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Solar eclipse of August 7, 1869

Total eclipse

Summary

Total eclipse

Field	Value
previous	Solar eclipse of February 11, 1869
next	Solar eclipse of January 31, 1870

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Saturday, August 7, and Sunday, August 8, 1869, with a magnitude of 1.0551. 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 1.6 days before perigee (on August 9, 1869, at 13:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day eastern Russia, Alaska, western Canada, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of Northeast Asia, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Observations

This eclipse was the first major eclipse photographed and also included many different scientific expeditions to view it across totality.

Maria Mitchell took a group of Vassar College students to view the eclipse with telescopes in Burlington, Iowa.

In 1869, astronomer and explorer George Davidson made a scientific trip to the Chilkat Valley of Alaska. He told the Chilkat Indians that he was anxious to observe a total eclipse of the Sun that was predicted to occur the following day, August 7. This prediction was considered to have saved Davidson's expedition from an attack.

A photographic expedition was organized by Philadelphia's Henry Morton under the authority of John H. C. Coffin, U.S.N., Superintendent of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. The expedition observed the eclipse in Iowa at three stations: Burlington, Mount Pleasant, and Ottumwa, under the respective supervisions of Alfred M. Mayer, Henry Morton, and Charles Francis Himes (1838–1918).

Observations were also made by meteorology pioneers Cleveland Abbe and General Albert Myer, in Dakota Territory and Virginia, respectively.

Eclipse details

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.

Event	Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact	1869 August 7 at 19:38:08.9 UTC
First Umbral External Contact	1869 August 7 at 20:44:43.8 UTC
First Central Line	1869 August 7 at 20:46:19.1 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact	1869 August 7 at 20:47:55.4 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction	1869 August 7 at 21:46:10.8 UTC
Greatest Duration	1869 August 7 at 22:00:53.7 UTC
Greatest Eclipse	1869 August 7 at 22:01:04.7 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction	1869 August 7 at 22:08:11.2 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact	1869 August 7 at 23:14:22.8 UTC
Last Central Line	1869 August 7 at 23:16:00.7 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact	1869 August 7 at 23:17:37.6 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact	1869 August 8 at 00:24:03.9 UTC

Parameter	Value
Eclipse Magnitude	1.05514
Eclipse Obscuration	1.11332
Gamma	0.69599
Sun Right Ascension	09h11m15.8s
Sun Declination	+16°14'37.3"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'46.6"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.7"
Moon Right Ascension	09h11m50.9s
Moon Declination	+16°55'41.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter	16'27.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	1°00'22.4"
ΔT	1.2 s

Eclipse season

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.

July 23
Descending node (full moon)
August 7
Ascending node (new moon)

	[[File:SE1869Aug07T.png	200px]]
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 117	Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 143

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1869

A partial lunar eclipse on January 28.
An annular solar eclipse on February 11.
A partial lunar eclipse on July 23.
A total solar eclipse on August 7.

Metonic

Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 19, 1865
Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 26, 1873

Tzolkinex

Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 27, 1862
Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 17, 1876

Half-Saros

Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 1, 1860
Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 13, 1878

Tritos

Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 7, 1858
Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 7, 1880

Solar Saros 143

Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851
Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 19, 1887

Inex

Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 27, 1840
Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 18, 1898

Triad

Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 7, 1782
Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1956

Solar eclipses of 1866–1870

The partial solar eclipses on April 15, 1866 and October 8, 1866 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the solar eclipses on June 28, 1870 (partial) and December 22, 1870 (total) occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1866 to 1870	Descending node	Ascending node	Saros	Map
108	March 16, 1866
[[File:SE1866Mar16P.gif	150px]]
Partial	1.4241	113
118	March 6, 1867
[[File:SE1867Mar06A.gif	150px]]
Annular	0.7716	123	August 29, 1867
[[File:SE1867Aug29T.png	150px]]
Total	−0.7940
128	February 23, 1868
[[File:SE1868Feb23A.gif	150px]]
Annular	0.0706	133	August 18, 1868
[[File:SE1868Aug18T.png	150px]]
Total	−0.0443
138	February 11, 1869
[[File:SE1869Feb11A.gif	150px]]
Annular	−0.6251	143	August 7, 1869
[[File:SE1869Aug07T.png	150px]]
Total	0.6960
148	January 31, 1870
[[File:SE1870Jan31P.gif	150px]]
Partial	−1.2829		153	July 28, 1870
[[File:SE1870Jul28Pb.gif	150px]]
Partial	1.5044

Saros 143

Metonic series

All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

25 eclipse events between March 14, 1801 and August 7, 1888	March 14–15	December 31–January 1
[[File:SE1801Mar14P.png	150px]]
March 14, 1801	[[File:SE1805Jan01P.gif	150px]]
January 1, 1805	[[File:SE1808Oct19P.gif	150px]]
October 19, 1808	[[File:SE1812Aug07P.gif	150px]]
August 7, 1812	[[File:SE1816May27A.gif	150px]]
May 27, 1816
[[File:SE1820Mar14T.gif	150px]]
March 14, 1820	[[File:SE1824Jan01A.gif	150px]]
January 1, 1824	[[File:SE1827Oct20H.gif	150px]]
October 20, 1827	[[File:SE1831Aug07T.gif	150px]]
August 7, 1831	[[File:SE1835May27A.gif	150px]]
May 27, 1835
[[File:SE1839Mar15T.gif	150px]]
March 15, 1839	[[File:SE1842Dec31A.gif	150px]]
December 31, 1842	[[File:SE1846Oct20A.gif	150px]]
October 20, 1846	[[File:SE1850Aug07T.gif	150px]]
August 7, 1850	[[File:SE1854May26A.png	150px]]
May 26, 1854
[[File:SE1858Mar15A.gif	150px]]
March 15, 1858	[[File:SE1861Dec31T.gif	150px]]
December 31, 1861	[[File:SE1865Oct19A.png	150px]]
October 19, 1865	[[File:SE1869Aug07T.png	150px]]
August 7, 1869	[[File:SE1873May26P.gif	150px]]
May 26, 1873
[[File:SE1877Mar15P.gif	150px]]
March 15, 1877	[[File:SE1880Dec31P.gif	150px]]
December 31, 1880	[[File:SE1884Oct19P.gif	150px]]
October 19, 1884	[[File:SE1888Aug07P.gif	150px]]
August 7, 1888

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

NASA graphics
- Googlemap
- NASA Besselian elements
Sketch of Solar Corona 1869 August 7
The Solar Eclipse of 7 August 1869 P 70: Coast Survey Report 1869, 126–127, Cambridge, August 20, 1869

References

"Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate.
Mitchell, Maria. (20 November 1869). "The Total Eclipse of 1869". Friends' Intelligencer.
[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/astronomer-impresses-indians-with-eclipse August 7, 1869, Astronomer impresses Indians with eclipse] George Davidson, a prominent astronomer and explorer, impresses Alaskan Native Americans with his ability to predict a total solar eclipse.
Mayer, Alfred. (1869). "An Abstract of Some of the Results of Measurements and Examinations of the Photographs of the Total Solar Eclipse of August 7, 1869". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
David Baron, American Eclipse, p. 158
"Total Solar Eclipse of 1869 Aug 07". EclipseWise.com.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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