Ecliptic

“ Half a year accomplishes the journey one way, and the other half of the year restores the star to its original position. When we pass to stars on the southern side of the ecliptic, we see the same series of changes proceed in an inverse order. The ellipse, from being actually linear, gradually grows in width, though still preserving the same length of major axis, until at length the stars near the southern pole of the ecliptic are each found to describe a circle equal to the paths pursued by the stars at the north pole of the ecliptic. ”

“ In the tropics, where the ecliptic is nearly perpendicular to the horizon, it may be seen after the end of twilight on every clear evening, and before twilight on every clear morning, unless blotted out by moonlight. It then presents a nearly vertical wedge-shaped form, the base of which extends 15° or 20° on each side of the point at which the ecliptic intersects the horizon. The point of the wedge is quite indefinite, the extremely diffuse light gradually fading into invisibility at a height which may range from 50° to 70° or even more, according to the keenness of the observer’s vision. ”

“ As the sun and earth are both situated in the plane of the ecliptic, if the moon also revolved around the earth in this plane, we should have a solar eclipse at every new moon, and a lunar eclipse at every full moon ”

“ As the seasons advance, when the ecliptic is declining gradually toward the horizon, the zodiacal light fades away till it is perhaps entirely lost to view, or can be seen only by those who have followed it in its changes, night after night, and are thus able, by familiar acquaintance, to detect and trace its dim markings in the sky. ”

“ In point of fact, they look down on Orion from the higher point of the ecliptic. [7]
Why should not the Twins at the highest point of the ecliptic “mock” the sun, as it moves heavy and dull on the lowest stretch of its annual path? Compare also Psalm lxix, 7-16. [8] Now it crosses the equator, and rises higher and higher. The situation changes. God has heard the cry of the abandoned. The better season begins: “The meek shall eat and be satisfied.” ”

“ One is struck, without doubt, with the near approach, which our elements show, between the line of nodes of the zodiacal light and that of the nodes of the terrestrial equator upon the ecliptic. This circumstance, as far as it is verified, may help to explain the causes of this luminous phenomenon—causes which are, it may be, more local than has hitherto been supposed. ”

“ Astronomers consider it improbable that the obliquity of the ecliptic has materially changed, and serious differences of opinion exist as to the effects which a greater or less obliquity would produce on climate. ”

“ But (if the law of the planets is observed) their orbits will not much decline from the plane of the ecliptic; and, so far as I could hitherto observe, the third case obtains; for the comets do, indeed, chiefly frequent the zodiac, and scarcely ever attain to a heliocentric latitude of 40°. ”

“ As the Moon M goes round the Earth E, she shews her Place every day in the Ecliptic R, and the lower end of her Axis shews her Latitude and distance from her Node on the inclined Plane T, also her distance from her Apogee and Perigee, together with her mean Anomaly, the then Excentricity of her Orbit, and her elliptic Equation, all on the Apogee Plate, and the day of her age in the Circle Y of 291⁄2 equal parts ”

“ The primary meaning of the word “Eclipse” (ἔκλειψις) is a forsaking, quitting, or disappearance. Hence the covering over of something by something else, or the immersion of something in something; and these apparently crude definitions will be found on investigation to represent precisely the facts of the case.
Inasmuch as the Earth and the Moon are for our present purpose practically “solid bodies,” each must cast a shadow into space as the result of being illuminated by the Sun, regarded as a source of light. ”

“ Of course the commencement of an eclipse, which is virtually the moment when the encroachment [41] on the circular outline of the Sun by the Moon begins, or can be seen, though interesting as a proof that the astronomer’s prophecy is about to be fulfilled, is not a matter of any special importance, even in a popular sense, much less in a scientific sense. As a rule, the total phase does not become imminent, so to speak, until a whole hour and more has elapsed since the first contact ”

“ This is, to watch when the Moon’s black body comes on to the Sun and goes off again, for there are no subsidiary phenomena, either interesting or uninteresting, unless, indeed, the eclipse should be nearly total. The progress of astronomical science in regard to eclipses has been so extensive and remarkable of late years that, unless the various points for consideration are kept together under well-defined heads, it will be almost impossible either for a writer or a reader to do full justice to the subject. ”

“ In some places they seemed to extend out nearly half the diameter of the moon from the bright ring; in others, not one [21] fourth so far. But the most remarkable appearance of all, and that which attracted the attention of every one who witnessed the eclipse, whether seen with the naked eye or with the telescope, were the red protuberances that shot up immediately on the disappearance of the sun, from various places, on the edge of the moon; their position your photograph will fix better than I describe. ”

“ It must never be forgotten that we are dealing with an age when accurate observations and descriptions of natural phenomena were unknown, and when mankind was subject to be imposed upon by imaginary wonders and prodigies. The circumstance which we should regard as most unequivocally marking a total eclipse is the visibility of the stars during the darkness. But even this can scarcely be regarded as conclusive, because Venus may be seen when there is no eclipse, and may be quite conspicuous in an annular or a considerable partial eclipse. ”

“ Remember that these protuberances were not dazzling lights, but could be contemplated with the greatest comfort; and the eye is so fastidious, that in running round the limb of the moon, it immediately detects the sudden break in the circumference. But I have a theory, and it is dangerous to trust the eye of a man with a theory, without good support. Directly after the eclipse, some of those outside joined us, and the conversation was upon the extraordinary shooting-out of the prominence, which they were all describing. ”

“ Eclipses have very rarely been watched near the Pole, where the sun, being very little above the horizon, is considerably increased in size. The disc of the moon which is to intervene between us and the sun is subject to a similar apparent extension, and therefore it may be that the red prominences and the luminous corona can be more thoroughly examined This, madam, is why I have travelled all this distance to watch the eclipse above the seventieth parallel. ”

“ The corona of light above the moon became suddenly brighter, the heavens beyond were illuminated, the stars retired, and light began to play along the ridges of the distant mountains. And then a flood of grateful, cheering, consoling brightness fell into the valley, with a sweetness and a power inconceivable to the mind, unless the eye has actually beheld it. I can liken this sudden, joyous return of light, after the eclipse, to nothing of the kind that is familiarly known. ”