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Re: Some more inconsistencies

From: Norm Wolcott <nwolcott2ster~at~gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:23:42 -0400
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

I don't think there is any doubt the eclipse was on August 9, 1896. I
doubt if NASA got the date wrong.

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEcat/SE1801-1900.html

The totality path apparently crossed the international date line too. The
time of greatest totality is listed as 05:09 Aug 9, at 54.4.N 132.2 E,
which would put it 9 hours ahead of Greenwich, but still the same day.

nwolcott2~at~post.harvard.edu
----- Original Message -----
From: <jcrovisier~at~free.fr>
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 3:36 AM
Subject: Re: Some more inconsistencies


> As Garmt already wrote, I have put a web page with notes - in French - on
> "The Fur Country" in relation with solar eclipses:
>
> http://www.lesia.obspm.fr/~crovisier/JV/verne_PF.html
>
> The solar eclipse of 18 July 1860 was indeed a famous eclipse for
> astronomers. Many european expeditions in Spain and Noth Africa were
> organized for its observation. Among the scientific returns were the
first
> successful photographs of a solar eclipse, the discovery of the coronal
> mass ejection phenomenon, and decisive observations that showed that the
> corona is due to the Sun rather than an hypothetical lunar atmosphere.
>
> The eclipse totality zone crossed North and North-East Africa, Spain, and
> North America, but not as far North as in "The Fur Country". Indeed, a US
> expedition was organized by the US Coast Survey to observe the eclipse in
> Labrador. The ship encountered some problems with fog and icebergs.
Jules
> Verne was probably not aware of this expedition, but I am sure he would
> have loved it. There are also reports of US observations on the West
coast
> (Seattle).
>
> So, Jules Verne choose to use a real eclipse in his novel, to make it more
> realistic. But he mistook the totality zone. In my mind, he would have
> better not specified a precise eclipse, keeping it "anonymous" by not
> indicating any year in the novel.
>
> The 1896 eclipse indeed occurred on 8 August, not on 9 August as written
in
> "The Fur Country". (But Camille Flammarion also specified "9 August" for
> the same eclipse in his "Astronomy Populaire".) As specified by Jules
> Verne, the totality zone encompassed North Scandinavia and Siberia, but
not
> North America (thus not in the same place). (I checked with the 1896
issue
> of "Connaissance des Temps")
>
> Jacques Crovisier
>
>
Received on Fri 16 Jun 2006 - 20:25:04 IDT

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