THE 



WESTERN REVIEW OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, 



A MONTHLY RECORD OF PROGRESS IN 



SCIENCE, MECHANIC ARTS AND AGRICULTURE. 

 VOL. II. AUGUST, 1878. NO. 5. 



ASTRONOMY. 



PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE ECLIPSE. 



by edwin r. weeks. 



Editor of the Western Review : 



In compliance with your request I inclose a few hurried remarks on the re- 

 cent solar eclipse as seen from Denver. A few general remarks in regard to the 

 phenomena of solar eclipses may not be out of place. Solar eclipses are either 

 partial, annular or total, and by virtue of the inclination of the orbit of the moon 

 to that of the earth, can occur only when the nezv moon is at or near one of her 

 nodes. When the moon's position is such that only a part of the sun's disc is hid- 

 den from view, the eclipse is partial; when the moon is at or very near one of her 

 nodes, and her disc is not large enough to cover that of the sun, leaving a ring of 

 his disc visible around her dark body, the eclipse is annular ; when the moon is 

 at or quite near one of her nodes and presents a disc equal to or larger than that 

 of the sun, the eclipse is total. These last conditions were fulfilled in the eclipse 

 of to-day. The change in the apparent relative diameters of the two bodies is due 

 to the elliptical form of the orbits of the moon and earth. 



A total eclipse derives its importance from the opportunity it affords for test- 

 ing the accuracy of the lunar tables, from its being the only time when the solar 

 appendages can be subjected to investigation, and also from its being the only 

 time when the intra- Mercurial space can be searched for the mythical (?) Vulcan. 

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