The evening times., 1901-05-18
THB ECLIPSE OF THE SUN
Observations Made by Astronomers
in Sumatra Today.

Two American Expeditions Located
in the Path of TotaIity-vaIuabIe
Knowledge Concerning the Lumi-
nary Expected to BE Obtained
Astronomers from many parts of the
civilized world today made observations
of the total eclipse of the sun. which was
visible over a region Of the globe Giamet-
TicalIy opposite TO America. The astrO-
nomfcal parties located principally on the
west coast of Sumatra- Their instruments
were set up in the netghborhOod Of Pa
dang, the residence Of the Governor
Scientists from the Naval Observatory
are expected to obtain valuable knowledge
from this eclipse The Government expe-
dition sailed from San Francisco on Feb
ruary Is on the transport Sheridan. which
took the astronomers as far as Manila.
There they were met by one Of the vessels
Of the Asiatic Squadron and conveyed to
the observation station in Sumatra- The
expedition Is under the charge of Prof
Il n Skinner, of the Naval Observatory
Accompanying him from that observatory
are W s EicheIberger F =. LitteII. C.
II Peters. L E Jewell and W ". Din
widdie From other Observatorfes are
Prof E E Barnard, of the Yer<es OBJ
seFyatory; Dr. W. J. Humphries. of the
University of Virginafa; DIT. 5. A Mitch
ell, of Columbia University; DR.. y. Z.
Gilbert, Of Johns Hopkins University; II.
H Curtis, of the Leander Mccormick OBJ
servatory; c C. Abbott, of the Smithso-
nian institution, and Prof. W. J. Hussey,
of the Lick Observatory
Prof Barnard vas probably located
at SOIOk- a short distance from Padane,
1870 feet above the level of the sea His
intention was to endeavOr TO photograph
the corona on q very large scale, using
the ''coelostat," which he used so SIC
CessfUlIy at WadesborO, N c. last year
With this Instrument everything remains
stationary except the polar axis. which
Is rotated at the rate of one revolution in
forty-eight hours-twice as slowly as the
ordinary equatorial telescope This axis
carries a 15-nhch plane siIvered glass mir
ror, which reflects the suns hight into a
stationary 6-inch Photographic lens. hav-
ing focal length Of sixty-one and a half
feet At the focus of this lens is built a
darkroom, in which the plates are eX-
posed This darkroom Is connected with
the lens by horizontal tube made Of pa
! per over light wood framework The OBJ
server IS, of course. in the room where the
plates are exposed. and can see the image
as it falls on the plates. The plates are
Of three sizes-49xze 39x31, and Xxi inches.
The large plates VIII cover a region one
and a half degrees all around the sun.
One Of them is to be exposed $50 seconds
The others VIII have an exposure OF from
one minute down TO haIf-second- The
! long exposure plate IS expected TO show
/ any star as small as the eighth magnitude
! which lies within this region
The other United States observing par
/ ty under the direction Of Prof. D. P.
/ Todd, Of Amherst College Observat tory,
/ took an eastern route for Sumatra sail
/ ing from Boston on February 15 for Genoa,
/ where it took passage on a Dutch steam
er for their final destination On the
! same steamer were four members Of the
/ Expedition sent ont by the Dutch Govern
ment. and also two Of the English astr0u-
onerS- Mr. Dyson and Mr.. Atkinson Prof.
I Todd was accompanied by Mrs Todd His
/ party includes also Prof \ = Burton
/ and AIessrs. G /. FI0smer ana H ".
( Smith Of the Massachusetts Institute Of
/ Technology
J The eclipse at Padang began at ten
hours f0Tty-five miUtes this morning, lo-
cal time and ended at one hour fifty
/ seven minutes in the afternoon. Totally
! began at eighteen minutes foTty-Tlne sec
I OGdS past noon
To astronomers. however, this eclipse
/ was especially interesting on account Of
! its unusual length The maximum dura-
tion of totaIity vas about six and q half
miHuteS-nearly five minutes longer than
t14c CcsS- VI l4-t 81 -1SL Nay anu
{ within about one minute 0f the longest
duration possible. n that tine, as eclipse
| observations are now made, great
! amount Of work can be done, provided the
/ weather is proPitiOUs-
/ IN Mauritius. in the neighborhOOd Of
/ the Royal Alfred Observatory, the dura-
ton Of rotality was 3 minutes 81 seconds
In the Malay Archipelago the ulaxiTfzITn
duration Of tOtality on the central line
| was nearly 612 minutes, which is within
/ about one minute of the longest duration
Z \ q
/ Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee Of
/ the Royal and Royal Astronomical So
/ cieties TO attempt to secure observations
both al Padang and MauritiuS At the
former station were Mr.. NewaH and Mr.
/ Dyson, the latter representing the Green
( wiCh Observatory In MauTitius was sta
toned Mr. AIaunder. who worked with
! Mr. Claxton. the director of the local OBJ
seTvatoTy.