SOLAR ECLIPSE. 



SOLAR ECU P>K. 



During this time, the drk body of the moon appeared to be surrounded 

 by cor\mi'f pale light The planets Venut, Mercury, and Saturn, 

 and several of the fixed star*, were risible to the naked ere. On the 

 ..iiiiimiu of some of the mountains of Switzerland, where the view was 

 not impeded by the gross vapours which accumulate in the lower 

 regions of the atmosphere, the stars appeared as thickly strewed as in 

 the time of full moon. 



On the 3rd of May, 1715, there occurred a total eclipse of the sun, 

 which was visible in London, and of which H alloy has given an 

 interesting account in a paper published in the ' Philosophical Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society ' for the same year. The total obscuration 

 lasted 3" 22*. The planets Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus, as well as 

 Capella and Aldebaran, were viable to the naked eye. 



On the 22nd of May, 1724, a total eclipse of the sun occurred at 

 Paris. The total obscuration looted only a little more than two 

 minutes. Venus, Mercury, and a few of the fixed stars were visible to 

 the naked ey*. 



The next total eclipse of the sun recorded in history was visible in 

 the northern countries of Europe. It occurred on the 2nd of May, 

 1733. The total obscuration lasted a little more than three minutes. 

 The planet Jupiter, the stan of Una Major, Capella, and several other 

 tan, were visible to the naked eye. Besides the corona, several 

 reddish patches of light were seen around the dark body of the moon. 

 This is the earliest allusion to the well-known red prominences which 

 have excited so much interest in recent yean. 



A total eclipse of the sun which occurred in the Southern Ocean 

 on the !>th of February, 1766, was observed by the persons on board 

 the French ship the Comte d'Artois. The obscuration lasted only 5-3 

 seconds. 



On the 24th of June, 1778, a total eclipse of the sun was observed 

 at sea by the Spanish Admiral Don Antonio Ulloa, while proceeding 

 from the Azores to Cape St. Vincent The obscuration lasted four 

 minutes. The corona around the moon appeared in great splendour. 



On the 16th of June, 1806, a total eclipse of the .sun was visible in 

 North America, at Kinderhook, in the state of New York, where it was 

 observed by Don Joachim Ferrers. The obscuration lasted 4 m 37*. 



Another total eclipse of the sun, which waa visible in America, 

 occurred on the 30th of November, 1834. At Milledgeville, Georgia, 

 where it was observed by the French astronomer Nicollet, the obscura- 

 tion lasted 1" 15*. At Beaufort, South Carolina, two planets and four 

 stan of the first magnitude were visible to the naked eye. 



On the 7th of July, 1842, there occurred a total eclipse of the sun, 

 which was visible in the south of Europe. At Perpignan, where the 

 phenomenon was obeerved by the late M. Arago and other French 

 astronomers, the complete obscuration of the solar disc lasted only 

 2" 24*. In the count! ies of Eastern Europe, the interval of totality 

 was somewhat longer. At Lipesk, it lasted 3 5*. The corona on this 

 occasion was very conspicuous. Several red protuberances were also 

 seen around the dark body of the moon. 



On the th of August, 1850, there occurred a total eclipse of the 

 sun, which was visible in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. At 

 Honolulu, the chief town of the Pacific Isles, it was observed by 

 M. Kutczycki, who has given an interesting account of the phenomenon 

 in the ' Comptes Rendus ' of the Academy of Paris for April 21, 1851, 

 The red prominences were very conspicuous on this occasion. 



The next total eclipse of the sun occurred on the 28th of July, 1851, 

 and, having been visible in the northern countries of Europe, was 

 observed by a great number of astronomers. The totality, generally 

 speaking, lasted about three minutes. Several rose-coloured promi- 

 nences were seen around the moon's limb. 



On the 30th of November, 1853, there occurred a total eclipse of the 

 sun, which was visible in South America. At Occaje, in Peru, it was 

 observed by M. Moesta, director of the National Observatory of 

 Santiago, in Chili. The totality lasted 2 m 59'. The planets Jupiter 

 and Venus were very conspicuous. Antares, which was within 5 of 

 the sun, was also distinctly visible. Several rose-coloured prominences 

 were observed around the moon's limb. 



On the 7th of September, 1858, there occurred a total eclipse of the 

 sun. which was also visible in South America. At Paranagua. in 

 Brazil, it was observed by M. de Mello, director of the Imperial 

 Observatory of Rio Janeiro ; by M. Liais, a French astronomer ; and 

 several other individuals despatched for the purpose by the Brazilian 

 government Several protuberances were seen. The corona appears to 

 have exhibited a very complicated structure. The planets Venus, Mer- 

 cury, and Saturn, besides Sinus, Canopus, and three other stars, supposed 

 to be a and ft Centauri and a Crucis, were seen during the totality. 



The last total eclipse of the sun which we have to mention is one 

 which occurred on the 18th of July, 1860. On this occasion, the 

 moon's shadow tint traversed a portion of the North American Conti- 

 nent ; it then swept across the Atlantic, and subsequently scoured the 

 entire breadth of the Spanish peninsula, the eclipse terminating in the 

 French colony of Algiers. The phenomena of the eclipse were observed 

 by a great number of astronomers, both official and private, who had 

 repaired to Spain for that purpose from every country in Europe. The 

 British government placed at the disposal of the observers from this 

 country the steamship Himalaya, for the purpose of conveying them 

 from England to the Spanish coast A party consisting of ! 

 forty and fifty individuals, headed by the Astronomer-Koyal, availed 



Ives of this liberal offer. The greater number of the observers 

 disembarked at Bilbao, a town in the Bay of Biscay.; the remainder 

 proceeded to Santander, which is situate about 30 miles further west. 

