i88 



NA TURE 



L December 24, 1891 



THE ECLIPSE OF JANUARY i, 1889.^ 



TOURING the year 1889 two total eclipses occurred, one 

 •*-^ on January l, and the other on December 21. The 

 present report refers to the former, and contains a detailed ac- 

 count of all the work that was undertaken by those who formed 



hamlet called Noraian, on the north branch of the Southern 

 Pacific Railway, about 130 miles from San Francisco. Situated 

 south was Mount Shasta, and so nearly was it in the meridian 

 that, as Prof. Pritchett says, "its snow-capped cone was used 

 for instrumental adjustment without appreciable error." 



The equipment as regards instruments included an equatorial 



Fig. I. — Prof. Engler's sketch of corona, 



the party from the Washington University Observatory. Owing 

 to the proximity of this Observatory to the path of totality, the 

 ehance of observing the eclipse was made the most of, but was 

 only made possible, as Prof. Pritchett says, " by the kindness of 

 Government officials and others in lending instruments, and by 

 the liberality of friends of the University in subscribing money 

 for the necessary expenses." 



camera, with one of Dallmeyer's patent portrait and group lenses, 

 size No. 8.D., having a clear aperture of 60 inches, and an 

 equivalent focal length of 37 '9 inches. Owing to the difficulty 

 of keeping the tube light-tight, to prevent the fogging of the 

 plates, an automatic shutter had to be used, the largest obtain- 

 able cutting the aperture down to 4 '5 inches. Two telescopes 

 were also employed — one being a 4-inch Clark's refractor 



Fig. 2. — Composite photograph of corona, 



The party consisted of Profs. H. S. Pritchett, Director of the 

 Observatory, F. E. Nipher, and E. A. Engler, together with 

 Prof. C. M. Charroppin, of the St. Louis University Observatory, 

 and Prof. Seiior Valle, of the National Observatory of Mexico. 



The spot fixed upon for observing the eclipse was a small 



' Report of the Washington University Eclipse Party, 

 NO. 1 1 56, VOL. 45] 



equatorially mounted, with magnifying powers from 50 to 400; 

 the other a French instrument with an aperture of 3 inches, and 

 an altitude and azimuth mounting. 



Although the first contact was lost through the formation of a 

 heavy bank of clouds, the sky near the sun soon afterwards 

 became clear, and " the seeing was excellent and the image of 

 the sun was sharp and distinct." In all the six ne gatives 



