TOKYO OBSERVATORY
Ifyou look at an astronomical map of stations of observation, you will see what looks to be a meteoric shower of dots on Europe, where there are one hundred and thirty observatories, sixty-five in North America, six in India, six also in Australia, two in the West Indies, three on the coast of China, and following the line of sea and shore northward in a vast region of watery waste only two lone spots which are the two Japanese observatories. Their importance to science is therefore obvious. Though situated on a height which seems to crown the city of Tokyo with the picturesque foliage of Hibiya Park, where the lungs and the mind expand, we are surprised to be told that for star gazers, there is not enough space. The observatory is soon to be moved; so bad are the atmospheric conditions and it is all but impossible to obtain good results in astronomical photography. In spite of this draw-back some very successful work on the Milky Way has been obtained by Prof. S. Hirayama, still as the enthusiastic young assistant says who has just returned from two years at the Yerkes observatory at Williams bay, Wisconsin, it is very unsatisfactory.
The work just now of the Observatory is the observation of variable stars, and the study of the deviation of verticals for which the observers must go out into the country to other heights. The chief work of the staff is along the line of time service, variation of latitude, solar observations, though the most important work is possibly on the Milky Way. Thestaff has been up to this time small, but there is now a sufficient force to ensure greater results of a more searching character. The present officers are:—Director, Prof. Terao; Professors S. and K. Hirayama; Assistant Professors, Sotome, Midzuhara, and Ichinoye.
The Astronomical Society which has just been established intends to popularize the study of astronomy, and they will have for this purpose, a series of journals published in Japanese. For scholars there will be also journals in English, German and French, giving an account of the work done at the observatory as well as matters of universal interest to astronomers. In eclipse trials many observations have been made; some of the plates are most beautiful, one taken of the corona of the sun by Prof. Hirayama was exquisite, this work was done at Padang, Sumatra. The instruments are three equatorials, two meridian circles and several smaller telescopes. Proudest of all is the institution of their Reflers clock which, I believe, is the only one in the Orient. The library is excellent, containing very many valuable works of reference.Mr.Ichinoye, while at the Yerkes observatory, took special work in spectroscopy and double stars and he speaks with enthusiasm of Profs. Frost, Burnham and Bernard, who are among the leading astronomers of the world in solar and stellar investigation.
An account of the taking of the coronax of the Sun is given graphically in the “Annal” of the Tokyo Observatory.
We left Singapore on the 4th April on the steamer “Van Outhoorn” of the Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, and four days later we anchored in Oleh-leh, at the extreme north of Sumatra island. During the rest of the voyage the steamer remained within sight of land. Our destination,Emmahaven, was reached at one o’clock in the afternoon of April 15th. There we took the train for Padang, only twenty minutes’ journey. In Padang I was able to select an abandoned shooting ground for archery on the seashore near Damar Street, as a site for the observing station. It was found afterwards that this site was too near the sea; when the sea was rough it was impossible to make sextant observations with artificial horizon on account of the periodical trembling of the ground. But fortunately on the day of the eclipse the sea was extremely calm, so that we could get sharp photographs.Dr.Lau, a German engineer, who had been resident for a long time in Padang, was most helpful to us during the whole period of our stay. He provided for us both labor and materials. On account of the excessive rain it was not possible to commence the setting of our instruments until April 27th. The principal instruments employed are as follows:—8-inch prismatic camera, in charge of the writer; 5-inch coronagraph, in charge ofMr.K. Hirayama; Vogel’s direct vision star-spectroscope in connection with a 4-inch telescope, in charge ofMr.Sotome.Now for a few words about the weather conditions at this station during my stay. Observations at Padang for several days after our arrival showed that as a rule the mornings were quite clear, but about noon the sky began to be overcast, and in the evenings it rained. Since the totality was to occur about one o’clock in the afternoon, we were all anxious about the visibility of the eclipse. But later observations showed that the weather was greatly improving. Still there was not a single day in which the sky was entirely free of clouds, such as I had enjoyed during my stay in India to observe the total eclipse of 1898. Thenights were specially bad, with either clouds or rain. Till the time of the eclipse we had only a few clear nights, during which we tried to photograph the spectrum of a bright star for focussing.The morning of the day before the eclipse was cloudy; it began to rain in torrents in the afternoon and by night it had not improved at all, promising nothing but rain for the next day. The morning of the 18th of May dawned cloudy, but afterwards it began to improve. The clouds broke in several places, and the clear sky gradually increased in extent. Noon was the hour of totality. During totality, although the sun was still covered with thin cirrus clouds, it was yet possible to observe the corona through them. The entire programme was carried through successfully, but with little hope of getting results of value. All the astronomers stationed at or near Padang on the west coast of Sumatra met the same fate. Fort de Kock was the only place where the sky was perfectly clear, although it was pretty near the northern margin of shadow, and the chance of clear weather was the poorest. Our site was excellent for the observation of the moon’s shadow. Two or three minutes before totality we saw the darkness approaching through the air, on the sea to the N. W., and the shadow swept with great rapidity towards us; at this moment totality commenced. We also noticed that the light was approaching, from the same direction, just before totality ended. In making the exposures I was assisted byMr.Shakushu, a Japanese priest at Singapore, who rendered most efficient service in this way. After the eclipse the development of the plates was taken up. Since the weather in camp was very hot in the daytime all the plateswere developed at night, ice being used abundantly. The resulting negatives were nearly all satisfactory, which was contrary of the first expectation. Yet the effect of the clouds is clearly seen in the long exposed plates of the 5-inch telescope.
