Abstract
INFORMATION has come to hand of the success of Prof. J. Q. Stewart, of Princeton University, and Mr. T. Stokley, director of the Planetarium in Philadelphia (representing the Franklin Institute and the Cook Observatory), in observing the recent total solar eclipse for an uninterrupted period of 7 min. 6 sec. from the S.S. Steelmaker of the Isthmian Steamship Co. The ship was at 133 ° 38' W., 9 ° 49·5' N. and the sun's altitude was 75 °·8'. Owing to the ship's motion, totality lasted an extra four seconds for the observers. Prof. Stewart was engaged in visual study of the corona, while Mr. Stokley took photographs of the corona and measures of its total brightness at mid-eclipse. Preliminary measures show that this was of the same order as that of the full moon, while the observers on Canton Island have reported a value about half the full moon. The difference is in the opposite sense to what would be expected from purely geometrical considerations of the amount of low corona uncovered. The eclipse is described as a bright one. Despite the shadow extending around in all directions for seventy-seven miles, there was no need of flashlights to read the instruments, while ordinary newspaper print could be read with ease. Only Venus, Mercury and a few first magnitude stars could be seen, and there was indication of a high layer of haze in the sky. The corona was of late intermediate type, approaching maximum, made up of radial spikes and with no very long streamers.
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Observations of the Longest Eclipse. Nature 140, 143 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140143c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140143c0