The Total Solar Eclipse of October ¹

Abstract

THE weather conditions throughout the belt of totality in South Africa at the time of the total eclipse of October 1 were favourable and came up to the highest expectations. Dr. J. Jackson, H.M. Astronomer at the Cape, who made observations at Calvinia, described the eclipse as the best of the four that he had seen, and a perfect one in every way for astronomical observations. The sky was cloudless throughout and there was not even a breeze to shake the instruments. The conditions in the clear dry air of the arid regions of the Lower Karroo had promised to be so good that, before the War, extensive preparations had been made for observations to be made in this area by parties from Great Britain, Holland, the United States and elsewhere. It is unfortunate that the plans were almost completely upset by the War and that at a time when theoretical advance is dependent upon information that the eclipse observations were expected to provide, so favourable an opportunity has in large measure been lost.