The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-08-02
AUGUST
ECLIPSES
There VIII DC TWO of Them This
Month, Orc OF Sun, One OF
Moon-ore viii Be Total.

The chief astronomical events OF
this month are two eclipses, one of
the sun and one Of the moon, both of
which are visible in the United States,
says the Scientific American. The
lunar eclipse comes first on the night
OF the 18th. It Is partial. only about
one-third OF the moons diameter be-
ing immersed in the shadow. The
moon enters the penumbra at 500 p.
NJ. Eastern standard time-that is, at
this moment an observer stationed
at the proper part of the moon would
first see the sun begin to disappear
behind the earth. But It will not
be till some time later that the dark.
enlnS OF the moons southern limb
Will be apparent to the eye,
AT $3.50 p. NJ, the moon enters the
earth's shadow proper, from which all
direct sunlight Is excluded, and she
continues to press further into 1t for
an hour and then gradually moves
out OF 1t again, leaving 1t altogether
at l1:41. and getting clear of the
penumbra at 1:12 A. NJ.
This eclipse Is therefore very con.
veniently observable In one part Of the
world, but little information of scien.
tifc value can be anticipated from It,
thanks to the fact that the earth's
atmosphere prevents the edge OF the
shadow from being sharply defined,
SO that II is impossible to tell with
any degree of accuracy when It
reaches any given spot on the moon.
Far more important is the solar
eclipse on the Goth, which is one of
the most interesting ones for many
years. 1t Is total eclipse of pretty
long duration, and the line Of central
eclipse passes through several re-
ions which are conveniently accessi.
BILE for observing parties.
The eclipse is total at sunrise in
Manitoba, Just north of the United
States boundary. Thence the shadow
sweeps eastward across Canada, north
of the settled districts. and comes
out on the Labrador coast. It turns
somewhat. to the southwark as It
crosses the Atlantic and reaches land
again on the Spanish coast near Cape
Finisterre. Crossing Spain the shad-
ow traverses the Mediterranean,
passes near Tunis. enters the Afri-
can desert, passes over the Nile near
Assuan, and finally bids farewell to
the earth somewhere in Arabia, less
than three hours after 1t began in
Canada. The duration of the total
phase is greatest in Spain, where It Is
about three and three-quarter min
utes, while 1t is about two and one.
half minutes In Labrador, and a little
less than three minutes In Egypt.
Several parties of astronomers are
going to Labrador, and many more to
stations in Spain and Algeria, so that
goodly store of observations may be
expected, II only the weather behaves
as well as 1t did in 1900. when the
track of the shadow on the European
side Of the ocean was almost the same
as at present.
Weather permitting great deal of
spectroscopic and other information
about the suns surroundings will I'm.
doubleday be obtained. Perhaps the
most interesting observations from an
amateurs standpoint are those that
will be made in the search for posi-.
BILE small planet nearer the sun than
Mercury by photographing the whole
region of the sky near the eclipsed
sun. This has been done at several
recent eclipses without result, only
known stars being found on the
plates; but the brilliant success of
Photographic methods in finding new
satellites makes one feel that the
search for an intro-Mercurial planet
ought to be continued a little longer