 An arrangement was made by which the observers distributed them- 

 selves as widely as circumstances would admit over the track of the 

 moon's shadow, with the view of guarding against casualties of the 

 weather. A party, consisting of Captain Uacob, late director of 

 the Madras Observatory, the Rev. Dr. McTaggart of Glasgow, and the 

 writer of the supplementary matter of this article, observed the eclipse 

 I'ri'iu the southern slope of the Sierra de Tolonio, a lofty mountain- 

 range, commanding a most extensive view of the valley of the Ebro, 

 along which the moon's shadow was to pass. The total obscuration 

 of the solar disc lasted 3" 20'. The planets Venus and Jupiter were 

 seen shining with great splendour. Persons whose attention was not 

 distracted by other matters perceived also seven or eight fixed stan. 

 The corona was unusually brilliant on this occasion. Several rose- 

 coloured protuberances were also visible: 



We shall now give a special description of some of the more promi- 

 nent features of total eclipses of the sun. 



The corona of light which surrounds the dark body of the moon 

 during the totality of a solar eclipse has been remarked by more than 

 one ancient author. Plutarch especially refers to it in very explicit 

 terms. Speaking of total eclipses of the sun he says : " But even 

 although the moon were at any time to conceal the whole body of 

 the sun, still the eclipse is deficient in duration as well as amplitude, 

 for there is seen around the margin a certain brightness which prevents 

 the shadow from being very deep." All modern accounts of total eclipses 

 of the sun agree in describing the corona as a characteristic feature of 

 the totality. Its light has been generally remarked to be of a pale 

 silvery colour, and to diminish gradually in brightness from the moon's 

 limb. Its breadth may be said to amount to half the moon's radius, 

 but there extend from it rays of much greater length, causing it to 

 resemble the glory which painters in Roman Catholic countries throw 

 around the heads of the saints. 



Whatever may be the physical cause of the corona, it is very plain 

 from the accounts of observers, that its brightness is not the same 

 during every eclipse. Thus M. Kutczycki states; that on the occasion 

 of the total eclipse of 1850, the corona vanished at the very instant of 

 the reappearance of thn solar light. A similar statement is made by 

 M. Moesta with reference to the total eclipse of 1853. On the other 

 hand, in the case of the eclipse of 1800, the writer distinctly perceived 

 the corona at least ten seconds before the totality. Certain other 

 observers perceived it even earlier. It also continued to be visible for 

 several seconds after the reappearance of the solar light. In conse- 

 quence of the bright light of the corona, the darkness during the 

 totality was not so intense as it usually is during the occurrence of 

 such phenomena. 



We shall now advert briefly to the rose-coloured protuberances seen 

 around the moon's dark limb during the totality of a solar eclipse. 

 These phenomena were first distinctly seen during the total eclipse of 

 1733, but they do not seem to have excited any interest until the 

 observation of similar phenomena on the occasion of the eclipse of 

 1842 attracted the attention of astronomen to the subject. The 

 following is a description by M. Mauvais of the protuberances as 

 observed by him at Perpignan during the last-mentioned eclipse. 



" A few seconds after the total obscuration, while endeavouring to 

 measure the breadth of the corona, I perceived a reddish point at the 

 inferioi? limb of the moon, which, however, did not project sensibly 

 beyond the limb. After an interval of fifty-six seconds had elapseil 

 from the commencement of the totality, the reddish point .to which 1 

 have referred, transformed itself into two protuberances, similar to two 

 contiguous mountains, perfectly well defined. Their colour was not 

 uniform. Upon their slopes were seen streaks of a deeper tint. I 

 cannot give a more exact idea of their aspect than by comparing them 

 to the peaks of the Alps illuminated by tb.e setting sun and seen afar 

 off. After the lapse of one minute and leu seconds from the com- 

 mencement of the totality, a third mountain was perceived to the left 

 of the two others. It exhibited the same aspect as far as regards 

 colour. It was flanked by some smaller peaks, but all were perfectly 

 well defined. While this third mountain was in the process of issuing 

 forth, the first two continued all the while to increase. They finally 

 attained a height of about 2'. The interval between the two groups 

 appeared to embrace an arc of about 25 on the moon's limb. Tin; 

 most considerable group, apparently the most western, seemed to me 

 to be a few degrees to the left of the lowest point of the moon's disc." 



Francis Baily, who observed the eclipse from a station in th'- 

 vicinity of Pavia, in Italy, remarks (' Mem. Ast. Soc.,' vol. xv.) that the 

 protuberances resembled mountains of prodigious elevation. Their 

 colour appi-aivd red, tinged with lilac or purple, or rather their aspect 

 suggested the colour of the peach blossom. According to M. Littrow, 

 who observed the protuberances at Vienna, their aspect, which was 

 first white, changed to rose colour, and then to violet, and afterwards 

 passed in a reverse order through the same tints. M. Otto Struve, 

 who observed the eclipse at Li|>e.-k, remarks, in reference to the rose- 

 coloured protuberances, that a very large part of the moon's disc was 

 garnished with a similar reddish bordering. 



The red prominences which appeared during the total eclipse of 

 1861 have been well described by the numerous skilled observer* 



