A solar eclipse occurred when the moon passed between the earth and the sun, casting its shadow on the earth. The sun was said to be about 400 times bigger than the moon and approximately 400 times further away from the earth.
Of the solar eclipse of the sun in 1940, it was mentioned, "This eclipse although attracting great interest, falls far below the eclipse of August 1932, in scientific importance as well as in beauty. This is an annular rather than a total eclipse. The solar corona will not be visible as it is during a total eclipse which we will have on the first day of next October (in 1940)."
"This eclipse," it was made known, "begins at 11:25 Sunday morning (April 7, 1940), attains a maximum at 1:03p.m. and ends at 2:36p.m. The maximum of eclipse will be 58% of the sun's disk."
It was noted, "More than once has an eclipse altered the course of history. Back in 585 B.C., when the Medes and Lydians (present day between Turkey and Pakistan) were waging a drawn-out 5-year war, they were so impressed by the eclipse of that year that they threw down their arms and made a lasting peace. Today astronomers are able to calculate almost to a second when eclipses will occur and when they will terminate."
"The sun and moon may very properly be compared to 2 racers," it had been said. "One of whom (the moon) is mounted on a bicycle and is therefore able to travel much faster than the other (the sun). At the start of the race they are lined up in front of the judge's stand. The starting gun cracks. The cosmic race is on! The moon dashes away and the sun trots leisurely around the celestial track. The race continues and numerous round trips are made by the sun and the moon. Finally along comes the moon just as the sun passes the stand at the starting line whizzing by so as to throw its shadow in a strip around the earth."
"The first total solar eclipse to reach the United States will be in 1963," it was said at the time.
