[ 159 ] 



ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 

 [Continued from p. 74.] 



Account of the Annular Eclipse of the 9th November, 1847. By 

 Major Lysaght. 



Hingolee, at which station the following observations were made, 

 is situated in lat. 19° 43' 12", long. 77° 7' 5" E. The former may 

 be depended upon as correct, but the latter is open to correction. 



The weather was very unpromising, and heavy clouds showed 

 themselves in the forenoon; but a short time previous to the com- 

 mencement of the eclipse they cleared off towards the western horizon, 

 and left the required part of the heavens beautifully clear and serene, 

 with a light wind. 



The observations were made with a Dollond's 35-foot refractor, 

 2*7 inches aperture and power 25, with a coloured glass, which gave 

 the sun a greenish-yellow colour. A thermometer was placed against 

 a brick wall with the sun shining directly on its bulb, and a baro- 

 meter and a spirit thermometer in the shade of an open verandah : 

 the times were noted by an assistant with a chronometer, adjusted 

 to mean time by an observation of the sun in the morning. 



The day was exceedingly hot for the season of the year, the ex- 

 posed thermometer standing at 129 0, 5 a short time before the com- 

 mencement of the eclipse, but it fell immediately after the time of first 

 contact was given to 92 0, 2. 



Before the commencement of the eclipse the spots on the sun 

 appeared fainter than usual, or than I had observed them a day or 

 two before with a smaller telescope ; but the faculse were very bright. 

 As the moon advanced over the sun, the spots became much darker 

 and well-defined, and round the largest (near the centre) was a dark 

 fine ring, conforming to the shape of the spot, the intervening space 

 being of the same dull colour as the rest of the sun. 



The eye having been withdrawn for a little time from the telescope, 

 the exact time of first contact was lost by a few seconds. 



On nearing the solar spots, the moon, which up to this period 

 was well-defined, became undulating, and this undulation increased 

 until the annulus was about to form, when the lower limb again 

 became steady and well-defined, and the upper, first much serrated, 

 and then hillocky. At first this was attributed to the lunar moun- 

 tains, but except in two or three places they all subsided. Imme- 

 diately before the formation of the annulus, and on the western edge, 

 a dark line was seen to connect the limbs of the sun and moon, and 

 gave the idea of a post raised gradually from behind on one of the 

 hillocks, and extending to the sun's limb. This was followed by 

 another : both remained a few seconds, but the manner of their dis- 

 appearance was not particularly observed ; then appeared a thin 

 thread of light, which was noted as the formation of the annulus. 



As the ring increased in breadth, the southern limb of the moon 

 became pinnacled, and an instantaneous blaze of light was seen, 

 which had more the appearance of a fire suddenly breaking out on a 

 windy night in dry grass on the summit of a jungly hill (as often 



