The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-27

OF this hlmy light with It's wonderful curvef
and streamers. This alone Is indeed worth
travelling thousands and thousands OF miles
to see, and as We look there takes posses.
sion of us feeling Of awe and wonder al
the magnitude and exquisite beauty OF
creation.
CORONA THE CENTER OF INTEREST.
Would that we could watch this corona
for hours to study it's details and impress
its picture indelibly on our memories
But with the first temperance of the edge
OF the sun 1t Is gone and the time has been
much too short. Skilful as the astronomer
is. and many as are the discoveries and
triumphs he has had, he has never yet
been able to show how the corona can be
observed without total eclipse.
The problems Of interest all center around
the time Of totahty-those precious few
minutes that occur at such rare intervals
when the sun il entirely lost sight Of. How
dependent the observations are on the
tickle weather.
II it should be raining, or the sky entirely
overcast or even il stray cloud should
hide the sun for the important five minutes.
the work Of the astronomer, with all it's
months OF preparation, would come to
naught. There are many such disap-
pointments In the history Of eclipse obser-
vations, the last eclipse-that Of le0l-
being striking example.
In Sumatra there was only one station
with an unclouded sky out Of the dozen
where astronomers had located, and curl
ously enough that particular place promised
the worst weather OF all. The great ma
IL I~zl La IL, .t.s4 L.
places the clouds being 30 thick 1t was
impossible even to zee the corona, while
at others the photographs were taken
through thin clouds and showed valuable
results Notwithstanding. 1t is OF the
utmost importance that locality be chosen
which will promise good weather, and it
is to be hoped that this year sunny Spain
will live up to its reputation.
PATH OF THE TOTAL ECLIPSE.
On Wednesday. The 3oth, the total eclipse
begins at sunrise in Manitoba in Canada.
The moons shadow path travels eastward
over the earth at cannonball velocity, or
over a thousand miles an hour, and after
crossing Manitoba. James's Bay and Labra-
dor, leaves North America and crosses the
Atlantic. First contact" takes place in
Spain about noon, and a little over an hour
later the sun is entirely covered up and
the total phase begins
After leaving Spain, the shadow trav-
erses the Mediterranean. then enters the
continent of Africa, crosses the Red Sea
and leaves the earths surface at sunset in
Arabia on the coast of the Indian Ocean.
The duration of totaiity in Labrador
and Egypt will be little more than two
"a Ok
minutes and three-quarters. The fav-
ored locality for astronomers will 10 Spain,
on account of this increased time. and
because it is more readily accessible.
The narrow path, 100 miles in width,
will he thickly studded with telescopes,
scientists being gathered there from all
over the worid-from the United States,
from England. France, Germany, Italy.
Spain, Holland, Russia and Japan. The
chief parties in Spain-those which have
the most comprehensive programs-will
be from the United States Naval Observa-
tory, from the Lick Observatory of Cali
fornia and from the Royal Astronomical
and Royal societies Of England.
PROBLEMS FOR INVESTIGATION.
The main problems for investigation
can be divided as follows:
/. The corona-what is II?
2. The suns atmosphere-what are the
conditions OF the gases which compose IT,
and how high do they extend above the sur
face of the sun?
These are the principal questions that
demand. solution-there are a great many
others-and an understanding OF them
would greatly help to decipher the enigma