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The Wonder of a Solar Eclipse

By “Awake!” correspondent in Mexico

MARCH 7, 1970, dawned clear and brilliant here in Mexico. It began just as any normal day at this time of the year. Yet there was something in the air that indicated that it was going to be very different. Traffic in the cities had diminished considerably. Many people, especially students and teachers, had the day free. There was unusual calm and quiet.

As this Saturday morning advanced this apparent calm decreased. Nervous excitement that comes from the expectation of something unusual began manifesting itself. People hurried to find cameras, lenses, special filters, smoked glasses, welding masks, visors improvised from cardboard boxes, developed film, containers with water or anything that might help them view a most extraordinary event without danger. Yes, they wanted to look at the sun by means of such items in order to avoid the danger of damaging their eyesight. Various means of communication had warned the people not to look directly at the sun, so many took these precautions.

Come, let us hurry to Metate peak! It is ten o’clock in the morning. Oh, the minutes before the great event seem to be passing so slowly for some, and for others they are passing very fast. Tension, impatience, curiosity and heightened expectation grip the people. At last the long-awaited moment arrives!

With perfect punctuality the performance in the heavens begins. The sky, which was clear blue a few moments ago, becomes grayish. The green landscape takes on a strange orange hue approaching purple. The temperature has begun to fall. Even the animals sense the strange phenomenon taking place in the sky. They grow restless. Dogs bark and howl, bulls bellow, birds flit to their nests, hens collect together their chicks and cocks crow.

Up to a few moments ago the sun appeared as a perfect circle. Now, look! There on its eastern side! A small spot. Yes, the moon has started crossing in front of it. Slowly the moon continues advancing, and now the sun looks as if it has had a piece bitten or pinched off it. As the moon advances in front of the sun, the “bitten-off piece” seems to grow bigger and bigger. And the result is increasing darkness on the earth.

Now the sun looks like a half-moon. Relentlessly the moon continues its advance until only a sliver of shining light can be seen. The light continues to decrease. It seems like it is late afternoon now as the shadows advance, covering the countryside. Gusts of wind stir the trees that look like silhouettes in the darkened landscape. The uneasiness among the animals increases. The sun is disappearing rapidly. Only a very fine ribbon is visible now as the performers of this cosmic drama get ever nearer to the culminating point of this breathtaking spectacle.

Finally, the performance reaches its climax with grandeur! With the sun exactly behind the moon, the eclipse has reached its final phase. With awe we have witnessed a sunset and nightfall at midday! During the height of the eclipse we notice that it has become colder. Nearly total darkness covers the land and only a brightly lighted circle surrounds the moon. It is the solar corona.

Suddenly everything seems to become paralyzed! Only brief interjections of amazement are heard from the spectators. The countryside appears unreal, with the silhouettes of the people resembling statues. Mixed emotions are in the air. The little light that can be seen is like the reflection of the moon at night, although it is more intense. The stars are easily visible now. Colossal flames appear to go out from the sun, which is completely covered by the black outline of the earth’s satellite, the moon. Far off in the distance, in every direction to which we turn, we see light, much light. It is as when the sun is about to ascend in the morning, but the difference is that it is happening all around us.

Wait, the performance is not over! An exquisite “circular band of diamonds,” known as “Baily’s beads,” attracts our attention. This is formed by a series of brilliant lights as the sun’s rays pass through the irregularities of the lunar surface. The appearance of a strong radiance completes this vision on the western side of the solar disk. This radiance is like a gem mounted on a ring and is a small part of the solar circle now visible again.

As the sun is freed from the lunar shadow, its warm rays once again shine upon the earth. The very brief night is over. It is getting hotter and everything comes to life once more. The phenomenon that we have seen is truly extraordinary. Its beauty and magnitude are difficult to describe in words.

Why an Awaited Event

The total eclipse lasted about three and a half minutes. Yet it was an event that was announced long in advance and it was eagerly awaited by many here. The reason is that the last total solar eclipse visible in Mexico was on September 10, 1923. So you appreciate why seemingly no one wanted to miss this drama in the skies.

Scientists, investigators and amateurs in astronomy, astrophysics and other related fields calculated the best place where they could observe the eclipse. The specific point that would be the ideal place of observation was the small town of Miahuatlán, in the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico, especially Metate peak a few miles outside the town.

What made this an ideal spot? Well, it has an elevation of over 5,200 feet above sea level and its atmosphere is relatively free of clouds, dust, glare, vapors and thermal air currents. So months before the event, groups of scientists began examining the observation sites. Scientific delegations from various countries were present.

Among the things they wanted to study were the deflection of light from the stars, the alteration of the magnetic fields, the effects upon cosmic radiations, the effect on radio communications and the action of ultraviolet rays. Meteorological phenomena and disturbances in the seas would also be scrutinized. Also some aspects of Einstein’s theory of relativity were to be tested and photos taken of the solar corona and protuberances. Mexican scientists studied in particular the measurement of the ionosphere during the eclipse, the dissemination of the different radio waves and the record of the static electricity.

The Reaction of the People

It is interesting to note the way persons in different places and of different levels of education reacted to the eclipse. There has been great progress in education due to a permanent campaign to free the people from ignorance and superstitious beliefs. Yet some people believe that these natural occurrences forebode affliction or trouble or that they adversely affect humans in some way. There are still towns where the church bells are rung during an eclipse, where people cross themselves and kneel, asking heaven’s mercy. Old women in front of the churches repeat prayers with rosaries. Pregnant women hang scissors and other amulets around their necks in fear that the eclipse will cause their children to be born deformed.

In some communities an eclipse is believed to be a fight between the sun and the moon. People will beat drums, cans, frying pans and other utensils with the idea of helping the sun to win the fight. Others, fearing the unknown and mysterious, remain motionless.

Astrologers are ever present to take advantage of the gullible. They surround the event with mysticism in order to trick the unwary. Magicians, enchanters and others proclaim what the eclipse is supposed to foretell and what will happen next according to the position of the stars. Predictions have been made, horoscopes interpreted and other subtle means used to exploit the credulous. Oh yes, in Miahuatlán, “hippies” were seen celebrating certain rites and ceremonies in honor of the sun.

What Is an Eclipse?

An eclipse is simply the hiding of a celestial body by the interposition of another. It can be total or partial. It is total when the hidden body is completely covered as we saw on March 7. When a part of it is covered it is annular (ring shaped) or partial. A solar eclipse is produced when the moon, in its orbit, goes between the sun and the earth, projecting its shadow on the earth below. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is exactly in front of the sun but it is not big enough, due to its distance and position, to cover the sun completely. It leaves a ring of the sun visible. There are never annular eclipses of the moon, because the earth’s cone of shadow is always large enough to cover the moon when it is in an exactly straight line with the sun and the earth.

Eclipses are natural happenings that occur with exact regularity. They do not represent a threat nor do they carry some prediction of calamity. They are evidence of the unchangeable laws that govern the universe. They testify to the infinite divine wisdom that established each heavenly body in the universe and that controls them. Yes, they underscore how small we are when compared to the gigantic universe around us. As the newspaper El Universal (The Universal) of Mexico, Federal District, declared: “It could well be said that not even all the inventive faculty and creative possibilities of man could in some way produce a spectacle that in the slightest way could approach what was produced today.”

Yes, eclipses are marvels of Jehovah’s creation, one more evidence that assures us that the universe continues functioning according to the perfect laws he has fixed.