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Online Exhibitions: Approach of the Moon's Shadow
At a time when photography could not yet capture the nuances of the eclipsed sun, Butler's paintings were a tour de force, providing astronomers and the public with perhaps the best record of eclipses at the time.
Because of their remarkable accuracy in capturing the eclipse of the sun, Butler's eclipse paintings have long been a source of fascination and study for scientists. A total solar eclipse lasts at most a few minutes at an observing site, and since it is visible only along a path a few tens of miles wide, observers must travel to the often-remote locales where an eclipse can be seen. It is only during a total eclipse, when the direct light from the sun is cut off, that the cloud of hot gases that surrounds the sun (the faint solar corona) is visible to the naked eye. Butler was able to make enough notes in the brief time of totality to enable him to create an accurate rendition of the eclipse with the aid of negatives and photographic prints taken at the time.
As Butler was waiting for the 1918 eclipse to start, he was warned by a countdown when the eclipse was a few seconds away. He could then see the shadow of the moon approaching on nearby hills, moving at about a thousand miles per hour. It took about two seconds to travel the last half mile, and in that time he could see the edge of the shadow crossing the plain to reach him as totality started. He recorded this sight afterward, in the painting Approach of the Moon's Shadow, with the hills in darkness and the shadow edge just starting across the plain. In the far distance the clouds are outside the region of totality, so the sun still lights them.
Because of their remarkable accuracy in capturing the eclipse of the sun, Butler's eclipse paintings have long been a source of fascination and study for scientists. A total solar eclipse lasts at most a few minutes at an observing site, and since it is visible only along a path a few tens of miles wide, observers must travel to the often-remote locales where an eclipse can be seen. It is only during a total eclipse, when the direct light from the sun is cut off, that the cloud of hot gases that surrounds the sun (the faint solar corona) is visible to the naked eye. Butler was able to make enough notes in the brief time of totality to enable him to create an accurate rendition of the eclipse with the aid of negatives and photographic prints taken at the time.
As Butler was waiting for the 1918 eclipse to start, he was warned by a countdown when the eclipse was a few seconds away. He could then see the shadow of the moon approaching on nearby hills, moving at about a thousand miles per hour. It took about two seconds to travel the last half mile, and in that time he could see the edge of the shadow crossing the plain to reach him as totality started. He recorded this sight afterward, in the painting Approach of the Moon's Shadow, with the hills in darkness and the shadow edge just starting across the plain. In the far distance the clouds are outside the region of totality, so the sun still lights them.
