by Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard
During the 20th century four total solar eclipses occurred
in Norway; in 1914, 1927, 1945 and 1954. Many elderly people
still remember the eclipse of 1954 which was total in the
southwest part of Norway. Even in areas more to the north,
where it wasn't total, the eclipse made a huge
impression. Many people still remember where they were and
what they did this special day.
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THE SOLAR ECLIPSES OF 1954
Read more.
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MORE ABOUT THE SOLAR ECLIPSES DURING THE 20TH CENTURY
By Oddleiv Skilbrei
Read more.
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The picture is from the total solar eclipse of 1927.
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But already during the eclipse on June 29th 1927 there was a
huge interest in Norway. We will look at that in this
article based on material made available to us by Kjell
Bø. He has material from the journal of his father and
articles from local and national newspapers.
HUGE INTEREST
This rare and dramatic natural phenomenon was widely covered
in the newspapers. The eclipse occurred early in the morning
and was in Norway total in a band reaching from Stavanger in
a north-eastern direction via Haukeli, Ringebu, and Røros
and continued via Sverige to Finmark. There was a feeling of
excitement due to the weather prospect since the preceding
days had been filled with pouring rain and flood.
In eastern parts of the country the weather was fair, while
a cloudy layer disappointed the viewers on other
locations. There were a large number of researchers and
other interested gathering from both Norway and other
countries.
Kjell Bø shares his memories from the eclipse:"We lived in
Solør. My father was a teacher, and amongst others highly
interested in the natural sciences. It was during a school
holiday, and my father left the previous day to his family's
farm in his home town Vekkom in the valley east of Ringebu
Station. He writes that when we came to the station around 7
pm, it was already crowded with people traveling to see the
solar eclipse, amongst others many boy scouts.
Now Kjell Bø refers from the journal of his father from the next day:
"I couldn't sleep much last night; it was so crowded with
people all around. Lillehammer elementary school came all
the way up here, which didn't leave much peace and quiet. I
awoke Kjell at 4 am, after which we tinted glass and
prepared. From the farm we could see how the station teemed
with people, they arrived by train and by bike, and cars
arrived like large swarms of flies. It was actually said to
be 277 cars that day. We stood on the road near the barn. The Sun
arrived here late enough for the Moon to have covered a part of the
solar disk by the time we saw the whole Sun. We then watched closely
as this mysterious, shifting, grey-blue semi-darkness crept in as the
solar disk was covered by the Moon, and there was a light green silver
ring with blazing lightning around the Sun. A grand natural sight. You
must have experienced a total solar eclipse, neither spoken nor
written words can describe it. It was a clear and mild day even though
it had been cloudy and rainy for days. So the Lord really pulled the
curtain away for the grand sight. It became so quiet and cool, and we
stood there, shivering in the strange semi-darkness. I got a little
distracted by photographing two plates of the corona, and didn't
experience the peace and calm I otherwise would have had. But it was
still good."
Yes, he did succeed capturing both the corona and 6 adults and two
small children beholding this impressing natural phenomenon an early
morning in June 1927.
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The photo is from the total solar eclipse of 1927.
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The newspapers told about a huge stream of people and cars to amongst
others Ringebu.
A national newspaper writes "In the city of Veslehamar the train
platform is nothing but a large ant-hill.
All roads must have led here yesterday and last night. This
amount of visitors has not previously been seen in
Ringebu. There are people from all over the place, people of
all ages and shapes. From those who travel between the cars
and bikes, dogs and others, running up and down the main
street in Charleston rhythm, to those who consider this
happening as a reason to pour down as many pints as
possible.
Ringebu competes with Berlin regarding number of late night
cafés - now, because all the cafés are open tonight - to
those who may have walked a long way on old and tired feet
to witness this.
At 4 am a lot of people are gathered at the farm Sperre,
where Sigurd Einbu is located, recording his
observations. It's an unusually suitable location. Now the
Sun is shining from behind the hill and all tinted glasses
are immediately put into action. But still there's nothing
out of the ordinary to see.
