SOUTHWESTERN NEWS Fall 1973 · The 12Sth Session The Seven Minutes: June 30, 1973. Since the year 1103 only one eclipse has lasted longer. Out of 100 U.S. scientists selected for the official The day after they returned, WREC News Director American Eclipse Expedition to Africa this summer, Roger Cooper '69 interviewed Dr. Taylor on WREC's eight were Southwesterners, a point that says a lot "Rostrum" program. Dr. Taylor directed Southwest­ about Southwestern's preeminence in the field of op­ ern's expedition, is chairman of the physics depart­ tical physics. ment and has been particularly interested in studying Three June graduates and five professors made up solar eclipses - this was the fourth for Southwestern the college team: students Bill Brune, Dan Ellsworth, (others : Canary Islands '59, Alaska '63, and Perry, and Bill Vining; professors Jack Taylor '44, Allen Barn­ Florida '70). hardt, John Schmitt, Frederic Stauffer, and John Streete The following story was transcribed from the WREC '60. broadcast. Cooper: Dr. Taylor, you've been to see another eclipse is that if we had gone there we would have had to - a thing not many can say. How many is this for you? observe the eclipse very early in the morning which Taylor: This is my fourth one. meant we had to look through more atmosphere. It's Cooper: Your latest expedition took you to a rather re­ ideal to have an eclipse take place at high noon be­ markable total eclipse which you observed from a van­ cause you look through less atmosphere. tage point in Africa in June, right? There were two sites as far as the American Expedi­ Taylor: Yes, June 30th. The remarkable thing about this tion was concerned, one in Chinguetti, Mauritania, particular eclipse was that it was one of the longest in the other in Loiyengalani, Kenya, where the South­ history - seven minutes. We will not have another one western group went. The Mauritania group had a to­ this long until 2150. The maximum duration of an tality lasting approximately seven minutes. At Lake eclipsed sun is approximately 7112 minutes, and itvaries Rudolph, or Loiyengalani, we had approximately five from that down to something considerably shorter, de­ minutes. pending on where the moon and the earth are in their Cooper: Lake Rudolph is in northern Kenya, up near orbits. the Ethiopian border in East Africa. Cooper: Why did you choose the particular site you Taylor: Yes. By going there we lost two minutes of ob­ went to? serving time as compared to the astronomers who Taylor: Well, let me review some of the geometry of went into the Mauritanian desert. But they were most­ an eclipse. Approximately every two years somewhere ly radio astronomers, not affected by sandstorms and on the face of the earth one can observe the phenom­ dust the way people doing measurements in the vis­ enon of a total eclipse as contrasted to a partial eclipse. ible and infrared are. Since our measurements were The fact that the moon and sun each subtend approxi­ in the infrared we were willing to pay the price of mately half a degree on the surface of the earth' makes two minutes in order to have clear skies. a total eclipse possible. Cooper: Tell me how you got to East Africa. That's an­ The shadow cast by the moon - as the light from other story in itself. the sun passes by - strikes the earth, and to observe Taylor: Well, let me tell you that getting ready for an an eclipse one must get somewhere in this shadow expedition is a long process! The American Expedition path. This particular eclipse started in Brazil early in was financed by the National Science Foundation the morning, swept across the AtlantiC and Africa, (Southwestern also received additional support from and finally left the earth somewhere in the Indian Research Corporation). This was the largest single Ocean. The time of totality varied, depending on scientific eclipse expedition ever undertaken. NSF where you were along this path. You might ask why asked the National Center for Atmospheric Research we didn't go to South AmeriCa to observe. The reason (Boulder, Colo.) to oversee the site selection, logistical , ~ I I • Time out for everybody's picture crossin .. , support, etc., and those fellows did a fantastic job, of volcanic Origin, and access is over terrain that is working for about two years, to make it possible for difficult to describe. We had to climb to 9,000 feet be­ American scientists to make their measurements. fore finally gettirig over the mountains. The point is, You can appreciate the difficulty, say, of getting we got through. It was an interesting ride but it's cer­ generators into a place as remote as Lake Rudolph, tainly not one you'd recommend for your friends! building lodges for the expedition to live in, taking Cooper: Did your equipment have to survive this same care of all sorts of engineering details. They also had route? innumerable agreements to work out with the Kenyan Taylor: No, it went in the long way, up through Marsa­ government. The price tag on this operation is prob­ bit, north of Loiyengalani. Even that way the last 50 ably going to be of the order of $700,000. miles are rugged, but not as bad as the route we took. It's interesting that if you look at the total number We sent 6,500 pounds of equipment - 17 boxes - of experiments and the people involved, Souhwestern valued at $100,000, and we had one piece of broken probably had the largest participation of any group. apparatus. It was a mercury vapor tube, valued at And in addition to our four scientific experiments we about$18. took 35mm color slides and made a 16mm color movie Cooper: So, you were lucky, considering what could with sound, which we intend to make available to the have been broken. When you got there you set up public. camp. How many days before the eclipse was this? Cooper: You're going to put together sort of a docu­ Taylor: We had approximately three weeks to get set mentary about the trip itself. up. Actually we did not need that much time, but there Taylor: That's right. Southwestern can use this in vari­ were people who might have needed this for one rea­ ous ways. An eclipse is an obvious opportunity for son or another. Our tent went up nicely and in three making scientific observations. That's the main thing. or four days we were on the line ready to go. We also look on it as a wonderful opportunity to in­ Cooper: What did you do the night before the eclipse volve undergraduate students in an experience nor­ date? How did you spend your time in preparation? mally reserved for graduate students. Taylor: Well, you know I had the advantage of having Cooper: You took some students with you to East been on previous eclipses. But some of us had not, Africa. so they did not know what to expect, although we Taylor: We took three boys who graduated this year had taken care to warn them that tension does build with degrees in physics. Two of them enter Johns Hop­ up and that there's usually a big let-down afterwards. kins this fall to pursue their Ph.D. and the third one You can't really get prepared for something like that; will be entering the University of Arkansas. Whenever you just have to experience it, and let me simply say we go on scientific expeditions we make a heroic ef­ that you get butterflies in your stomach the night be­ fort to involve as many students as we possibly can. fore and people try to maintain good conversation to This is a great virtue of a small college - you can have keep their minds off this. almost one-to-one coupling between students and From the beginning of the countdown - for most teachers. people this occurs when the moon first touches the Cooper: You took some faculty colleagues with you sun, what the astronomers call first contact - the also. show is really underway. Then it's a matter of an hour Taylor: Yes, there were five teachers. We had a total of or so until second contact. That's when the moon com­ eight in our party. pletely blocks the sun ... when the eclipse actually Cooper: So, sometime in June you flew to Africa. begins. Tensions mount at that point. An eclipse is Taylor: That's right. NSF had put us on notice last fall hard to describe. I guess anything unbelievably beau­ that we were to be part of the official American Expe­ tiful is. A total solar eclipse has often been described dition. After you find out you're going then you have as a spiritual encounter. Poets can do more justice to to get your equipment in order and you pack it up this than a physics type, but certainly it's a thing of and get it out well in advance. It left the first of April; beauty, to say nothing of the wonderful scientific op­ we left June 6. NSF chartered a PanAm flight in New portunity it offers. York and flew everybody over at one time. We flew Cooper: Do you have time to really appreciate it or are to Dakar where the group for Mauritania left us. The you too busy. next day we flew across Africa to Nairobi and spent Taylor: I got one view of the eclipse right at the be­ two nights and a day there being briefed by the Ameri­ ginning and another a minute or two later, but the can Embassy and Kenyan officials.