Evening star., 1932-08-31
|WASH|NGT ON GETS
GOOD ECLIPSE VIEW
Capital Has Ideal Weather for
Observing Astronomical
Phenomenon.
Continued From First Page.)

Continued From First Page)
near Limerick, Me. Capt. Hellwes
chose the site after a personal survey
OF the area of totality because of as
surances from the Weather Bureau
tnat the chances Of clear weather. ab-
solutely essential for the observations
planned. were slightly better there
than anywhere else.
Washington astronomers are con.
cerned with two primary objec-
tlves. First, they seek data which
Will enable them to correct the orbits
OF the sun and moon. Prof. James
Robertson, chief of the Naval Almanac
once. who predicts eclipseS and other
celestial phenomena years in advance.
Is on the spot to see how close his
mathematical computations check with
what actually happens.
The astronomers will make extremely
accurate observations of the instant the
moons shadow comes in contact with
the edge of the sun, the instant the
eclipse becomes total, the instant its
totality ceases, and the instant the
shadow clears the sun. . It Is not ex-
pected that the agreement will be abso-
Lutte. but the differences will be in terms
OF fractions of seconds.
Stars Around Sun.
Prof. Robertson has gene to extraor-
dinary extremes to predict accurately
the time elements Of this eclipse. He
has used the data from 292 occulations
of stars-the shadow of the moon gets
between various stars and the earth and
eclipses them just as it eclipSes that
other star, the sun-including some as
1 lANA AV@~ - l..
| the orbit of the moon. B..
The second interest of the naval as
| stronomerS is In the positions of stars
| surrounding the sun, which can be seen
| only during the darkness of the in
stant of totality. These positions are
of great concern to theoretical astron-
| omy. Unfortunately, this eclipse finds
the sun in a position where there are
| only a few stars in its immediate
neighborhood. Photographs will be
taken and the positions Of the stars
checked with their positions as seen in
| the night sky.
The second major expedition from
| the District is that from Georgetown
University. which. under the direction
of DR.. Paul A. McNally, has been in
| camp at Fryeburg. Me, for nearly Q
month. Very complicated apparatus has
| been set UP. The Georgetown camp
| has become the headquarters for as
| tronomers from Jesuit observatories all
| over the world. They have one of the
most ambitious programs Of any Of the
eclipse expeditions.
DR.. McNally is interested in the op-
portunity to check on the Einstein
| theory This will be done by taking
photographs of the eclipse and check
! ing on the positions of stars in the sky
| field Immediately around the darkened
sun. One of the assumptions of the
| theory of relativity is that such an
| enormous mass as the sun produces q
| depression in space into which light,
speeding past the sun from a distant
| star. must dip" Thus the light would
| appear to be bent.
May Be Observation Error. t''
Observations for the past dozen years
have seemed to confirm this. The off
| f1culty is that the bending is so slight
| that the appearance may be due to an
observational error. Although this Is
! one Of the least favorable of recent
eclipSes for such observations, the
Georgetown scientists intend TO make
the best Of it.
At the Georgetown camp Is the Able
LIE Maitre, celebrated Belgian priest
| astronomer, who is the propounder Of
| OAAC VI tiAC &C 6ACGI AANdA bAlOOA ACo Va
the structure Of the universe. The first
is that of Einstein, who considers the
universe as static. The second is that
of the Dutch astronomer, De Sitter,
who propounds the theory of an ex-
panding universe. LIE Maitre, on the
other hand, pictures a universe which
Is expanding in a different way, like a
soap bubble being blown up. LIE Maitre, it
is explained, will make no personal
observations at the time of the eclipse,
but will make close study of the
pictures taken by the Georgetown
group.
A second objective of DR.. McNally.
and his associates is to obtain, by means
of new Photographic processes. a. pic
ture of the suns conona, visible only
at the moment of totality, in its natural
colors. This f1owerlike crown OF light,
which surrounds the darkened disk, Is
said to be one of the most beautiful
objects ever seen by man. Associated
with DR.. McNally are Father John w.
Stein, director of the Vatican Observa-
tory, and Father Wulf, a Dutch Jesuit,
who plans to measure the variation in
light intensity during totality.
Also at Fryeburg the National Geo.
graphic Society has set up an obserV-
ing station and will work in close Coz
operation with the Georgetown astron-
omers A special camera built for
eclipse photographs has been set up.
The National Geographic Society
also is sponsoring an airplane night
during the eclipse, hoping to obtain
photographs from the air in case the
ground view is obscured by clouds. 1t
also hopes to photograph from an air.
plane the great elliptical shadow OF the
moon on the earth. Capt. Albert w.
,rvin k%n tV1 Nh NJ nhntn-
graphic work.
Study Of the corona is one Of the
main objectives of the Carnegie Insti-
tuition of washington expedition at
Conway, NJ H. DR.. Fred E. Wright OF
the Geophysical laboratory here is
member of this expedition. The Uni
yersity of Virginia observatory is repre-
sented at Conway by DR.. S. ]. Mitchell,
veteran observer of eclipses, whose
primary interest is in the spectrum OF
the corona.
Encamped on the summit Of Mount
Washington, highest point In the area
of totality is a small expedition from
washington in charge of Watson Davis,
director of Science Service, which plans
to photograph the progress OF the
eclipse.
Mount Washington was passed over
by the other expeditions, despite It's al
titude, because Of Weather Bureau
statements that the chances of fair
weather there are considerably less than
at other locations in the area Of totaltty.
There is a possibility, Davis said, that
this situation might be reversed. OBJ
servers at lower attitudes may find their
efforts nullified by low-hanging clouds
while there will be bea utifully clear
sky above the summit Of New Englands
highest mountain.