At 5 am the Sun still shines from a clear sky, but after a
while the shadow starts eating of the solar disk, in the end
only a small sickle is left and it becomes more and more
shady and silent, stars appear on the sky. All the colours
look strangely unnatural. And then, finally, the
unforgettable happening, the seconds when the solar disk was
completely covered by the shadow. But with the shining
corona encircling it.
The professors Sæland and Vegard are here. They stay at
Gunstad. And so is a Russian expedition consisting of a
total of 5 men from the University of Moscow, 3 astronomers
and 2 geophysicists.
They are thrilled about their trip. We all are, the one
travelling all the way from India for these few seconds the
happiest of them all.
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Total solar eclipse on 62 degrees north in Norway early the morning of
June 29th 1927.
Illustration: The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics
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THE CENTER OF THE WORLD FOR A SHORT WHILE
The local paper "Gudbrandsdølen" report that the trains were full of
people going to Ringebu. The number of viewers was between 3000 and
4000.
"From the train station to the farms of Gunstad the road was black
with people in the late hours of the night. By Høystad large groups of
people stood waiting for the grand moment. All the forest groves were
crowded with merry and noisy travellers who had lighted fires for
making coffee and enjoyed a drink to keep the eyes open and the head
clear while waiting for the moment."
The newspaper also writes a bit more on the observations Sigurd Einbu
made: "Einbu received assistance from his family, seeing how his wife
and adolescent children are interested in astronomy and have a deeper
understanding for the mystery than the common man. Einbu himself
controlled the large binoculars, while the others controlled the other
instruments, such as thermometer, cameras, etc.
The observations Einbu made were contact observations, measurements of
the exact time of when the Moon entered the Sun, and he expressed his
contentment with the observations.
At 5:36 am the Moon entered the Sun, slowly it ate its way into the
disk. The lunar sickle decreased.
Nature achieved an extraordinary colour, the sharp light became less
intense, and the shadows grew more distinct. As the time passed by
everything took on a bluish tint which grew darker.
The temperature decreased noticeably, small shivers literally passed
through the group of watchers.
At 6:33 am the Sun disappeared behind the black lunar disk, like a
shining sickle of gold. An obscure darkness lay over the
landscape. The phenomenon could be watched with the naked eye.
This strange historical moment left a remarkable and strong
impression, and will surely be remembered by the lucky ones, who had
the opportunity to watch this rare happening.
The total eclipse lasted 34 short seconds. The dark lunar disk was
encircled by a shining diadem, the corona, and from the edge of the
Sun large, red filaments shoot out.
Then the rays of the Sun once again gained the upper hand and the
sickle grew, for us viewers it appeared like it happened with greater
speed than it had decreased.
The un-nature once again became nature."
A COLD SUMMER MORNING
Sigurd Einbu's measurements showed that the temperature decreased
considerably during the eclipse. From 6 am to 6:30 am the temperature
decreased with 3 degrees and another 9 degrees during the
totality. Most thermometers had problems capturing the quick changes
in temperature.
er.
Einbu measured the times of the Moon's contact with the Sun with high
precision and found noticeable deviations from the predictions. First
contact between the Sun and the Moon was 16 seconds delayed. In
Ringebu the totality began at 06.34.59 am, or 8 seconds later than
expected. The duration was 34,5 seconds. The Moon's orbit is too
complicated for more exact calculations to be made in 1927.
The corona is describes as magnificent, but not very bright. It
extended a maximum of 1,5 solar diameters outside the lunar disk. He
especially noticed large, red flames (filaments) reaching beyond the
edge of the lunar disk. They were easily spotted with the naked eye
and must therefore have been extraordinarily large. The largest had a
length equivalent to a 16th part of a sun radius or more than 100 000
km.
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The eclipse on June 29th 1927 at 06:32 when it was at its max as seen
from Oslo.
Illustration: The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics
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