We left Singapore on the 4th April on the steamer “Van Outhoorn” of the Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, and four days later we anchored in Oleh-leh, at the extreme north of Sumatra island. During the rest of the voyage the steamer remained within sight of land. Our destination,Emmahaven, was reached at one o’clock in the afternoon of April 15th. There we took the train for Padang, only twenty minutes’ journey. In Padang I was able to select an abandoned shooting ground for archery on the seashore near Damar Street, as a site for the observing station. It was found afterwards that this site was too near the sea; when the sea was rough it was impossible to make sextant observations with artificial horizon on account of the periodical trembling of the ground. But fortunately on the day of the eclipse the sea was extremely calm, so that we could get sharp photographs.Dr.Lau, a German engineer, who had been resident for a long time in Padang, was most helpful to us during the whole period of our stay. He provided for us both labor and materials. On account of the excessive rain it was not possible to commence the setting of our instruments until April 27th. The principal instruments employed are as follows:—8-inch prismatic camera, in charge of the writer; 5-inch coronagraph, in charge ofMr.K. Hirayama; Vogel’s direct vision star-spectroscope in connection with a 4-inch telescope, in charge ofMr.Sotome.
Now for a few words about the weather conditions at this station during my stay. Observations at Padang for several days after our arrival showed that as a rule the mornings were quite clear, but about noon the sky began to be overcast, and in the evenings it rained. Since the totality was to occur about one o’clock in the afternoon, we were all anxious about the visibility of the eclipse. But later observations showed that the weather was greatly improving. Still there was not a single day in which the sky was entirely free of clouds, such as I had enjoyed during my stay in India to observe the total eclipse of 1898. Thenights were specially bad, with either clouds or rain. Till the time of the eclipse we had only a few clear nights, during which we tried to photograph the spectrum of a bright star for focussing.
The morning of the day before the eclipse was cloudy; it began to rain in torrents in the afternoon and by night it had not improved at all, promising nothing but rain for the next day. The morning of the 18th of May dawned cloudy, but afterwards it began to improve. The clouds broke in several places, and the clear sky gradually increased in extent. Noon was the hour of totality. During totality, although the sun was still covered with thin cirrus clouds, it was yet possible to observe the corona through them. The entire programme was carried through successfully, but with little hope of getting results of value. All the astronomers stationed at or near Padang on the west coast of Sumatra met the same fate. Fort de Kock was the only place where the sky was perfectly clear, although it was pretty near the northern margin of shadow, and the chance of clear weather was the poorest. Our site was excellent for the observation of the moon’s shadow. Two or three minutes before totality we saw the darkness approaching through the air, on the sea to the N. W., and the shadow swept with great rapidity towards us; at this moment totality commenced. We also noticed that the light was approaching, from the same direction, just before totality ended. In making the exposures I was assisted byMr.Shakushu, a Japanese priest at Singapore, who rendered most efficient service in this way. After the eclipse the development of the plates was taken up. Since the weather in camp was very hot in the daytime all the plateswere developed at night, ice being used abundantly. The resulting negatives were nearly all satisfactory, which was contrary of the first expectation. Yet the effect of the clouds is clearly seen in the long exposed plates of the 5-inch telescope.