Eclipse: The science and history of nature's most spectacular phenomenon

Eclipse: The science and history of nature's most spectacular phenomenon
J. P. McEvoy

J P McEvoy looks at remarkable phenomenon of a solar eclipse through a thrilling narrative that charts the historical, cultural and scientific relevance of solar eclipses through the ages and explores the significance of this rare event.In the year when Britain will be touched by a solar eclipse for the first time since 1927, J P McEvoy looks at this remarkable phenomenon through a thrilling narrative that charts the historical, cultural and scientific relevance of solar eclipses through the ages and explores the significance of this rare event.Eclipse shows how the English Astronomer Norman Lockyer named the element Helium from the spectra of the eclipsed Sun, and how in Cambridge Arthur Eddinton predicted the proof of Einstein’s General Relativity from the bending of sunlight during the famous African eclipse of 1919.During late morning on 11 August, 1999 the shadow of the last total eclipse of the Millennium will cut across the Cornwall Peninsula and skirt the coast of Devon before moving on to the continent, ending its journey at sunset in the Bay of Bengal, India. Britain’s next eclipse will be in September, 2090.Throughout history, mankind has exhibited a changing response to the eclipse of the sun. The ancient Mexicans believed the Sun and the Moon were quarrelling whilst the Tahitians thought the two celestial objects were making love.Today, astronomers can calculate the exact path the moon’s shadow will track during the solar eclipse. As millions encamp for the brief spectacle with mylar glasses, pin-hole cameras, binoculars and telescopes, space agency satellites and mountain-top observatories study the corona, flares and the magnetosphere of the Sun as the 125 mile-wide black patch zooms along the ground at 2000 mph.

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_bf36cf51-597d-52d0-83cb-bf32608f499e)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street Lodnon SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

Copyright © J. P. McEvoy 1999

First published in Great Britain in 1999 by Fourth Estate Limited

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for permission. Any omissions or errors will be corrected in future editions.

Designed by Robert Updegraff

Illustrations by Mark McEvoy

The right of J. P. McEvoy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN 9781841151847

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2017 ISBN: 9780007480302

Version: 2017-03-01

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DEDICATION (#ulink_55738a17-1e6b-5e39-9dd6-d717c0bc6229)

For Emily, Muirenn, Joel

and the baby arriving with the eclipse

in August 1999

CONTENTS

Cover (#u0547deaa-fe08-57ea-aee8-1f2e8604c44d)

Title Page (#u7557eaaa-3f1d-5a4a-8668-3468a4ddf6b9)

Copyright (#ulink_ce70fef8-9b5c-5ab3-a060-d28b9a3f1097)

Dedication (#ulink_669d6e20-11a2-5b53-b8b6-e81b50cd2eb8)

Prologue (#ulink_f1c18637-8079-51c5-8417-56e8210db6f9)

Understanding an Eclipse (#litres_trial_promo)

The Babylonians, Chroniclers of Eclipses (#litres_trial_promo)

The Saros Cycle: the 6585-Day Coincidence (#litres_trial_promo)

Ancient Predictions of Eclipses: Controversies (#litres_trial_promo)

Tracking a Solar Eclipse (#litres_trial_promo)

The Sun’s Surface: Victorian Solar Eclipses (#litres_trial_promo)

Confirming General Relativity (#litres_trial_promo)

The Last Eclipse of the Millennium (#litres_trial_promo)

Glossary (#litres_trial_promo)

Further Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Index (#litres_trial_promo)

Other Books By (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PROLOGUE (#ulink_3fd05f3f-3670-5380-a66a-6579c9f5b4dc)

Darkness at Noon: Baja Mexico, 11 July 1991

Stretching over 1,300 km south of the California state line between San Diego and Tijuana is a peninsula of mountains, deserts and plains ending at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Fine golden sand for miles and miles slopes into the azure Sea of Cortés and the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula, called Baja California, is actually part of Mexico. In the heat of the summer of 1991 I arrived, planning to view my first total eclipse of the Sun.

The morning of 11 August is bright and clear. Amid the palm trees and cactus plants all along the beach, tripods are being set up in the sand, an army of straw hats and Bermuda shorts appear as far as the eye can see. Everyone is buoyant. Not a single cloud in the sky, though still a few hours to go. Totality would be unusually long today at Los Cabos, 6 minutes 26 seconds, close to the theoretical maximum for a solar eclipse. The Moon’s shadow, when it reaches Baja, will be 260 km wide, moving along the beach at a speed of about 40 km per minute. As the bell in the small church tolls 10:00 a.m., the crowd makes final adjustments to telescopes and cameras. The long wait is over. Twenty-three minutes to go.

First contact occurs at 10:23:17 as the Moon’s disk just touches the Sun’s. The sky continues to be cloudless and no one is thinking of the weather. The show has begun.

In earlier times humanity held its breath during this solar disappearing act, offering sacrifices to appease the evil spirits who might destroy humanity’s source of heat and life itself. Slowly the Moon cuts deeper and deeper into the Suns image and it is now obvious that the two disks have the same diameter, a remarkable coincidence. The light fades imperceptibly.

Two small Japanese girls watch the progress of the eclipse through special Mylar sunglasses, while their mother watches anxiously. The Moon’s shadow is now sweeping across the globe towards us on the beach at Los Cabos at twice the speed of Concorde. In an orbit above the earth, a weather satellite photographs the shadow of the Moon every half-hour during its journey.