Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Echinoderma" to "Edward, prince of Wales": Volume 8, Slice 10Various
Science
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Echinoderma" to "Edward, prince of Wales": Volume 8, Slice 10
Various
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
During the eclipse of July 8, 1842, the shadow of the moon passed from
Perpignan, France, through Milan and Vienna, over Russia and Central
Asia, to the Pacific Ocean. Very detailed physical observations were
made, but none which need be specially mentioned in the present
connexion.
The eclipse of July 28, 1851, was total in Scandinavia and Russia. It
was observed in the former region by many astronomers, among them Sir
George B. Airy and W.R. Dawes. It was specially noteworthy for the first
attempt to photograph such a phenomenon. A daguerreotype clearly showing
the protuberances was taken by Berkowski at the Observatory of
Königsberg. An attempt by G.A. Majocchi to daguerreotype the corona was
a failure. Photographs of the eclipse of July 18, 1860, were taken by
Padre Angelo Secchi and Warren De La Rue, which showed the prominences
well, and proved that they were progressively obscured by the edge of
the advancing moon. It was thus shown that they were solar appendages,
and did not belong to the moon, as had sometimes been supposed. The
corona was barely visible on De La Rue's plates, but those of Secchi
showed it, with its rifts and the bases of the tall coronal wings, to
about 15' from the sun's limb. The sketches taken at this eclipse proved
that the corona extended in some regions 1° from the sun's limb. As the
sensitiveness of photographic plates has increased, they have gradually
been wholly relied upon for information respecting the corona, so that
at the present time naked-eye descriptions are regarded as of little or
no scientific value. Owing to the great contrast between the brilliancy
of the coronal light at its base and its increasing faintness as it
extends farther from the sun, no one photograph will bring out all the
corona. An exposure of one or two seconds is ample to show the details
of inner corona to the best advantage, while longer exposures give
greater extent of the brighter portions. The most extended streamers are
very little brighter than the sky, and must be photographed with long
exposures.
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