Three reports of the New England Eclipse 1925

January 24, 1925

Capt. F. B. Littell took the company of 19 crew and scientists to an altitude of 4500 feet with a Zeppelin. Of the scientists, there were E. T. Pollock, G. H. Peters, H. H. Barnes, J. A. Jennings, and C. B. Watts, of watts limb charts fame. It was a normal eclipse expedition but on a platform unique among them all. (ref. S and L E observations 1943-1993, F. Graham). This nearly turned out to be tragedy in American aviation. The airship in question was the Los Angeles, which at that time was the largest in the world. Lifting off from Lakehurst, New Jersey en route to a pre-selected eclipse-viewing site near Nantucket Island, the Los Angeles was suddenly hit by a fierce northwesterly wind gust that actually caused the air-ship to nearly topple over on its side. Fortunately, the Los Angeles was quickly righted upwards and was able to fly off on its flight to totality. Ref. SENL 02.02

January 24, 1925

Famous New York Eclipse. Southern limit passed somewhere through Manhattan: exact line between 95 and 97th Streets. Observers stationed at every intersection between 72nd and 135th Streets. Path New York and Connecticut clear skies. Millions of people witnessed the Eclipse. This was also the eclipse that gave rise to the now popular term "Diamond Ring Effect." Since the southern edge of totality crossed upper Manhattan, those who were located just outside the eclipse track saw a single bright bead of sunlight persist through the maximum phase of the eclipse, while the inner corona was also visible. In the January 26th, 1925 edition of The New York Times, under the headline "Scientists Missed Sun's 'Diamond Ring' " we read in part: " . . . spontaneously called 'the diamond ring' by numbers of observers in New York, and this term, hitherto unknown to astronomy, was apparently fixed forever as a technical term in the literature of the subject by Saturday night." Ref. SENL 02.02

January 24, 1925

Mabel L. Todd also was passionately interested in total solar eclipses, and traveled to a dozen of them at a time when expeditions often lasted for many months. He photographed the New England total eclipse of January 24, 1925 from an airplane, and some sources credit him with being the first astronomer to photograph the sun's corona from an airplane. Richard Sanderson 6/97. As per Joe Rao: There were actually more than two dozen aircraft that were in the skies over the Greater New York area during this eclipse and many carried photographers. One of those was astronomer Willem J. Luyten who served as a reporter/photographer for the New York Times and witnessed the eclipse at an altitude of 10,000 feet over the Long Island Sound shoreline of Connecticut. Luyten later noted that one of the difficulties that he had in photographing the totally eclipsed Sun was not being able to see what the frame number in his camera was registering. "I could only snap the shutter, advance the film and hope that my next pot-shot would not end up on the previous frame Ref. SENL 02.02

Lovecraft in 1925's Solar Eclipse (with Video) !

In 1925 (when I was in New York) some of us tramped up into the cold of northern Yonkers to see the January eclipse, but Long (judging from his description) seems to have seen about as much from the roof of his apartment house in 100th St.” (to Miss Elizabeth Toldridge, 12 August 1932)

It's about 3:00 into the silent video that you see the eclipse - and thus you'll see what Lovecraft saw. It's as close to standing next to him as we'll ever get.

The Solar Eclipse: 21 July 2009

I think Lovecraft would first be thrilled at our ability to see astronomical events, appalled that superstition still reigns, and would find some way to admix these two world views into a weird story of some sort. He often did. One can here him "tsk" at the "grandmothers" and their "superstitions".



TAREGNA, India – The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century created near darkness soon after dawn in a swath of India stretching from the west coast to the northern plains where millions gathered in the open to watch.

But millions more shuttered themselves in, gripped by fearful myths in a country that abounds in Hindu mythology-based superstitions and fables, one of which says an eclipse is caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun.

At its peak, the eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds in other parts of Asia.

It is the longest such eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132.

But millions across India were shunning the sight and planned to stay indoors.

Even in regions where the eclipse was not visible, pregnant women were advised to stay indoors in curtained rooms over a belief that the sun's invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby would be born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect.

Krati Jain, a software professional in New Delhi, said she planned to take a day off from work Wednesday to avoid what she called "any ill effects of the eclipse on my baby."

"My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers," said Jain, 24, who is expecting her first child.

In the northern Indian state of Punjab, authorities ordered schools to begin an hour late to prevent children from venturing out and gazing at the sun.

Lovecraft would love to see this

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The story I'd like to read:

119 year old Lovecraft, now world's oldest living man, sees spectacular eclipse.

Onboard a cruise ship, surrounded by friends, the still spry Lovecraft peered through the special telescope at the haloed sun. He stated, "Quite a spectacle despite the fishy odor coming from the sea. Reminds me of those days long ago when I'd write about eldritch gods eating our star, and black fathomless creatures erupting from beneath the waves."

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However, here is the more prosaic story...


Ring of fire: Indian Ocean to see solar eclipse
Fri Jan 23, 9:58 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – A few lucky people in the Indian Ocean will be treated to a rare event on Monday when an annular solar eclipse will transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim.

In solar eclipses, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on the terrestrial surface. In an annular eclipse, a tiny shift in distance that results from celestial mechanics means the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's face, as it does in a total eclipse.

Instead, for those directly under the alignment, the Moon covers most of the Sun's surface, and a ring-like crown of solar light blazes from the edge of the disk.

For those watching from the fringe of the track, the Sun is partially obscured, as if a bite has been taken out of it.

According to veteran NASA eclipse-watcher Fred Espenak, the total eclipse track will run from west to east on Monday from 0606 GMT to 0952 GMT.

It will traverse the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia before petering out just short of Mindanao.