Academy Newspaper Saturday August 17th 1878
The observers of the total eclipse of the sun on July 29, in
America, have been very much favoured by the weather, and the observations,
telescopic, spectroscopic, polariscopic, and photographic, seem to have highly
successful. The corona appeared small, but of great brightness, and photographs
of it and of its spectrum were obtained. Several long rays were seen, perhaps
even the zodiacal light, at a distance of six degrees from the sun. The few
prominences visible appeared insignificant and dim; the chromosphere rather
low. It is sufficient at present to know of the observers’ good fortune and to
await their full reports.
In the instructions
issued by the Washington Observatory for observing the eclipse, the importance
is pointed out of renewing during the totality the search for an
intra-Mercurial planet or planets, and a map is given showing all the stars to
the seventh magnitude in a space extending over 32° in right ascension, and 15°
in declination, with the sun in or near the centre. Of the observers on the
look-out only one, Prof. Watson, the experienced discoverer of so many small
planets, is reported to have succeeded in seeing a hitherto unknown star in
right ascension 8" 26™ and declination 18° 0’ or a little over two degrees
distant from the sun, and less than a degree from the place of the star
theta Cancri given in the map.
The news has been telegraphed to London, Paris, and Berlin;
but, oddly enough, the telegram in one, or more than one, instance, purports to
have been sent by the late secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Joseph
Henry, who died in May last.
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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