Evening star., 1937-06-10
BY G.. X. DISHER.

>N'''''t It" t'tto VyttS coSNf IutDg y.
BY c. X. DISHER
LIMA, June 10 NANAO-Follr
hours after our return to the Lima
Airport, Mai Albert w. Stevens. Co.
pilot E. w. Gray, Photographer j. w.
Runcie and l discussed every second
OF our observations Of the eclipse as
we had seen it from Pan-American-
Grace ArWays' Flying Observatory at
a point $4,000 feet above Chimbote,
Peru, directly in the path of the
eclpSes totality As We went over
our timing of each move and our notes
on the cloud distribution, Mai Stevens
and Runcie became even more con-
yinced than before that our photo-
graphic records should turn out re-
markably near to perfection.
We had arrived at our pre-
determined altitude of $4,000 feet at
$40 and in ample time to make
practice run against stop watch OF
the maneuvers We planned during
totality. At Sis We set our course due
north. At 5:l6l2 shadows, looking
like those cast by an approaching
storm, had advanced rapidly toward
us over the cloud bank far below US.
Seemingly at the same instant the
sun became completely obecured and
the corona burst into view Co-pllot
Gray, eyes glued on his split-second
wrist watch, turned the ship 20 de-
grees to the right as We had rehearsed
1t. I began photographing the eclipse
with a small colored movie camera
Of Maj. Stevens. 1t ran down in Z
minutes, and, while, reUlnding I got
a chance to notice that, so miles TO
the north Of us, the sky was It's usual
light blue with he sun still shining
on the mountains, We were in SEMI
darkness. Below us the sea coast
seemed in complete blackness.
Shadows on Cloud Recede.
I returned to my photography for
another half minute until the end Of
the eclipses totality. then noticed the
shadows on the cloud below recedlng
with lightning speed eastward. We
swung the plane l80 degrees, headed
southwest. Far ahead 1 could see
daylight outside the shadow band just
as I had to the north. Along the
sea coast the mountains seemed grad
ually to tighten. A few minutes after
o'clock the sun began sinking below
the horizon. its last visible image being
shaped more like a canoe than any
other object We could think Of.
During the approximately three
minutes Of the eclipse's totallty the
air had been extremely clear and ths
corona intensely bright. The CON-
| census Of our impressions was that the,
coronas pattern was more symetrical
than shown in photographs any o4
US had seen of earlier eclipses we,
were astounded by the variety of coll
ors-orange. red. yellow purple Our
negatives may tell different stony.
| Our only fear for our photogra ple.<
results was that the corona light waS
so bright, as it reached us through
/ the rarifled air at our great altitude,
that it might have overexposed some Of
| the film. However, a carefully sched-
uled variation Of camera speeds should
! insure that very large percentage
! Of our pictures would be excellent.
Two items astonished all OF us.
First, this extreme brightness of the
corona which 1 have Just mentioned.
Second, the narrowness of the shadow
as seen from our altitude We had
/ anticipated shadow of $50 miles in
width, but from our altitude it seemed
/ to us considerably narrower than that
figure, Here again, our Photographic
record will be undoubtedly more pre-
else and reliable than our own i'm
/ pressions. None of us will ever forget
the black streak of sky directly above
U.s. shading to clear blue of full sun.
light to either side.
First Indication of Shadow.
The first indication We had had Of
the shadow was the darkening of the
previously clear horizon from $50
miles away as though a storm was
approaching in that quarter. A
minute later the shadow became
visible on the cloud layer below us.
first indicated by slight graying
rapidly deepening to black with .
purplish cast. AS the leading edge Of
the shadow passed under the plane
1t seemed as though giant paint
brush had been drawn across the
| clouds.
All of US noticed that as We turned.
following the totality. there seemed to
be greenish-c copper r-colored glow
around the plane lasting 5 to 10 sec
onds. During that turning We had
! chance to view the receding shadows
| Of Hauscaran, the great Andean peak.
the highest in Peru, which looms to
an altitude of $4,000 feet, its dazzling
white SHOWS emerging from their tenn
| porary blackness. The whole general
effect Of the shadow in that direction
was as though a great rain squawl
was rushing swiftly across the Andes.
From other points in Peru, where
scientific ground expeditions had TAX
en- position, came news of almost uni
versal satisfaction with the results
achieved Maj. Stevens estimated from
his notes that at least 95 per cent Of
| the Peruvian country in the path OF
the eclipse had been favored with
clear sunlight just prior to and during
its cutting of by the moon,
! tCopyright, 1887, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. 1nc)