Year: 1875

The nature OF eclpses and their have been al


ready so fully treated of in the HERALD that It will be
unnecessary speak in detail of them now in alluding
TO the coming solar eclipse of the Goth inst To under
stand this beautiful phenomenon it will be sufficient to
remember few elementary truths Of astronomy The
sum- which to become weary, is in reality
fixed in the void of heaven The earth, distant more
than 10000 600 of miles from the great luminary,
moves round and round him without ceasing making
entire circuit every year and deviating from
the path through which at first she strobe
in the realms of space This track was
known and mapped in China and Hindos-
tan while Rome's empire yet young
before Caesar, Alexander or Homer lived. The moon,
almost 400 times nearer to than the sun, swings
round the earth every twenty-nine days in path
which lies nearly in the Plane on the same level
with the track of the earth itself Long Of
observation and study have made astronomers
quainted with every mile OF this circular route and


those subtle calculators oretel with unerring
tainty what positions the earth and will hold in
space at any future period however remote True is
that the revolutions of the celestial orbs subject to
variations that the earth shifts from path and the
moon from hers; but these mutations however COM
pex take place according to established and well known
laws of which due account is taken in astronomical
! predictions.


| IL
ent instance annular eclipse of the for sepem


Der 29 that they tell the instants of its beginning
and ending well the regions of the earth where the
phenomenon will be visible, and, finally, that they
able to make known the epochs of all eclipses and
the circumstances under which they will for
| turies yet to come


WHAT rs A SOLAR ECLIPSE?


1t will be remembered that the moon in making her
monthly circuit about the earth passes Sometimes
directly between us and the sum- shutting out his light
from and leaving portions of the earth in darkness
! This is called eclipse of the Sometimes she
steals by hiding portion only of the SUMS face This
is called partial solar eclipse. At other times in
the full blaze of she stroIs softly portion
of his rim, gradually concealing and OF the
bright disc; the air becomes damp and chilly, and the
| light grows faint and dim the grand lumnary is
steadily shorn of his beams. The fiery portion OF his
disc dwindes into slender crescent, and all once
mortals lose sight Of his rays The stands di-
rectly between the earth and the sum- and Luna
her black shadow directly Day is suddenly
turned into night, tho stars peep from their hiding
places, strange and unnatural gloom permeaes the
mosphere impartng pale violet hue to the sky and
tinging objects with ghost-like shades of yellow
Mems faces a weird appearance, and
the very animals manifest signs of distress
and fright at the grim aspect of nature.
The seems to have been completely blotted out
from the heavens. luminous aurora encircling the
moon is the only token OF his presence beyond This
wonderful occurrence, which in older times
garded with and anxiety, is called total solar
eclipse and is important than the partial eclipse
for purposes OF calculation and study The pale
apparent about the is in reality the suns
phere penetrated at intervals by tongues of lame from
the molten mass which project outward from twenty
eighty thousand miles beyond the surface thereof II


in studying the appearance and constituents OF these
colossal protuberances and of the SUMS aTing
pherc that Of science chiefly occupy themselves
| during total eclipse OF the sun. But apart from a
knowledge OF the nature and extent of the SUMS at
| mosphere, there numerous


ADVANTAGES TO BE DERIVED


from careful scrutiny of the relative position Of
| the and moon during the eclipse These it is
needless TO recapuate here, more especially the
coming eclipse will not be total one but merely what


is known as annular or ring eclipse 1t called
because its the moon does cover the
whole Of the SUMS face, and leaves thin strip of his
riIh visible all the way round The fact that the


Is sometimes large enough TO obscure the entire sum-
while at other times the SUMS rim visible around the
moon, is duo TO the proximity Of the moon in the
former and its increased distance ia the latter
The nearer the is the earth the
amount of sunlight it cuts on When IL is
at an increased distance the takes place. More
ove the Is 3 coo COO OF miles further from in
summer than in winter His apparent Size is
qucnty less IN summer, and his disc IS eectualy
obscured at the stage of least magnitude. During the
coming eclipse the obscured portion ofthe SUMS will
exceed nineteen wentiehs of the entire Disc that
the ring when wiz enc.rcle the mon VIII be
only the twentieth part OF the whole circle
| Total darkness does not accompany the annu-
| lar eclipse, although the diminuton of solar light
and heat quite observable remarkable feature
this well oil al solar eclipseS that will
be visible at all places where it will be day the
earth's surface When the moon is ecpsed the occur
renee is visible at the instant everywhere the
moOn-is shining. Not so with solar ecllpses. The
is that the sunbeams of only from that
spot the earths surface which the moons shadow
falls. Owing the dimensions of the the
comparative smaness OF the tho said shadow
covers only small portion of the earths surface In
Canada the might seem to obscure slice OF the
southern rim OF the sun, whereas TO observer in
Florida she would appear TO eclipse part of his north
edge. As the moon advances in her orbit
i rim fQ nt afft rIf clnu-tr
diminishes to thread at the other. Eastward the
moon stIll pushes, and, curtain is drawn away
uniolds the sun in full glory once again The ring is
most symmetrical when the observer is in a line with
the OF both bodies, in which the eclipse is
said to be central At places north OF such observer
the moon would appear lower on the disc, and Utce
versG


will be central and annuar all persons situated
the following line, viz :-Commencng near Oswego
N " in latitude 434 deg NORTH longitude II deg. west
thence sweeping with a velocity OF thirty miles a
he rate Of the moons notion in eastsouth
east direction across Saratoga, N. Y, through
Arlington and Putney W.; Londonderry N.
latitude AZ deg 53 min, longitude 10 deg SO min.-
viz near Salisbury at the northeast boundary Of Mass
achuseus. Thence the imaginary shadow will con-
its flight southeast through the Atlantic, sweeping
the tracks OF all the European steamers IL will
encounter the western OF Africa in latitude IL deg
NORTH longitude 16 deg. west, Cape Yord whence
it will fly with increasing swiitness reaching Afrca's
shore IN the orteh degree Of east Longitude and
fifteenth Of south latitude and will touch the lslo
Of Madagascar by sunset, deg further east when 1t
viii take It's departure from the cart having made the
entire passage IN Sh p an The reader may deem
IL strange that, whereas the eclipse will
begin at sunrise in the United States
its termination will find the sun setting
on tho Madagascar shores three hours and a half
subsequently, This apparent discrepancy due to the
that while the sun Is rising at places he Is
ting at others and blazing in fierce some
OF the intermediate countries II the reader stretch
thread tight a Mercator map from the point at
Oswego the said portion OF Madagascar the eclipse
will appear central to all places covered by the thread
TO persons within sixty miles of this limo the eclipse
WILL bt as "A RI n
encrcling the AT places further than sixty
mios from the central line the will appear a
crescent OF varying Ezo according the spectators To-
cation. In New York city and its vicinity the crcs
cent will be pointed toward the northern edge Of
the sun, and tho moon will pass from tho upper
western the lower eastern part Of the rim The
nclinan VIII ha cnniral thnn lnrrn nnrnn