The Daily Missoulian., 1914-08-21
WAR IS INTERFERING
WITH SCIENTIFIC
OBSERVATIONS
ECLIPSE OF SUN is DUE ToMoR.
ROW BUT EXPERTS NAY NOT
be ABLE TO VIEW IT

Washington, d. c., Aug. o0.-The
eclipse OF the sun tomorrow--total in
| part of Europe and Asia and a part
eclipse in northwestern America-has
been attracting widespread attention
among astronomers and scientists, but
now it is feared that the European war
will seriously interfere with, even If it
does not entirely prevent the obser-
vations which the scientists had
planned to make of the phenomenon.
| The eclipse will be observable along
line extending from Alsteno on the
west coast of Norway, through Her-
nosand. on the Swedish coast, Riga on
the Baltic. Minsk and Kiev in central
Russia, and leaving Europe at Theo-
dosia on the Crimean coast.
Many scientific expeditions had been
planned to observe the eclipse. The
most of these expeditions were de-
signed to take their observations from
points in Russia, where the duration
of totality will be longest. Under ex-
I listing conditions it will, of course be
| impossible for the scientists of other
lands to visit Russia at the present
time. At the present time it will be
almost equally impossible for the
scientists to change the base of their
Operations to the Scandinavian penin-
Isula, for the reason that weeks of
| preparations are necessary to set up
their instruments and make other nee
| essary preparations. The difficulty
|.of reaching Norway and Sweden at
the present time is SO great that it is
unlikely that any expeditions to those
countries will be undertaken. In view
OF the existing circumstances it is
probable that. no noteworthy observa-
ltions will be made of the eclipse, with
1.-The possible exception of those that
may be made by the Russian astron-
omers themselves.
Before the outbreak of the war
lnearly all civilized countries were pre-
Iparing expeditions for the study of the
eclipse, and number of private expe-
ditions were also being fitted out. As
previously stated, the most of them
had chosen Russia for their goal,
Among other German cities, Hamburg
was fitting out an expedition, while a
second one, subsidized by the Prussian
state, was being planned by Professor
Miethe of the Charlottenburg Teehni-
cal school.
In England, steamboat parties were
being made up to view the eclipse from
Alsteno and Riga, and from the fact of
the eclipse coming in the holiday sea-
son it was expected that great numbers
of sightseers would avail themselves
J of the opportunity, which will not oc-
cur again in Europe till 1927.
Professor c. G. Abbott, head of the
astronomical branch of the Smith
sonian institution, and a recognized
authority on solar phenomena, gives
the following account of the eclipse
and the scientific results sought from
, such events.
Tomorrow the moon will pass ex.
actly between the earth and the sun
and there will be a total solar eclipse
1t Will not be observed in America
except as a small partial eclipse al
sunrise in the northern states and in
Canada, but in Persia, Russia and
Scandinavia the full effect will be
seen.
Although the moon looks about the
same size as the sun, it is very much
smaller and nearer. The sun is $685.
600 miles in diameter and $4,000, OO(
miles away, While the moon is PIG:
miles in diameter and $4,000 miles
away On account of the moons small
size compared with the sun the shadow
cast by the moon is a cone, and the
point of this cone just barely reaches
the earth.
In tomorrow's eclipse the diamete,
of the cone at the earths surface is
only about 50 miles, SO that the eclipse
is visible as total only in a belt about
> 80 miles wide, stretching over the
: countries already named. As a par.
tial eclipse it will be seen over a yer,
wide area, including northeastern
America, Greenland, Europe, half o,
;, Asia and half of Africa. Within this
region only part of the suns dish
will be hidden by the moon.
. Wherever the solar eclipse is seen a,
' total. the sky will become nearly as
2 dark as full moonlight, and a few O,
! the brighter stars and planets may be
seen. Sometimes the moon and sur
!. occupy such positions that, although
the moon passes directly between tht
7 earth and the sun, the shadow cone
does not quite reach the earth. Such
J solar eclipses are called "annular" anf
{ are nowhere total eclipses. In the
most favorable case total eclipse
may last seven minutes at a station
but such occasions are very rare
There will be total eclipses in the
, United States in 1918, 1925 and 1928.
|