Weekly journal-miner., 1918-06-05
iFrom Fridays Daily.)


 eclipse Of the sun.
 To persons living on a narrow path running from the extreme northwest ern part of the United States to the extreme southeastern, the eclipse will be total. To Prescott people, the sun will be about two-thirds covered. Not for 99 years-until 20l7-will a simi- lar opportunity come to the United States, and not for 360 years will the ! States that are to be favored with a total eclipse on June be again so fortunate Total eclipses are happen ing somewhere in the world most of the time, but they get all over the world only about once in every three and half centuries.
 |. The big black shadow, which will be caused by the moon swinging be- tween the earth and the sun, will 1 sweepi across the country at an al most unbelievable rate of speed. It will cut a diagonal path across the i United States about sixty miles wide, which will run through parts of ] Washington, Oregon, Idaho. Wyom- | ing, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ala bama and Florida.
 The moons shadow will touch the earth first at a point in the Pacific ocean southeast of Japan at the little 1 island of Borodino It will travel northcastward until it is about 500 miles south of Alaska. then its course will be southcastward
 Travelling at the rate of about 20O0 miles an hour, it will strike the ! American coast at the mouth of the Columbia river. the moving shadow then having travcrsed about two thirds of it's path. Striking the United States at r:55 p. m. it will reach the Mississippi valley at about | 4:1 p. m., central time, and will leave the United States at the coast of ! Florida at 5:42 eastern time.
 ] The darkness of the total eclipse will last about % seconds. Folks on both sides of the path will sec but q partial eclipse. but pretty much all of i the United States will get touch of the big event. Arizona Is long dis tancc from the path of totality. but people in this section will see about thrcc-quartcrs eclipse.
 Beginning at about 2:25 D. m, peo- pie in Prescott will observe the sun passing in eclipse behind the moon. As nearly 65 per cent oi the suns face will be obscurcd. the strange darkness in the middle of the alter noon will be very evident.
 The round black spot on the earth's surface. some siXty-siN miles in diam cter, will pass South Bend. Wash ington, in about l2l seconds; Denver in about So seconds and Orlando, Fla, in about 50 seconds. The Twentieth Century limited may, under favorable conditions. reach a speed of 66 miles an hour The eclipse shadow reaches that speed a minute.
 Astronomers are making all sorts of preparations to receive the phc nomena with due ceremony. Mann moth cameras are being placed in the large obscrvatorieS all along the route of the big shadow. One of these big earth eyes has been placed at Denver by the Yerkcs observatory Others making preparations are: The Lick observatory at Goldendale, Wash. the Mount Wilson, al Green River, Wyo.; the Smithsonian at Lakin. Kans.: the United States National Observatory, at Baycr, Wash. The University of Colorado does not have to go away from home for the event.
 Science today has three problems which may be studied to advantage during a total eclipse. These arc, the search for a planet or planets be- tween Mercury and the sun, the study of the corona and the making of ob which later may prove the truth or falSity of the Einstcin doc urine of rclativity.
 Mercury Is the nearest planet to the sun. Its computed place in the heavens is always slightly in advance of the observed place. Its motion does not appear to be governed pre- risely by the law of gravitation. Yet. Inc seeming error could be explained in accordance with Newton's law ii other planets existed between Mcr- ,ury and the sun. The. time of to- -al eclipse is especially favorable to the search for such planets, if they | exist Up to date none has been , ound It is only at the time when the ( noon covers the sun that what is c called the corona is visible The corona is an envelope of pcarly light a the sun and extending ,ut a great distance beyond the dark $ lisc of the moon with strcamcrs { caching at times a length of three C ourths of million miles. No means S 'f observing the corona, except at the A ines of ar eclipse, has yet been de a -ised. It is known that the char r. ctcr of the streamerS Is intimately il with sunspot phenomena. C ut the nature Of the connection IS rl ot yet clear. Years of sunspot max h ma and minema-that IS years when a lany supspots or when few sunSpotS Il ppear-occur at about eleven years q though no reason IS known pr this regularity. Photographs of he corona, taken in a year of Sunspot iaxima, have very different charac- ,risticS from those taken in years of inspot minema. tc