Solar Eclipse Calendar 27 + 28 July: July 27, 1801 Birth of Sir George Biddell Airy (1801-1892), British Astronomer and Astronomer Royal from 1835 till 1881, president of the Royal Society from 1871 till 1873. Calculated distance to the sun and observed transit of Venus, etc. (ref. DD 7/98, Rc 1999). Born in Alnwick, Northumberland. Died in “White House,” Greenwich of injuries from a fall on 2 January 1892. July 27, 2204 Next total solar eclipse in Nauru. They saw the last total solar eclipse in 1763 Oct 7. Do not think I will make it for Nauru in 2204, also called “Pleasant Island”. July 28, 0873 This solar eclipse was observed by Abu al-Abbas al-Iranshahri at Nishapur early in the morning on Tuesday the 29th of the month of Ramadan in the year 259 of al-Hijrah . . . (date on the Persian calendar) . . . He mentioned that the Moons body (i.e. disk) was in the middle of the Sund body. The light from the remaining uneclipsed portion of the Sun surrounded it (i.e. the Moon). It was clear from this that the Suns diameter exceeded in view that of the Moon. Refers to an annular eclipse of 28 July AD 873. July 28, 1851 The observations were tolerably successful. although the full beauty of the corona was not seen at Christiania, owing to the prevalence of thin clouds during the totality. The prominences were clearly visible, especially a large hooked protruberance. This remarkable stream of hydrogen gas, rendered incandescent while passing through the heated photosphere of the Sun, attracted the attention of nearly all the observers at the different stations. I succeeded in noting accurately the mean solar times of the beginning of the eclipse, and of the beginning and end of totality. As at Christiania the total darkness lasted only a few seconds more than 2-1/2 minutes, I could only examine in a hurried manner the various phenomena visible in the telescope. So absorbed was I during this short interval that when the limb of the Sun reappeared I could scarcely realize the fact that 2-1/2 minutes had elapsed since the commencement of totality. These were truly exciting moments, and although I had hastily witnessed most of the phenomena, I felt somewhat disappointed that more had not been accomplished. Few can imagine how much I longed for another minute, for what I had witnessed seemed very much like a dream. As a spectacle, those who were not encumbered with telescopic work had the best of it. Several persons in different positions were requested to note the effects of the darkness on the landscape, plants, and animals. I kept my eye devotedly fixed to the eye-piece of the telescope during nearly the whole time of totality. I only removed it in order to obtain a few seconds‘ glance at the marvellous transformation around me, for the landscape had lost all its natural aspect, being tinted with various shades of colour over the intermixture of land and water. Some of my friends described the appearance, as the darkness gradually crept onwards, as truly awful. Refers to the total solar eclipse of 28 July 1851, as seen from within the northern edge of the path of totality, in Scandinavia. July 28, 1851 First American eclipse expedition to Europe when George Phillips Bond (1825 - 1865) led a team to Scandinavia. July 28, 1851 Robert Grant and William Swan (UK) and Karl Ludwig von Lottrow (Austria) determine that prominences are part of the Sun because the Moon is seen to cover and uncover them as it moves in front of the Sun. July 28, 1851 Sir George Biddell Airy (1801-1892) (UK) is the first to describe the Suns chromosphere: he calls it the sierra, thinking that he is seeing mountains on the Sun, but he is actually seeing small prominences (spicules) that give the chromosphere a jagged appearance. Because of its reddish color, Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), in 1868, names this layer of the Suns atmosphere the chromosphere. July 28, 1851 The first photograph of a total eclipse was taken in 1851 by Berkowski in Konigsbert, East Prussia using the 6.25 in Königsberg heliometer and giving an exposure of 24s.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 06:39:31 +0000