Solar eclipse of December 22, 1889

Solar eclipse of December 22, 1889
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.1888
Magnitude	1.0449
Maximum eclipse
Duration	258 sec (4 m 18 s)
Coordinates	12°42′S12°48′W / 12.7°S 12.8°W / -12.7; -12.8
Max. width of band	152 km (94 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	12:54:15
References
Saros	130 (45 of 73)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9257

A total solar eclipse occurred on December 22, 1889. 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. It was visible from Cuba, to the coast of Brazil, and across southern Africa.

The eclipse was the focus of a 242-day United States scientific expedition, roughly 70 miles south of Luanda.

Observations

The eclipse was the focus of a scientific expedition from the United States, led by David P. Todd of Amherst College and including a team of at least six. Among the members was E. J. Loomis from the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac office. It set sail October 16 on the USS Pensacola and set up the eclipse base camp in December, roughly 70 miles south of Luanda in Cape Ledo. Totality was completely obscured by cloud cover. The ship returned to New York after 242 days, with the expedition performing a variety of other scientific studies along the way. ^{[1] [2]}

The 1889 solar eclipse was the last to be photographed by Stephen Joseph Perry.

Related eclipses

Saros 130

This eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 130, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 73 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on August 20, 1096. It contains total eclipses from April 5, 1475 through July 18, 2232. There are no annular eclipses in the series. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on October 25, 2394. The longest duration of totality was 6 minutes, 41 seconds on July 11, 1619. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node. ^[3]

Series members 43–56 between 1853 and 2300
43	44	45
November 30, 1853	December 12, 1871	December 22, 1889
46	47	48
January 3, 1908	January 14, 1926	January 25, 1944
49	50	51
February 5, 1962	February 16, 1980	February 26, 1998
52	53	54
March 9, 2016	March 20, 2034	March 30, 2052
55	56	57
April 11, 2070	April 21, 2088	May 3, 2106
58	59	60
May 14, 2124	May 25, 2142	June 4, 2160
61	62	63
June 16, 2178	June 26, 2196	July 8, 2214
64	65	66
July 18, 2232	July 30, 2250	August 9, 2268
67
August 20, 2286

References

1. "United States Eclipse Expedition to West Africa (1889-1890)", Smithsonian Institution Archives, retrieved 2021-06-10.
2. Todd, David P. (May 1890), "The United States Scientific Expedition to West Africa, 1889", Nature, 42 (1070): 8–10, Bibcode:1890Natur..42R...8T, doi: 10.1038/042008c0 .
3. "Saros Series catalog of solar eclipses". NASA.

• NASA graphic
  • Googlemap
  • NASA Besselian elements
• Sketchs of Solar Corona December 22, 1889
• Eclipse of December 21, 1889 (Cayenne). Contact print from the original glass negative. Lick Observatory Plate Archive, Mt. Hamilton.
• On Board the Pensacola--The Eclipse Expedition to the West Coast of Africa by Albert Bergman (A Man Before the Mast), New York, 1890
• Mabel Loomis Todd (1900). Total Eclipses of the Sun. Little, Brown.
• Turner, H.H. (14 March 1890). "Report of the Eclipse Committee". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . Royal Astronomical Society. 50: 265 et seq. Bibcode:1890MNRAS..50..265T. doi: 10.1093/mnras/50.5.265 .