Spectacle

It was clear in northwestern Sumatra and partly cloudy in the neck of the Malay Peninsula for about five minutes early one afternoon last week. Half an hour later ! there were three minutes of almost perfect weather in the Philippines. If there had been perfect weather in all places the world would have been happier. As it was, there was a fair amount of contentment. Several hundred thousand dollars had been ventured on the prospect of there being good weather in those peculiar places during those particular minutes. Some twelve expeditions had traveled half way around the globe with unwieldy scientific impedimenta in order to record a total eclipse of the sun.

The Area. The eclipse of last week was something over three hours in actual duration. It covered some 110DEG of longitude, 45DEG of latitude, beginning in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa at dawn. Traveling in a northeasterly direction--into regions where the day was more advanced--it crossed the Equator, swung eastward, ended at sunset in the Pacific Ocean between Guam and New Guinea. Although a partial phase of the eclipse was visible in parts of Africa, southern Asia and a large part of Oceania, totality (where the full shadow of the moon fell upon the earth's surface) was over the ocean except on the northern tip of Sumatra, a segment of the Malay Peninsula, the southern tip of Siam and a few Philippine Islands. At the centre of the track the maximum duration of the eclipse was about five minutes, with duration decreasing at each end.

Objects of Observation. There were two chief purposes which motivated the scientists who carried huge pieces of apparatus including two telescopes over 60 ft. long to the tiny spots where observations were possible: 1) To study the "Einstein effect" -- to determine the amount which the light rays of stars are deflected in passing close to the sun; 2) To study the nature of the sun by taking pictures of its corona and outer layers.

One thing in particular was hoped for --to obtain pictures of the corona from two points where the eclipse would take place at times a half-hour apart. On this account stations were located, not only in Sumatra and the nearby Malay Peninsula where the eclipse had nearly its maximum duration, but also in the Philippines where the duration was considerably less. As it happened, the shorter duration in the Philippines was more than offset by better weather. In Sumatra there was clear weather for the necessary half-hour, but some of the expeditions on the Malay Peninsula failed entirely. There should. however, be photographs good enough for valuable comparisons. Never before have photographs of an eclipse been taken at periods of a half-hour or more apart. If such photographs now exist they will show whether the flamelike projections of the corona change during that period. Then, significant inferences as to the nature of the corona may be drawn.

The Audience. Scientists from the U. S., England, France, Germany and Holland made observations, took photographs. Among the U. S. observers were: Swarthmore's Dr. John Anthony Miller (famed among astronomers for luck--this was his seventh eclipse and all have been clear), in Sumatra; Harvard's Prof. Harlan True Stetson, in the Malay Peninsula; Commander Chester H. J. Keppler of the U. S. Naval Observatory, at Iloilo in the Philippines. Each had a train of assistants.

Other distinguished onlookers were King Prajadhipok of Siam and his Queen, and Acting-Governor Eugene Allen Gilmore of the Philippines.

In the Philippines, and throughout Oceania there was much wailing, beating of breasts, disposing of chattels at the arrival of "the end of the world"--and much surprise when the world went on. The Siamese were much upset for fear of royal disasters produced by the eclipse. At the eclipse of 1868, King Rama IV, an amateur observer, caught cold from exposure and died of pneumonia.

The Results. The first publication of the scientists' observations will not be known for some days. It will doubtless be years before conclusions are drawn. Only two months ago were published final conclusions on observations of the eclipse in California in 1922.