Solar eclipse of July 29, 1878 (original) (raw)

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Total eclipse

Solar eclipse of July 29, 1878

Total eclipse
Map
Gamma 0.6232
Magnitude 1.045
Maximum eclipse
Duration 191 s (3 min 11 s)
Coordinates 53°48′N 124°00′W / 53.8°N 124°W / 53.8; -124
Max. width of band 191 km (119 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse 21:47:18
References
Saros 124 (47 of 73)
Catalog # (SE5000) 9230
← February 2, 1878January 22, 1879 →

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Monday, July 29 and Tuesday, July 30, 1878, with a magnitude of 1.0450. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 2.4 days before perigee (on August 1, 1878, at 6:45 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[1]

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day eastern Russia, Alaska, western Canada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of Northeast Asia, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.

Newspapers in the United States reported of large migrations from the Midwest towards the path of totality to view the eclipse. Scientists observing from Pikes Peak in Colorado contended with altitude sickness and snowstorms, among other problems.[2][3]

High-altitude astronomy

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The 1878 eclipse was a turning point in modern astronomy, because it was the first time that many of the world's leading astronomers had the opportunity to make their observations from the higher altitudes provided by the Rocky Mountains. After the 1878 eclipse, astronomers began to build observatories at locations well above sea level, including on the sides and summits of mountains, a scientific trend which extended throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.[4]

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[5]

July 29, 1878 Solar Eclipse Times

Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1878 July 29 at 19🔞31.9 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1878 July 29 at 20:23:40.9 UTC
First Central Line 1878 July 29 at 20:24:46.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1878 July 29 at 20:25:52.4 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1878 July 29 at 21:23:06.4 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1878 July 29 at 21:40:46.5 UTC
Greatest Duration 1878 July 29 at 21:46:11.9 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1878 July 29 at 21:47:17.7 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1878 July 29 at 23:08:56.0 UTC
Last Central Line 1878 July 29 at 23:10:04.0 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1878 July 29 at 23:11:11.6 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1878 July 30 at 00:16:08.9 UTC

July 29, 1878 Solar Eclipse Parameters

Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.04495
Eclipse Obscuration 1.09192
Gamma 0.62323
Sun Right Ascension 08h35m50.0s
Sun Declination +18°38'42.9"
Sun Semi-Diameter 15'45.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7"
Moon Right Ascension 08h36m44.1s
Moon Declination +19°13'31.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter 16'15.3"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°59'39.2"
ΔT -4.7 s

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Eclipse season of July–August 1878

July 29Descending node (new moon) August 13Ascending node (full moon)
Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 124 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 136

Solar eclipses of 1877–1880

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This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[6]

The partial solar eclipses on March 15, 1877 and September 7, 1877 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on December 2, 1880 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1877 to 1880
Descending node Ascending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
114 August 9, 1877Partial 1.3277 119 February 2, 1878Annular −0.9071
124 July 29, 1878Total 0.6232 129 January 22, 1879Annular −0.1824
134 July 19, 1879Annular −0.1439 139 January 11, 1880Total 0.6136
144 July 7, 1880Annular −0.9406 146 December 31, 1880Partial 1.1591

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 124, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 73 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on March 6, 1049. It contains total eclipses from June 12, 1211 through September 22, 1968, and a hybrid eclipse on October 3, 1986. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on May 11, 2347. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of totality was produced by member 39 at 5 minutes, 46 seconds on May 3, 1734. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[7]

Series members 43–64 occur between 1801 and 2200:
43 44 45
June 16, 1806 June 26, 1824 July 8, 1842
46 47 48
July 18, 1860 July 29, 1878 August 9, 1896
49 50 51
August 21, 1914 August 31, 1932 September 12, 1950
52 53 54
September 22, 1968 October 3, 1986 October 14, 2004
55 56 57
October 25, 2022 November 4, 2040 November 16, 2058
58 59 60
November 26, 2076 December 7, 2094 December 19, 2112
61 62 63
December 30, 2130 January 9, 2149 January 21, 2167
64
January 31, 2185

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.

22 eclipse events between March 5, 1848 and July 30, 1935
March 5–6 December 22–24 October 9–11 July 29–30 May 17–18
108 110 112 114 116
March 5, 1848 July 29, 1859 May 17, 1863
118 120 122 124 126
March 6, 1867 December 22, 1870 October 10, 1874 July 29, 1878 May 17, 1882
128 130 132 134 136
March 5, 1886 December 22, 1889 October 9, 1893 July 29, 1897 May 18, 1901
138 140 142 144 146
March 6, 1905 December 23, 1908 October 10, 1912 July 30, 1916 May 18, 1920
148 150 152 154
March 5, 1924 December 24, 1927 October 11, 1931 July 30, 1935

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
March 4, 1802(Saros 117) February 1, 1813(Saros 118) January 1, 1824(Saros 119) November 30, 1834(Saros 120) October 30, 1845(Saros 121)
September 29, 1856(Saros 122) August 29, 1867(Saros 123) July 29, 1878(Saros 124) June 28, 1889(Saros 125) May 28, 1900(Saros 126)
April 28, 1911(Saros 127) March 28, 1922(Saros 128) February 24, 1933(Saros 129) January 25, 1944(Saros 130) December 25, 1954(Saros 131)
November 23, 1965(Saros 132) October 23, 1976(Saros 133) September 23, 1987(Saros 134) August 22, 1998(Saros 135) July 22, 2009(Saros 136)
June 21, 2020(Saros 137) May 21, 2031(Saros 138) April 20, 2042(Saros 139) March 20, 2053(Saros 140) February 17, 2064(Saros 141)
January 16, 2075(Saros 142) December 16, 2085(Saros 143) November 15, 2096(Saros 144) October 16, 2107(Saros 145) September 15, 2118(Saros 146)
August 15, 2129(Saros 147) July 14, 2140(Saros 148) June 14, 2151(Saros 149) May 14, 2162(Saros 150) April 12, 2173(Saros 151)
March 12, 2184(Saros 152) February 10, 2195(Saros 153)

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2200
September 7, 1820(Saros 122) August 18, 1849(Saros 123) July 29, 1878(Saros 124)
July 10, 1907(Saros 125) June 19, 1936(Saros 126) May 30, 1965(Saros 127)
May 10, 1994(Saros 128) April 20, 2023(Saros 129) March 30, 2052(Saros 130)
March 10, 2081(Saros 131) February 18, 2110(Saros 132) January 30, 2139(Saros 133)
January 10, 2168(Saros 134) December 19, 2196(Saros 135)
  1. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. ^ Ruskin, Steve (2008). "'Among the Favored Mortals of Earth': The Press, State Pride, and the Great Eclipse of 1878". Colorado Heritage.
  3. ^ Waxman, Olivia B. (August 18, 2017). "Think This Total Solar Eclipse Is Getting a Lot of Hype? You Should Have Seen 1878". TIME. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  4. ^ Ruskin, Steven (22 July 2017). America's first great eclipse : how scientists, tourists, and the Rocky Mountain eclipse of 1878 changed astronomy forever. [United States]. ISBN 9780999140901. OCLC 992174591.{{[cite book](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fbook "Template:Cite book")}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1878 Jul 29". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  6. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  7. ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 124". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.