Few attempts were made by professional astronomers to observe the total eclipse of the Sun of 1 November 1948 as the circumstances for observing it were not particularly favourable. The path of totality started in Africa and ran mainly over the South Indian Ocean before ending near the coast of New Zealand. Even on the coast of Kenya, the sun was low and the duration of totality just 52 seconds.
Although today, the eclipse is mainly remembered for revealing a previously unseen comet that was close to the Sun, the reason why an observing party was sent from Greenwich has been largely forgotten. It was to impove our knowledge of the profile of the Moon using a technique specially devised by the Observatory's Chief Assistant, Robert d'Escort Atkinson, in which the eclipse was filmed from just outside the zone of totality.
Cinematography of Partial Solar Eclipses I. General. Robert d’E Atkinson, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 113, p.18 (1953)
Cinematography of Partial Solar Eclipses II. Observations at the eclipse of 1948 November I at Mombasa. Robert d’E Atkinson & John Pope, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 113, p.635 (1953)
Cinematography of Partial Solar Eclipses III. Analysis of the Observations made at Mombasa, 1948 November I. Robert d’E Atkinson & Andrew Murray, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 115, p.60 (1955)
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