Evening star., 1940-04-07
Clouds Here Today
To Obscure AnnuIar
Eclipse Of Sun
Roin Forecast Tonight,
Tomorrow; Warmer
Weather to Follow

Clouds that will thicken over
Washington today won't make 1t
bit easier to see the annular eclipse
Of the sun this afternoon.
The weather man last night
forecast cloudy skies for Washing
ton. The clouds, however, will be
high and probably broken, 50 that
it may be possible to see at least
part Of the eclipse.
There will be rain tonight and to-
morrow, followed by warmer
weather, the forecaster said.
The solar eclipse, which will be
only partial here, will begin at 3:47
pm. and end at 6:15 pm. The
moon will cover nearly 10 percent Of
the sun as seen in Washington. The
height of the solar show will be at
sos pm
Scientists Ready for Study.
South of Washington, scientists
were preparing to make their most
complete study of the phenomena.
Reports Of cloudy weather along
the narrow line on which the
eclipse will be most nearly COM
plete gave rise to fears that the
show will be spoiled for millions of
spectators.
But in Jacksonville. Fla, where
the scientists were gathered. observ-
ers were prepared to fly above the
clouds, If necessary, to get photo
graphs Of the rare ring eclipse.
"A very little cloudiness could
spoil it-if at the wrong time or the
wrong place." said Prof. William H.
Barton, executive curator of the
Hayden Planetarium, who brought
a delegation to Jacksonville from
New York to get the first photo
graphs ever taken of this type of
eclipse.
''It is the greatest gamble in SCI
ence," he declared.
May Take to Plane.
Mr.. Barton and his crew will stand
by heavy instruments, one mounted
on an anti-aircraft gun base, atop
Jacksonville's highest building until
the last moment-hoping the clouds
will clear away long enough to let
them record the phenomenon during
the five minutes it will be visible
here.
If things still look gloomy as the
time approaches they will shift their
lighter equipment to a 21-passenger
Eastern Airlines plane and 60 above
the clouds for their photographs.
Cameras with II and 20 inch
lenses will be used by the planeta-
rum delegation in the plane.
Whether the weather is clear or
not, a new United States Army
bomber equipped with the latest and
largest aerial camera in the Nation,
will 60 up more than miles to
take the pictures.
Maj. George w. Goddard, chief of
the Army's Photographic branch at
Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. will be
testing the powerful camera which
has a 60-inch telephoto lens that
weighs 80 pounds.
Picked Details at $4,000 Feet.
The camera recently photographed
gasoline pumps at filling station
from q height of more than $4,000
feet.
The eclipse, from the time the
edge Of the moon first covers the
edge of the sun until it moves COM
pletely away from the face Of the
sun, will take about three minutes.
The annular. or ring. phase will
be seen first in this country about
4:40 pm. (E. s. T) at Big Bend,
Tex.
It will continue over an area
touching San Antonio, Houston and
Beaumont. Tex; Alexandria, New
Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake
Charles, La; Natchez, Biloxi and
Hattiesburg, Miss; Mobile and
Dothan, Ala; Brunswick, Waycross
and Savannah, Ga; and Pensacola,
Tallahassee, jacksonville, st. Angus
tine and Marineland, Fla.
Partial effects of the eclipse will
be seen elsewhere, ranging from 81
per cent at Montgomery, Ala, and
jackson, Miss, to IS per cent at
Seattle and 80 per cent at Panama,
r. P.