OBSERVATORY TO SEND EXPEDITION TO VIEW ECLIPSE

In preparation for observation of the total solar eclipse which is scheduled to take place on August 31, the Harvard Observatory will establish a camp in southeastern Maine, between Fryeburg and the ocean, in the early days of August.

The Observatory plans to do all possible work in the field of the photographic nature of the sun's corona in light of different colors, ranging from the invisible ultra-violet to the black light of the infra-red rays. For use in this photography, four cameras will be taken into the Maine woods. Another phase of the investigations will include the measuring of the total brightness of the coronal light.

Harvard will establish a separate camp and will conduct its experiments apart from direct association with any other university, although it is expected that nearly a dozen colleges will set up similar camps in the path of total darkness. The headquarters of Lick Observatory, of Mount Hamilton, California, will be located in Conway, New Hampshire. The period of totality of the eclipse, will be from 98 to 100 seconds, although partial darkness will obscure the entire afternoon.

Following the observance of the eclipse, the University will act as host to the International Astronomical Union, in Cambridge, during the week of September 2. An intensive 7-day program has been prepared, which includes excursions to Boston Harbor, the Oak Ridge Station of the Observatory, and Wellesley College. The Observatory expects about 65 foreign delegates and 175 Americans to attend. They will be housed in the Radcliffe dormitories. The annual meeting will close with a general assembly on Friday, September 9, in the Alice Longfellow Hall of Radcliffe College.