The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-08-30
MILLIONS WILL
SEE SUN PASS
into SHADOW
Eclipse Wednesday to Be
Greatest Astronomical
Show in Years.
CONTINUED From Page One)

IlBHL AZ lllt sun Will Vic uAApAO-
tected eyes. To do so is 10 run the
risk Of permanent damage to the
retina, and possible blindness.
Smoked glass is an old standby for
solar observation, but, even better,
and more readily available in these
modern times, is an old densely ex-
posed and developed Photographic
negative.
If you have a small telescope, with
tripod, or some other firm support,
1t may be used. There are special
solar eyepieces for telescopes, which
reduce the light sufficiently to per-
NIT the observer to look right
through it when pointed to the sun.
Screen More Convenient
Still more convenient, and per-
hitting a view by several people at
once, is a white screen, placed where
the back of ones head would be
when looking through the telescope.
A collar, consisting of a cardboard
disc with a hole cut in the center,
may be placed around the telescope
to shield the screen from the direct
rays Of the sun.
Then, if the instrument is pointed
TO the sun, and it is focused by
pulling the eyepiece in and out, an
image of the sun several inches in
diameter can be seen on the screen.
Perhaps a few sunspots will be
visible, though that is not so likely,
because this is the time of fewest
spots in the eleven-year cycle in
which they wax and wane
With such device, at about lis
p. M, central standard time, on
eclipse day. a Slight nick will appear
in the suns right hand edge, as seen
in the sky. This nick will increase
gradually in size, finally leaving only
a narrow crescent of sunlight
The dark circle, Of course, is the
moon, invisible until it actually
comes in front of the sun. At about
2.30, or about 225 in southern Que
bee, totality will arrive. If you look
to the northwest, you will see the
moons shadow approaching, at a
speed Of about 1000 miles an hour.
Shines Through Moons Valleys
Or, If you look at the sun at this
same time, you will see the crescent
of sunlight break up into a series of
bead-like spots of light. These are
called the Baily's beads, after the
English astronomer who first de-
Scribed them, and they are caused
by the suns light continuing to
shine through valleys on the moon,
while adjacent lunar peaks already
have passed beyond the suns edge
But the Baily's beads last only an
instant, and there flashes out
around the moons dark disc, now
visible in it's entirety, the solar
corona, which has been observed to
extend for nearly 100000 miles
from the sun.
Now it is safe to look directly at
the sun, for the light of the corona
is about a millionth as bright as the
uneclipSed sun, or about half as
bright as the full. moon. Possibly
you may see some brilliant spots of
red light, close to the lunar disc.
These are the solar prominences,
giant. flames of hydrogen and other
gases, often rising to height of
several hundred thousand miles.
Even a very small one could engulf
the earth. The prominences are the
brightest things visible during a
total eclipse, even brighter than the
corona itself.
Stars Come Into View
Around the eclipsed sun, which
will be in the west, 80 degrees above
the horizon, the brighter stars and
planets will come into view. The
planet Jupiter will shine brilliantly
just to the right of the corona +;
farther to the right, and lower, will
be seen Mercury.
The star Regulus will appear be-
low Jupiter, Denebola will be above
the sun and Spica to the left.
Castor and PolluX, the twins, will be
visible in the northwest.
Though the sun will be obscured.
the ground will not be as dark as on
a moonlight night In addition to
the light from the corona, there is
considerable illumination from the
part of the atmosphere outside the
conical shadow of the moon.
But not for long can one gaze on
the eclipsed sun. At the center of
the eclipse path. it will last for
about a hundred seconds. Even
forty miles either side of the center
it will last for at least minute.
But in the outer ten miles of the
strip, its duration falls off rapidly.
Right on the edge, it may last only
fraction of a second.
The end of the eclipse is heralded
by the temperance of the Baily's
beads, this time on the right hand
edge of the sun. The beads coalesce
TO form the crescent, which in
creases in size as the moon moves
on to the left. AT about 1885 there
is again only a nick in the suns
edge, then this vanishes and the
eclipse is over.
Astronomers to Be Busy
Spectacular as will be the total
eclipse of the sun visible in eastern
Canada and New England, most of
the astronomers along the path will
be too busy to pay much attention
to its beauties.
Their time, in the brief hundred
seconds during which the moon will
cover the sun, will be occupied in
taking photographs which they will
study for months, and even years.
Few Of the astronomers will be able
to give the eclipse itself more than
passing glance, and some actually
will have to work during the pre-
cious moments in a dark room at
the end of long camera, where
they will not see the eclipse at all!
The cameras will be Of all varie-
ties and sizes. Largest will be one
IS feet long, which will be set up at
Conway, N. H, by party from The