Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-04
important Observations to
Take Place in SO Seconds
Time Next October.
NIUAF0U, UNIQUE POINT
IN PACIFIC, 70 BE SITE
Establishment of Ponderous Instru-
ments in Readiness on Rocky
Location Presents Problem.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

A queer. lonely little island in the
mid-Pacific will be a center of world
interest for SO seconds next October.
Niuafou, palm-covered circular ring
of land rising abruptly out of the ocean
and surrounding a large lake whose
water bubbles as if it were boiling, hap
pens to be one of the two spots crossed
by the path Of total eclipse of the
sun the morning of october 81.
The United States Naval Ooserva-
The party, composed of distinguished
astronomers, will leave San Francisco
July 81 with so tons of equipment, to be
ready for that f1eeting instant when,
If the sky happens to be clear, the black
disk of the moon can be seen swallowing
and then disgorging the sun.
This is one of the most difficult
eclipse expeditions ever attempted by
the Navy. The party, in command of
Comdr. c. H. J. Kepplar, expects to
reach Pago Page, American Samoa,
August IS. Then the equipment will be
transferred to the mine sweeper Tanager
for landing on Niuafou, 300 miles away.
A report just received from a Navy
party at Pago Page, which made pre-
liminary visit to the island, reveals
that there Is only one possible place of
anchorage for the Tanager, and that in
deep water. The cliffs of the island
rise rather abruptly on all sides, but
landing place has been found for small
boats. 1t will require extreme skill to
transport and land the heavy equip
ment, augmented by 1000 feet of lumber
brought from Pago Page, in the small
boats. The work will be possible, 1t is
believed, only on abolustely calm days.
Even a moderate breeze swelling the
ocean will make 1t very risky, If not
impossible.
will Set Up Camera.
Approximately eight weeks work will
gest Job will be building the 65-foot
camera through which the weird corona
of the eclipse will be photographed.
This will be an exact job of astronom-
ical engineering. The camera must be
directed with absolute accuracy to the
spot in the heavens where the sun and
moon will meet. None of the precious
SO seconds can be wasted in ADJUST
mentS. The astronomical markSmen
must fire rapidly and leave nothing to
chance. Calculators at the Naval OBJ
servatory, under the direction of Prof.
James Robertson, have figured it all out
months ago to the fraction of second
and the chance of error Is so slight as
to be negligible.
II the sky happens to be cloudy that
morning most Of the work will be
wasted. The astronomers are taking
big chance on the weather, because
they have no basis for predictions.
Meteorological observations never have
been taken on Niuafou, with its two
white inhabitants and LOO Polynesian
natives, and it is funny little island
where funny things may happen even to
the weather. Otherwise the astronomers
would be & little more confident than
usual because the eclipse will take place
in the morning and the morning sky of
the Pacific islands usually is clear at
that time of year. II 1t were scheduled
for the afternoon they would be very
dubious.
Niuafou is in the Tonga Archipelago,
one of the mandate islands OF New yea
land. The only other spot OF land in
the path of the eclipse is the tiny island
of Nurakita, in the Ellice group. Condi-
lions there were reported by Navy OBJ
servers as so much worse that there
was no room for choice. Usually OBJ
serVatories from several countries and
universities send expeditions to observe
total eclipses. This time 1t is so expen-
sive and difficult a proposition that the
Naval Observatory will have the held
to itself, with the exception OF one ex-
petition from New Zealand.
VIII Study Other Phases.
Scientific work will not be confined
to astronomy. Lieut.. H. c. Kellers,
medical member of the party, has
commission from the Smithsonian In
stitution to collect plants and animals.
The isolated island is so queer In other
ways that 1t Is likely to have a queer
fora and fauna. DR.. Kellers will look
out especially for one bird found there,
the melau. 1t looks something like
small pigeon, but lays eggs enormously
out of proportion to the size of its body.
These eggs are left in the sand and
hatch without any incubation.
Niuafou produces giant coconutS, the
biggest in all the Pacific. This is be-
lieved due to some queer makeup OF
the soil The same thing should bring
about other plant curiosities, for which
DR.. Kellers will keep his eyes open.
The island Is miles wide and
miles long. 1t has 80 volcanic craters,
some OF which were erupting last Feb
ruary. Last Summer there was big
eruption which destroyed a native vii
lage. This constant threat adds to the
difficulties of the expedition.
There is a vast amount of data which
astronomers can gather from eclipse
expeditions, so that they cannot afford
to miss one that is at all accessible.
Among the special detectives of the
Naval Observatory party will be obser-
vations of the so-called Einstein effect.
When the sun is covered the stars will
appear in the sky. Presumably, the
light from a distant star, passing close
to the sun, is bent toward that body. /
If this is the case, and 1t seems to
have been pretty well established by
past expeditions, the implications are
tremendous Observation of the phe-
nomenon requires such exact measure |
ments that astronomers are not entirely
satisfied The effect will be photo
graphed by the 65-toot camera and the
plates studied.
All Done by instrument.
The astronomers will leave very lit
tie to the eye. Everything will be re-
corded by the camera and the spectre |
scope, which work almost instantane- |
ously The only difficulty is in getting |
the instruments there.
Those who win take part in the ex-
petition, besides Comdr. Keppler, Lieut. |
Kellers and the Navy enlisted men, are
Prof S. A. Mitchell of the University
of Virginia Prof. r. w. Marriott of
Swarthmore College, who will study
especially the corona and the Einstein
effect: DR.. Weld Arnold Of the Ameri-
can Geographical Society, DR.. j. j.
johnson of the California Institute of
Technology. B. r. ShapleSs of the Naval
Observatory and DR.. T. A. Jaggers of
the Carnegie Institution, who will study
the volcanoes.
Navy officers who have visited Niua-
lou describe IT as &Aaped almost ex-