OK, A little late, but, following is the account of the annular eclipse of the Sun that was visible in New Kent in the February of 1831.
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| https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/19th-century |
THE GREAT ECLIPSE
On next Saturday morning (the 12th) the great annular Eclipse of the Sun is to take place. Richardson's Virginia Almanac, gives the following account of its elements.
"Beginning at 48ra. after 10h. A.M. —Ecliptic conjunction at 48m. after 11h.—Apparent conjunction or greatest obscuration at 27m. [-------- ]— End at l m. after 2h. P.M. — Duration 3h. 13m .
When it is 16m. afternoon at Richmond, the Sun will be centrally eclipsed on the Meridian, in lat. 35 deg S 1-2 n North, and long. 3 dg. 68m. West, from Richmond. The centre of the Moon's shadow will pass thence near Petersburg, Va. little to the Southeast of Richmond, and go off into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape May, New Jersey.—At all places where the eclipse will be central or nearly so. the edge of the Sun's disk will appear like a luminous cloud round the body of the Moon, having different appearances at different distances from the path of the penumbras centre. — At Richmond, the visible part of the Sun Northern limb, will be much broader than the Southern. At the time of the great obscuration, the Sun's apparent diameter will be 32 n. 26 arc. of a deg. and the Moon's 31in 25 sec. consequently only about one thirty-second part of the Sun's diameter will be visible, at places where the eclipse is annular.”
We are indebted to the last Fredericksburg Arena for the following corpendicus* description of this remarkable phenomenon, “with fear of change perplexing monarchs:"
“There are few persons who have not seen an ordinary eclipse of the sun, but, for a long course of years, the kind of eclipse which will happen on Saturday may not be again witnessed. It will be what is called an Annular eclipse. To those situated on a particular line, entering the United States from Mexico,- and passing thro’ the States of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, S. Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, thence into the Atlantic, South of Cape Henlopen, and touching the Island of Nantucket, the sun will exhibit the appearance of a bright luminous ring; the circles forming the Interior and exterior boundaries of which will be concentric. To those, within the distance of 50 miles on either side of this line, the appearance will still be that of a ring, but of a ring, whose exterior and interior boundaries are circles which have not a common centre. To all on either side of the path of a greater distance than 50 miles, the appearance will be that of a crescent. The Southern limit of the Annular Eclipse passes through the counties of Greensville, Sussex, Surry, Warwick, York, Northampton and Accomack— Between this line, and the central path, to which like the Northern limit, It is parallel, the appearance will be precisely the same as between the Northern limit and the central path, but the Eclipse will be up in the North limb of the Sun.
“From the American Almanac— 26 pages of which are devoted too this Eclipse— we gather the following particulars, in relation to its appearance in the various parts of Virginia:
“The path of the Central Eclipse, passes through the counties of Halifax, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg. Dinwiddie, (very near Petersburg.) Chesterfield, Charles City, New Kent, King William, King & Queen, Middlesex, Lancaster and Northumberland —To persons on this path, in the several counties mentioned above, the sun will appear a luminous ring of equal breadth all around. Petersburg is the only Town, of any size, in the Union, which is upon the central path."
-Richmond Enquirer, 10 February 1831
A most sensible change in the temperature of the air was experienced during the eclipse on Saturday. A thermometer placed in the sun fell 31 deg. in an hour and 10 minutes, from the first commencement, to the moment of greatest obscuration.
-Richmond Whig, 14 February 1831
THE ECLIPSE.
There was no necessity for Swift's Bellman to put off the Eclipse on Saturday, for a finer day. The sky was as clear and cloudless as could have been wished by Endymion himself. The sublime Phenomenon, was visible from first contact to the final emersion(sic) of the moon. Every person in the city was star gazing, from blear-eyed old age to the most bright eyed infancy— duly armed with smoked glass, or with green spectacles. But there was a scarcely a Telescope mounted, to trace the various phases of the heavenly bodies and we have not heard of a single scientific observation being made, to ascertain the Longitude of the Metropolis. The event itself gave a new triumph to the cause of Science. The calculations of the Astronomers seemed to be perfectly realized. The Eclipse appeared beautifully annular in our City— the ring being accurately defined, but in about a minute evanescent.
We were struck with two phenomena of light and of heat- The light, in passing through the interstices of the leaves of plants, was formed into very beautiful crescents corresponding with the appearance of the sun. The same phenomenon was witnessed when the rays of light, were passed through a small hole in a sheet of paper, and by varying degree the number and positions of the holes, you might obtain a series of crescents in the most fanciful forms. The change of temperature was remarkably great. About the period of the greatest obscuration, the Mercury rapidly fell several We understand in another position the thermometer indicated a variation of 32 degrees from the commencement of the eclipse to the period of the greatest conjunction. We saw the thermometer standing at 32 degrees in a confined yard.— The cold was, of course, still more oppressive from the suddenness of the change— A few of the stars of greatest magnitude were visible in different parts of the firmament.
-Richmond Enquirer, 15 February 1831
The eclipse took place on Saturday, pursuant to appointment, and was doubtless gazed upon by hundreds of thousands. The darkness was not so great here as was expected.—The change in the temperature of the air, by the interception of the Sun’s rays, was very striking. A Thermometer placed against the south wall of of Office, and exposed to the rays of the sun stood at 60, a few minutes previously to the commencement of the Eclipse. As the disk, of the sun became gradually covered, the mercury sunk and at the moment of greatest obscuration stood at 32 1/2, having fallen 27 1/2 degrees. —The day was as fine as ordered expressly for the occasion.
-Political Arena(Fredericksburg), 15 February 1831
* relating to Copernicus?
The eclipse of 1831 was seen by Nat Turner as a sign to start recruiting men for his insurrection.
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