Go to the BAA Journal home page
J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 108, 5, 1998, p. 290
Royal Greenwich Observatory, 1997. ISBN 0-905-087-03-8. Pp 28 + 4 colour plates, £5.99 (pbk.)
and
reviewed by Hazel McGee
With the approach of 1999, publishers could be expected to be busy producing popular books on solar eclipses for the European and British markets, but so far there have been remarkably few. These two volumes fill some of the gaps.
The RGO Guide to the 1999 Total Eclipse of the Sun is a thorough and relatively technical sourcebook for all the information that readers of this Journal might require, and should be on every BAA member's bookshelf. Tables of the local circumstances of the partial and total eclipse are given for 165 towns and cities in Britain, and 80 European cities. Good track maps (particularly of Cornwall and the West Country) translate the numbers into reality on the ground, right down to village level. A map of the whole of Britain, similar to that given by Peter Macdonald in the 1995 December BAA Journal, shows the appearance of the maximum partial phase at different locations. There is also a sky diagram of totality, from which we can see that while Venus and Mercury will be prominent near the Sun, Saturn and Jupiter will be close to the Western horizon and Mars will not be visible.
The pamphlet is written for the general public, and consequently also includes an excellent but necessarily brief summary of the origin of eclipses, how they are predicted, the nature of the Sun and how observations of eclipses in the past helped to discover it, and what may be seen during an eclipse. The section on 'Observing the eclipse', with the required warnings prominent, is especially good. The meaning of the tables and maps is carefully explained for the layperson, and four carefully-chosen colour plates, together with the eye-catching cover, give some idea of what to expect. Finally a Mylar viewer (of the brightly coloured 'eclipse glasses' type) is provided, and notes on its correct use are given. All in all, this is a thoroughly excellent booklet which packs an astonishing amount of information into 28 brief pages. It will be of value to everyone next year, even those outside the track of totality, so make sure your local bookshops have plenty of copies in the run-up to next August.
The Sun in Eclipse by Patrick Moore and Mike Maunder also provides an introduction to eclipses, although the book is aimed more at the experienced observer and photographer than the lay reader. The book is general in scope and does not provide much specific information on the 1999 event – for example the brief tables give circumstances for only 54 places altogether in the whole of Britain and Europe, and the only 1999 diagram provided, a track map of totality in Cornwall, is barely adequate. Chapters include a general introduction to the solar system, the Sun as a star, observing the Sun, the origin of eclipses, historical eclipses, eclipse chasing, and eclipses in the future. There is detailed and technical coverage of the various types of filters available and of eclipse photography. The book is liberally illustrated with Michael and Patrick's pictures although as so often seen these days, the quality of reproduction is poor.
These volumes have their different places on the shelf as we approach 1999, but a good full-length British book for the general public, not too daunting technically and trying to convey the subtlety and beauty as well as the science of the event to come, still remains to be published.
The RGO Guide to the 1999 Total Eclipse of the Sun is available from Tor Mark Press, United Downs Industrial Estate, St Day, Redruth, Cornwall TR16 5HY, £6.99 post free, and from all good bookshops. See also the Web page at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/eclipse99.
Return to Journal 1998 October contents page
Go to the BAA Journal home page