The Washington times., 1902-10-17
ALL WASHINGTON SAW
ECLIPSE last NIGHT
Housetops and Other Ele-
Vations Crowded.
CONDITIONS SATISFACTORY
Absence of Haze Permitted an Excel
lent view-Entered Shadow
at II:I7.

The lunar eclipse which took plac,
last night according to schedule was /,
subject oil interest to local astronomers
both professional and amateur, and t,
those who were uninitiated into the mys
teries Of astronomical science as we'll
Washington people were out in grea
numbers gazing heavenward at the rar,
phenomenon. At the Naval Observator.
Prof. King busted himself in noting thu
occultations Of the stars which passed
through the shadow. At the Georgetown
University no scientific observation.
were made. Conditions for satisfac.
tory observation were favorable. There
was no haziness.
Totally Lasted I:ze.
The moon entered the shadow at 11:17.
Totality was reached at 12:11, continuing
until lao. The eclipse ended at 2:42.
The cause of the phenomenon is the
fact that the earth comes directly be-
tween the sun and the moon, thus pre-
venting the latter's reflection Of the sun
light. The moon. even after totality had
taken place, did not become wholly in
visible, but presented the appearance of a
brown or copper-colored globe. occasion
ally being variegated with greenish and
other hues, which gave it singularly
beautiful appearance.
The reason OF this is that the earth's
shadow at the distance of the moon is
not entirely dark. but contains rays of
sunlight which, passing through the
earth's atmosphere, have been refracted,
or bent inward. and are besides tinged
with sunset hues by the absorptive ac-
ton of vapors and other impurities in the
atmosphere.
Proof That Earth Is Round.
All who observed the eclipse last
night noticed that. while the moon was
going into the shadow, the outline of
the latter was circular. This is one of
the most convincing ocular proofs that
the earth is round, for, in every eclipse
the shadow has round edge, although
in different eclipses different sides Of
the earth are presented. in profile on
the moons surface.
The scientific value of the eclipse of
the moon is the fact that, by observing
the occulations of stars which pass
through the shadow, it can be ascertain
ed whether the moon has a surrounding
atmosphere. The diameter of the moon
has been determined, and the time it
takes a star to travel that distance is
also a known quantity. Hence, IL it ap
!. parently takes star longer to travel
through the shadow than 1t would or
dinarily take it to move that far, it
is evident that there is surrounding the
moon something which hides the star.
This. astronomers say. is an atmos-
phere. 1t is thought that the atmos-
phere Of the moon is about one thou
sand times as dense as, that, surround
ing the earth.
The eclipse last night was visible over
the entire Western Hemisphere. and over
the western portion Of Europe and Africa.
Former Phenomenons.
The last total eclipse of the moon
visible in this vicinity occurred on the
evening of December 27. 1895. beginning
about 3 o'clock. December 16, 1899,
there was a partial eclipse of the moon,
also in the evening for US. which came
SO near being total as to afford beau
tiful spectacle. June u. 1900. there was
another partial eclipse of the moon
which was the very antithesis of the
preceding. only one-thousanth of the
moons diameter being eclipsed, so that
the spectacle was really not noticeable
October %, 1901, there was a partial
lunar eclipse, visible on the west coast
of America, Dnt sot visible to us.