Abstract
The total solar eclipse of 18 August 1868 was one of the most important eclipses in the history of solar physics, and observations of it led to a new understanding of the nature of the chromosphere, prominences and the corona. Among other places, this eclipse was visible from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). Soon after the 1868 event came the total solar eclipse of 12 December 1871, which also was visible from the Dutch East Indies and offered a further opportunity to build on the achievements of 1868.
Both solar eclipses were observed from the Dutch East Indies by teams led by J.A.C. Oudemans, and in this chapter we provide biographical details of Oudemans before examining the scientific instruments used and observations made in 1868 and 1871 by Oudemans and other local observing teams. We end by assessing the international importance of Oudemans’ published scientific results.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr. T. de Groot, (Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht) for kindly providing Fig. 15.2.
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Mumpuni, E.S., Orchiston, W., Steinicke, W. (2017). J.A.C. Oudemans’ Observations of the 18 August 1868 and 12 December 1871 Total Solar Eclipses from the Dutch East Indies. In: Nakamura, T., Orchiston, W. (eds) The Emergence of Astrophysics in Asia. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62082-4_15
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