Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-28
ECLIPSE TO BRING
NIGHT IN MORNING
United States to See Sun OBJ
scured January 24-WiIl Be
Total in New York.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Science, usually rather reticient about
coming out of the laboratory and
walking through the market places.
is going to stage the greatest show
OF the century on the morning Of
January "a. 1925-free to 10, 900, 900
people in this country. with a cast
Including such universally we'll known
actors as the sun, moon and the
earth, with the heavens as a back
drop and a chorus composed of stars,
real ones no less.
Some credit for this performance
the total eclipse of the sun-must
be given to the regular habits of
subscribing members of the solar
system. but to the astronomers re-
main the press agent glory Of being
able TO say in advance. Just here
and at this time on the surface of
the earth will be traced the dark
shadow of the moon as it runs it's
course throughout the daylight hours
of January "a. 1925, shutting out the
light of the sun at sunrise near Red
Lake. Mimi. then celebrating day
light in path running southeast
Wardly over the Great Lake region,
cutting n swath of night over New
\ DIRK State and going out to sea over
Long Island to follow an eliptical
course over the Atlantic and blend
itself with true night north of the
lonely Hebrides.'
might" in Morning.
The marvellous accuracy Of scien-
ttitc predictions are popularity known
In vague sense, but it brings 1t
home when astronomers are able to
say about the present eclipse:
shortly after o'clock on the
morning of January "a the City of
New York is going to find something
going wrong with its sunlight. People
on their way to work are going to
realize that the night they have just
awakened from is prematurely set
ting in again. Twilight will begin to
fall. Those on high places will see
that the ancient dragon Of the Chi
nese is engultng the sun in its black
NAV. Those in the street will notice
shadow creeping into the sky
sCraper canyons, an increased chill
In the air, growing stronger until at
o'clock darkness has shrouded the
city. making ii necessary to snap on
automobile lights and street lamps
until this weird night-in-day shall
pass and the sun reassert itself"
New Workers have every right to
feel casual about the eclipse in ad-
vance of its arrival For they have
never seen one. The last total eclipse
over Manhattan Island was viewed by
Indians, probably only a handful of
them. unprepared for any heavenly
prarks, and hence frightened to the
depths OF their superstitious souls.
Recur Every $50 Years.
Total eclipses occur over one given
locality on an average of once every
$50 years, so that ii is a lucky gen.
Grafton that sees one.
The path of the eclipse begins, as
already stated, in northern Minnesota.
The farmer in that section will watch
the sun rise with the dark globe OF
the moon across its face. For the
moon will have then finished her
nights course across heaven only to
get in the way of the sun as it
pokes itself over the horizon. and
from then on until the sun sets in the
West the shadow of the moon viii
trace an elliptical path over the earth,
so that the people living in that path
will successfully have the shadow
pass over them.
At any given time this shadow
would appear to a detached heavenly
observer as a black dot on the sur
face of the earth. This dot is the
apex of the conical shadow thrown
by the moon, and it is about 100 miles
in diameter. The dot itself repre-
sents the area in which the sun will
De totally ODScuTeQ TO those within
1t, but around it's black. intensity
there is a great penumbral area,
circle $500 miles in diameter, within
which the sun will be partially OBJ
scured That is, from the Amazon
River on the South to Greenland on
the North, this semi darkness will
spread out in diminishing intensity
from the black dot of total obscurity.
Goes 1.sOO Miles an Hour.
This is well illustrated by what is
70 happen here in New York. The
black dot and its shadowy penumbraI
cloak appears first in Minnesota, and
begins its terrific race eastward at
the rate of half a mile a second
1900 miles an hour-so that the on
rushing wall of darkness will leave
Duluth, Mimi, at O'Clock and be
in New York at Oil o'clock-and cut
over the Atlantic tracks before you
have finished your breakfast, provid-
ing you can think of breakfast on
such an occasion.
The penumbrial shadow will begin
to appear over New York at o'clock,
when the moon will take it's first
bite of the sun. Gradually the moons
orb will cut deeper across the suns
face until at GIL total obscurity will
occur, lasting here only half a min
ute before the moon slides off to the
eastward and the suns face is grad
ually uncovered again. This will
happen al 1929 o'clock, when day
light will be completely restored.
That brief half minute Of totality
represents the time required for tn Q
black dot to pass over US, and be-
cause we are on its southern rim-its
center will be over New Haven-only
the part of the city above One Hun
dred and Tenth street will be in the
area of total observation, while the
lower half of the city will be in the
darkest part of the penumbral
shadow. That is, If you view the
eclipse from the Bronx you will see
the entire face of the sun obliterated,
but if you watch it from the Battery
there VIII be a golden crescent of
sunlight apparent even at the height
of the eclipse.
The further south or the further
north you go from the black dot the
larger will be the crescent. At Albany
80 per cent of the suns diameter
will be covered by the moon, at Cam
bridge, Mass, north of the black dot,
the same amount of observation will
be visible, at Chicago, Philadelphia.
Detroit, Montreal and Toledo there
will be an obstruction of 95 per cent
or more, and the further away from
the black dot the less will be the
observation, so that the alligator hunt
err on the Amazon and the polar bear
hunter in Greenland will each see the
eclipse as merely tiny notch of black
on the rim of the sun.
Natures Greatest Exhibit.
Why so much fuss about the eclipse,
whether 1t Is partial or total?
What has the ordinary mortal got to
do with this thing that 80 excites
those lonely watchers of the skies the