Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1963-07-11
On July 20
COuntians Plan Maine Visit
To Photograph Solar Eclipse
By Robin Dorr
Sentinel Reporter

CAAOA tAAO NOAAoNO41eA IAO1lS IAAC1 c
of shall not give their light:
the sun shall be darkened in
his going forth, and the
moon shall not cause her
light to shine"
The awe-filled hours of a solar
eclipse, described in the ancient
Book of Isaiah, 1910, will be
repeated July 20 at approx
mately $40 pm. For SO Sec
onds blackness will envelope
certain parts of the world, in
Guiding a 50-mile-wide strip of
Maine.
Four Montgomery County
youths and one adult will be in
Coratunk, Me, to record and
photograph this strange phe-
nomenon which has occurred
since the beginning of recorded
time.
81 consider this to be very
important scientific minute"
according to Mahlon Norton,
4O17 Wexford Drive, Kensing-
ton. 1T will be possible for US
to measure the earth's magnetic
field during the eclipse to men,
ton just one of many possibili-
ties" he added.
my sons, Paul and Mitchell,
are old enough to appreciate
the historical significance of the
event, and we are taking two
friends along with us on this
camping expedition" Norton
said.
Paul Norton, IA, is a student
at Newport Junior High School,
and Mitchell Norton, 10, studies
at Rock Creek Palisades Ele-
mentary School. They have in
vited Robert Stephens, Ia, of
4005 Wexford Drive, Kensing-
ton, and Ronnie Morse, Is, re-
Gently of Kensington. Both at
tended Einstein High School.
1--WE had a taste of travel,
"says Stephens, "but now I can
see space travel, in a way" His
father, Robert F. Stephens, for
merly Cultural Affairs Officer
stationed in Kenya, is now Chief
of Eastern and South African
Affairs in the Bureau of Cul-
tural and Educational Affairs.
Ronnie Morse, who recently
moved to California, noted, II
wanted to see all my friends in
the county, but 1 was chiefly
interested in going on this trip
to Maine to see and photograph
this eclipse" His father, Arthur
o. Morse, is a senior electronics
physicist, formerly with Rabi-
now Engineering in Rockville,
now with Aerospace in Cali
fornia.
Norton, Research Director at
Booz-Allen Applied Research
Inc, Bethesda, plans to accom-
plish four things which he hopes
will be of scientific significance.
First of all we will take
photographs of the sun with a
special protector l have rugged"
he explained. "The protector
will throw the image of the sun
onto the surface Of beam split
ter-special optical glass which
reflects half the light, but adj
mits only half the light" he
continued.
This reflection will be thrown
on white card and a mounted
: Polaroid camera will photo
graph it, Norton added, noting
the fact that permanent eye
damage can result from looking
directly into the sun during the
eclipse.
Secondly" he said, 1--WE want
to record the amount of light
from the sun with a photo cleo
trio cell, a device which converts
light energy into electrical
energy"
"A very important part of the
experiment according to Norton,
lis the third item which is
measuring the earth's magnetic
field before and during the
eclipse. Before the learned
scientist could explain, all four
youths chimed in to straighten
out the confused reporter.
''If we ever reach the moon 1t
will be important to know il 1t
contains magnetic materials, y
explained bert Stephens.
Added Paul Norton, "Our land
ings would be greatly affected
II magnetic materials are pres
ent."
This hasn't been done by
amateurs before" offered Ron
ME Morse, "Or professionals,
either. as far as we know"