At 1:15 p.m., all hands took up their eclipse stations and began preparing instruments for observation. The timekeeper made warning calls from the stopwatch at ten minutes, six minutes, two minutes and thirty seconds before the totality began. As the sun disappeared, the solar corona shot up around the dark side of the moon, and it was indeed a beautiful sight to behold.
Professor Chant and Dr. Young, who were both at the 1918 eclipse in Colorado, think that this eclipse was a dark eclipse. This opinion was shared by Dr. Evershed, who had been in four previous eclipses. Dr. Campbell and Dr. Trampler were pleased with the success with which the Einstein plate exposures were carried out. Dr Campbell says the image of the star used to guide Einstein’s cameras showed that the atmosphere was quiet. It will have some of the plates developed here, but it will get to Broome as soon as possible, where ice can be obtained and we will be dust free.
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About two minutes before totality, bands of shadow were seen sweeping across the landscape. White sheets had been placed on the ground to make them more visible, and on them they could be seen as a ripple like on water. Upon close examination they were seen to be bands of shadow, about 6 inches wide and 18 inches apart. These bands continued to ripple across the landscape until totality. After totality they appeared moving in the opposite direction, but were only visible for 30 seconds. The duration of totality was about 4 seconds shorter than expected, and the first totality started about 15 seconds later than expected.
The observations of the eclipse were not completed until the evening, when the final exposures of photographic plates which had already been exposed to the eclipsed sun were made over the selected stellar region, which serves to correct small errors which d ‘otherwise they would occur in the measure of the plates. .
How it looks in Melbourne
Clouds spoil the view
Activity at the Observatory
The solar eclipse was a source of great popular interest in Melbourne. From the point of view of scientists, the show was seen under quite favorable conditions. Everything happened as the astronomers camped at Wallal, Goondiwindi and other places had predicted.
In Melbourne promptly at 15.20 thousand pairs of eyes turned towards the sun, which was soon temporarily obscured by clouds. But a few minutes later the screen was removed and for about 20 minutes the progress of the eclipse was easily followed. Small groups of “viewers” with smoked glass and scraps of film congregated on street corners and watched the gradual darkening with interest and even amusement. The federal government missed a golden opportunity to collect a tax on attractions. Some observers found that by looking at the reflection of the sun in shop windows on the east or south side of city streets a good view of the solar process could be obtained without causing any strain on the eyes.
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Shortly after 4pm, the city took on a strange twilight appearance, due to the fact that seven-tenths of the sun’s diameter had been obscured by the moon. The remaining three-tenths fought valiantly for rays of sunshine, but the effort was futile as the clouds again got in the way. The moon continued its journey, and at 17.50 the eclipse ended.
As for Melbourne, the afternoon was little different from a normal overcast afternoon. The atmosphere appeared to become colder during the eclipse’s zenith.