IMPENDING ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 794, 18 April 1910, Page 9

IMPENDING ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

TOTAL AT HOBART. PREPARATIONS TO OBSERVE IT. (ByTelegraph.—Special Correspondent.) ' ■ CJirlstcliurcli, April. 17. ... j-:-".- The ;.total. eclipse of .the sunj-which takes placo on May 9, is to bo observed by. Australian .astronomers, ilt will, be '.seen,as'a partial.eclipse overitho-.wholo | of' Australia and. the northern half of Tasmania 1 , but-the only portion of the i;globe ,on land from which the phase lof totality < maybe; seen is .that part jof Tasmania,, which lies south of an imaginery line running across the State from Cape Bougainville on the east coast-to . Harbour Signals on . the west coast. ' Along this line the duration, of , totalitywill bo only momentary, but will gradually increase at localities farther south, and will last'from nearly three to three- and a half minutes at such places.- as Hobart, Brune Island, and, others.. Previous total eclipses have been observed by special scientific expeditions from the .older countries but, on this occasion,, these countries are not dispatching' any official : expeditions,, owing partly to tho. low hltitudo of the sun at tho time of . the eclipse, and the probability of bad weather. Another factor is that a more promising eclipse takes place next year, for the observation or which European and American astronomers are .. already preparing to send expeditions to the Tonga Islands. An Eclipse .Committee had been appointed by the: Australasian Association tor tlio Advancement of Science to organise an expedition of Australian as-, tronomers to observe tho eclipse j and tho New Zealand representative on this committee is -Dr. Coleridge' Farr, of Canterbury College. An official expo-.. dition' from the -Melbourne Observatory goes to Bruni Island, and observatories from , the other. States havo' been invited to join, Experienced astronomical observers have also been invited to attend, and it. is hoped that persons without' very special astronomical train-ing-will also attend, as they will bo able ; to secure .interesting, records of eclipse phenomena by means of ordinary moderate-sized • cameras, small ordinary telescopes mounted on tripods, or oven without, instruments. . Ihe Tourist Association in Hobart has undertaken to look after these observers, to organise them into parties, aud to - direct them into suitable observation localities. Travelling concessions to bona-fido visitors to Tasmania for eclipse purposes'liave been granted by tho shipping companies,, and tho Commonwealth railways and New. Zealanders wishing to obtain the benefit of tlieso concessions are directed to apply to Dr. Farr for the necessary ooupons. ' The summit of .Mount Wellington (Hobart)- will afEord a magnificent view of the cclipse, and, given a fine afternoon, -the'joint permanent committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society of London has recommended that the Australian' Astronomers should concentrate their,, efforts to secure photographic records of tho structure of the corona.'. It has sent* out a set of instruments specially designed for, and successfully employed at, other eclipses, which -will be used by the Melbourne Observatory. It is probablo that New Zealand astronomers will be represented on the oxpedition. Mr. H.itchings, a woll-J known Christchurcli: amateur has intimated his intention to "observe tho phenomena, . .