Abstract
THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 1922 AND EINSTEIN'S THEORY.—The current number of the Lick Observatory Bulletin, No. 346, contains the results of the observations on the deflexion of light in passing through the sun's gravitational field made during the total solar eclipse of September 21, 1922, at Wallal, Western Australia. The authors, Prof. W. W. Campbell and Mr. R. Trumpler, give all details for this particular research, which represents only a part of the programme of the William H. Crocker Eclipse Expedition from the Lick Observatory. Two very interesting diagrams show at a glance the type of the results obtained. The first of these is a star chart of the neighbourhood of the eclipsed sun containing the 92 stars actually measured for the investigation. The observed relative displacements of. the stars are indicated by short lines oriented according to the directions of displacements. The outline of the brighter parts of the corona as well as the limit of the faintest traces of coronal light are indicated. The second instructive diagram shows the observed radial displacements for each star as a function of the star's angular distance from the sun's centre, while for comparison sake a curve is given indicating the values predicted by Einstein's theory. This graphical representation demonstrates the coincidence between the observed and the predicted light deflexions. By arranging the stars in groups according to their distance from the sun's centre the observed relative radial displacements can be seen from the accompanying table.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 112, 485 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/112485b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/112485b0