Interesting Facts
Did you know?
In 1954, a group of 6 people from the Milwaukee Astronomical Society (MAS) came to Mattice to observe the June 30th solar eclipse. Communication antennas were installed, and they were set to make their observations from one of the properties located on Plamondon Road. While the clouds prevented them from making the observations they were hoping for, the group left a cement block, covered by a plaque on which the date and their names are inscribed, to commemorate their passage in the community.
To find out more about the MAS and about this particular expedition, go to:
https://milwaukeeastro.org/history/history1952-63.asp
The SAM team, before leaving for Mattice.
From left to right: Bill Albrecht, David Knaup, John Neff, Richard Fink and Bill Konig
Absent: Roy Lee
Roy Lee, the 6th member of the team, digging… possibly to install a portion of their equipment.
Picture taken by Bill Albrecht on June 29th, 1954.
Picture taken by Roy Lee on June 29th, 1954.
Note: 48 stars (instead of 50) on the american flag… because Alaska and Hawaii had not yet joined the United States.
Pictures of the cement block and of the plaque, as they remain today.
You can easily access the site if you want to take a closer look at these items!
To do so, once in Mattice, go towards the east and take Cemetery Road, south of Highway 11. Continue straight and cross on to Plamondon Road. The object will be located to your left, a few meters from the road. See the map below.
But… why in Mattice?
The map below shows the trajectory of the June 30th, 1954 solar eclipse on earth…
The map below clearly shows that Mattice was almost right in the middle of the eclipse path of total obscurity. And it was easily accessible by both road and railway!
Based on an article published on this subject in the May 9th, 2024 edition of the Journal Le Nord, it appears that Montreal members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada also made their way here, along with a team from the University of Toronto. (Translation) ¨A plane was on site to bring observers above the clouds, but the atmospheric ceiling was so low that the plane could not even get off the ground.¨ Other astronomy buffs had apparently taken camp on the shores of Shallow Lake to observe the eclipse.
Unfortunately for all these visitors, it was mostly clouds that they got to see…
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