! ffOm One-batf the earth's surface
Consequently, If q lumsr eclipse takes
place 4 majority Of the earth's innaoi.
tepts dave an opportunity TO observe, il
| and thus Is iuuar eclipse is somo hing
| that almost anv person caI remclo Der
| To have seen. But It is very different
with the sun. AZ we have said, he
! continues to give light when Ciipsed,
sly tunr 1t is only In places where the
/ sun Is actually covered up by the moon
| that &c will seem 10 be cclipscd. The
| mo n under eclipse is like Il candle
| that uHS been eXtiuguished 1t is dark
| from whatever side ne look Ri H.. But
| the GIlipsed sun Is like Is burr lug
| candle, which will be invisible TO him
| only whose view is obstructed by the
interposition Of soInc Opaque object.
That opaque object is the moon
| But she is comparatively small and
cannot render the srn totally invisible
! from more than II tiny circular or oval
spot on the earth's surface. In the
eclipse Uf May % that little spot will
| ba only about - miles wide; and il
| the moon were not in motion the total
phase OF the eclipse could be seen no.
| where else. But the moon is travel
| ing all the time through space in its
Orbit around tho earth. So the little
spot is moving, too, aud changing i,s
position gradually upon the Gmrth's
surface. THuS, instead Of IL SPOT, we
shall have long strip or band ABOUT
10 miles wide and by waiting for the
rignt moment, II Will be possible TO sec
totality from any point within this
band. The whole thing is much ae
though there were Is huge pencil, wi h
its point touching the earth, and hav-
ing its other cod pivOted 10 the sun. |
the moving moon were then also at
tached 10 this pencil somewhere noBr
the point, she would draw the pencil
La
the fcclirse path on our Garth. Any
ooelstapling in that path could then
! lolsi alt.QG toe pencil, and at the pre-
per moment sEe the moon covering she
sun and Obscuring the light. 10 places
Situutsu pear This paIh OF tOtaliLy, as
il ia called, We shall be able to see the
eclipse, but not rs u total one. For
such places the moon Will cover the
sun only in part 50 that some Of his
brilliant surface will remain IN sight
The amount OF Obecuration always de-
pcnGs upon the Observers nearness to
The totally line. The nearer be is,
| the more nearly total the eclipse will
| be.
On May 18th the path Of totaiity be-
| gins IN the Pacific ocean Just west CT
Mexico. There the potut Of the huge
pencil sc have imagined first touches
our earth. IL then passes eastward
across Mexico, and entering the United
States near New Orleans, proceeds in
| u northcasteriy direction until it ic0vrs
| the continent close to Norfolk, Va
| Then IL crosses the Atlantic, touches
| l'ortuPal aud afterward passes across
| Northern Africa, leaving the earth
! finally pear the nor;bcr end Of tho
Red sea. In this country the cities Of
New Orleans, La, Mobile, Ala, Mont.
gomery, Ala, Ralnigh, N. c., and Nor
| folk, We, are all on tnc tOtality path.
| At New Orleans the sun will be com
| pletely covered a. $50 3. m. while at
Norfolk this will not happen until S:53
d. N. In the former city totality viii
last 73 seconds, and in the latter l02
| seconds. At intermediate places bOtn
The time and duration Of tOtality will
| fal between these extreme values.
| For places nearer TO New Ocieaus than
| to Norfolk the numbers will he near
| er those given for New Orleaus. aud
| vice versa.
Having thus explained the circum
stances Of this eclipse, We shall now
touch upon some of tho interesting
things that will be seen If the sky is
clear. Total solar oclipses appeal
equally to the general public and TO
the professional astronomer On the
one n&nu, bney present Inc most Su-
perb spectacle within the whole range
Of astronomy and OF the other, they
offer the best opportunity to study the
mysterious structure and composition
OF our sun. One of the things TO which
astronomers attach Importance is the
accurate observation Of the times OF
beginning and ending OF the eclipse.
| 1t is ca0y to see that the mathematics
consideration upon which are based
our theories Of lunar motion will be
put To IL very severe test in predicting
the exact instant when the SUI @ill be
covered up by the moon. Ii Observa-
tiOn agrees with prediction, wc have
the otrOpgest corrOborativC evidence
OF the correctness Of our theory and OF
our numerica! calculations. Ga the
otner hand, il it be found that the pre-
Gictions are slightly in error, the
amount Of that error can be determined
by observation, aud mathematical
theory thus corrected for the benefit OF
future predictions. Although our
knowledge in this department OF as'
tronomy has reached n very high state
Of perfection, it is d fact that we can
not predict the times OF eclipse TO-DAY
without y possibility Of error AMOUNT
ing TO several eecopds. Part OF thi.
error is due no doubt to insuilicicnt
knowledge of the moon's size, Or TO the
possibility that contact between SUI