Solar Eclipse In 1900
The recent early spate of hot weather (way too hot in April…even for North Carolina) got me thinking about the sun, which in turn reminded me of a recent conversation I had with one of my predecessors. She had recently come across a description of a solar eclipse in 1900. Eclipses are always fascinating subjects, but this one was particularly interesting because the best place to view it was in Anson County, North Carolina. So, teams of scientists from all over the world traveled to Wadesboro to set up their observation equipment. So far, that is all I know about it; the conversation with my predecessor moved on to other topics. However, I did find this interesting image of a team of British scientists and their equipment. [The image description for the NC Collection's Photographic Archives is below the image.]
“[British Astronomical Association Party] Wadesboro, N. C.” One of twelve photographs documenting several observational teams, and their facilities and equipment used for the observation of a solar eclipse on May 28, 1900. [Supplied information within brackets; left side of printed caption missing.]
April 30th, 2009 at 11:42 am
It would be interesting to check some newspapers for articles about the eclipse. It occurred on May 28, 1900 at around 9 in the morning. Teams of scientists came from all over, apparently, and photography played a major role in the scientific investigation of this phenomenon. I think that some papers described a “forest of telescopes” that pointed to the heavens on that day.
See, I knew that specialization in the history of science would turn out good for something after all.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:50 am
WOW. Look what I found: A report of the British Astronomical Society on the total solar eclipse of 1900, and what they did in Wadesborough:
http://www.archive.org/stream/eclipstotalsolar00britrich/eclipstotalsolar00britrich_djvu.txt
April 30th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I love the report! Take a look at what happened the first time the expedition leader encountered “lightning bugs”! Great find!
April 30th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Even though I appreciate having access to the digital copy, it does make me wish that the NCC had a print version of the original.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
From the report linked to above:
At six o’clo’ck on the morning of the second day our train
pulled up at our destination, a little forest clearing, where there
was a modest range of wooden sheds. There, however, was
nothing to indicate that we had arrived at a spot of any conse-
quence, and yet in truth this was the railway station of Wadesborough, N.C., a little township which, for the time being,
was exalted to one of high importance in all the States, and this
fact was soon impressed upon us. A steady climb of a mile
by pine woods and cotton fields now brought us to our hotel,
where we found ample accommodation reserved for all our party
and breakfast already waiting.
Half-an-hour later we received a personal visit from Professor
Young, and then at last we began to realise the extent of our
good fortune, and how much true kindness and hospitality was
being lavished upon us. On the opposite side of the little street,
drawn up under the shade of the wooden houses, was a pair-
horse carriage, which by an act of extreme generosity on the
part of the residents had been engaged to be at our disposal
through the whole of our stay. For the rest, Professor Young
assured us we should learn more if we came to his camp after
breakfast. And this was certainly so. We learned that every-
thing had been thought out by the Professor himself for our
benefit and comfort ; that a portion of his own specially selected
site had been reserved for us, and that a carpenter was already
in attendance to receive our instructions for the erection of a
suitable shed.
I shall have to say so much more about Professor Young
before I have done that I had better give some description of
his observing station in which we found him already fairly
established. This occupied the highest ground around, being
a field well removed from habitations, and open to the south-
west, in which direction an uninterrupted view was obtained
over a broad valley sloping upwards to the distant sky-line.
A substantial wooden building had been erected for photo-
graphic purposes and to house the larger instruments brought
from the Princeton Observatory, while the rest of the extensive
equipment was ranged without on the southern front. It was
all a fair sample of what American astronomers could and would
do on their own soil, but we were to see more.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The obituary of Professor Charles Augustus Young of Princeton, mentioned above, may be found in the New York Times on January 5, 1908. He was the inventor of the automatic spectroscope. . .
April 30th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Here is the link to the photos of the Wadesboro Solar Eclipse Expedition held by the Smithsonian: http://photography.si.edu/SearchImage.aspx?S=1&IDC=181
And here is the link to the report from the North Carolina Geodetic Society’s search for the meridian markers laid by that expedition: http://www.ncgs.state.nc.us/st/County_reports/Anson_County-Wadesboro_eclipse_expedition.pdf
Y’all, can you tell I don’t want to be doing budget checks. . . ?? I am rewarding myself with something fun between bouts of addition checking
April 30th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
And while I am on a roll, here is the report from the Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago on its expedition to Wadesboro in 1900 to look at the eclipse:
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1900YerOB..14…81H/0000005P000.html
It is from the Yerkes observatory Bulletin
April 30th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
And the Pyhical Review lists other reports–one from Southern Pines: http://books.google.com/books?id=tqUOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA128-IA6&lpg=PA128-IA6&dq=wadesboro+nc+solar+eclipse&source=bl&ots=dRZ9qtWTBI&sig=UFi-13bOzOXcii_6oD4uQZuXVxk&hl=en&ei=Ee35SfKyPMrHtgfL6NiPAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7
This was a big deal . . .
April 30th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Apparently Tom English of Guilford Technical College is an expert on the event: 1900 May 28: the Day Wadesboro North Carolina was the Center of American Astrophysical Research
Tom English, Guilford Technical Community College
The Solar Eclipse of 1900 May 28 provided a unique opportunity to mobilize American astronomers around a specific research
effort. A charter committee of the newly formed Astronomical and Astro-physical Society of America (later to be called the AAS),
chaired by Simon Newcomb, but run by George Ellery Hale, attempted to coordinate and standardize observing efforts for the
eclipse. The eclipse track crossed the southeastern U.S. from New Orleans to Norfolk, and observers were stationed all along the
shadow path. Astronomers were thickest on the ground, however, in Wadesboro, NC, with major expeditions fielded there from
Princeton, Yerkes, the Smithsonian Institution, and the British Astronomical Association. The Wadesboro expeditions represented a
changing of the guard in American astrophysics. Pioneers of the first generation of astrophysics in America, S. P. Langley and C.
A. Young, brought large groups, and individuals who would influence American astronomy in the coming decades, such as Hale and
Henry Norris Russell, were also there. The presentation will give a who’s-who of astronomers at Wadesboro, explain why that NC
town was the station of choice, and outline the eclipse research efforts undertaken there.
http://www.gtcc.edu/services/observatory/docs/nca/2006.pdf
April 30th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
And from the Annual Report of the Smithsonian in 1901:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-ZfeaVmliLwC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=Wadesboro+solar&source=bl&ots=axu3SULFmm&sig=p_Zu_x5uC9K2rEq9kAsO2y0Gms0&hl=en&ei=4gf6SbjfG8LcmQfZsIyrBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=18#PPA150,M1