Solar eclipse of December 23, 1908

Last updated
Solar eclipse of December 23, 1908
Hybrid eclipse
SE1908Dec23H.png
Map
Gamma −0.4985
Magnitude 1.0024
Maximum eclipse
Duration12 s (0 min 12 s)
Coordinates 53°24′S0°30′W / 53.4°S 0.5°W / -53.4; -0.5
Max. width of band10 km (6.2 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse11:44:28
References
Saros 140 (23 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000) 9301

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 23, 1908, [1] [2] [3] [4] with a magnitude of 1.0024. It was a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. 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 3.1 days before perigee (on December 26, 1908, at 13:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. [5]

Contents

Annularity was visible from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, while totality was visible only from southern Atlantic Ocean with no land. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of northern South America, most of North America, the Caribbean, West Africa, North Africa, and Western Europe.

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. [6]

December 23, 1908 Solar Eclipse Times
EventTime (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact1908 December 23 at 09:06:26.9 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1908 December 23 at 10:10:43.8 UTC
First Central Line1908 December 23 at 10:11:10.4 UTC
Greatest Duration1908 December 23 at 10:11:10.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1908 December 23 at 10:11:37.1 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1908 December 23 at 11:44:27.5 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1908 December 23 at 11:49:14.3 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1908 December 23 at 11:49:45.9 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1908 December 23 at 13:17:16.8 UTC
Last Central Line1908 December 23 at 13:17:40.9 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1908 December 23 at 13:18:04.9 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1908 December 23 at 14:22:20.6 UTC
December 23, 1908 Solar Eclipse Parameters
ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.00243
Eclipse Obscuration1.00486
Gamma–0.49845
Sun Right Ascension18h05m35.3s
Sun Declination-23°26'42.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'15.7"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension18h05m23.9s
Moon Declination-23°55'54.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'04.3"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°58'59.0"
ΔT9.1 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.

Eclipse season of December 1908
December 7
Ascending node (full moon)
December 23
Descending node (new moon)
Lunar eclipse chart close-1908Dec07.png SE1908Dec23H.png
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 114
Hybrid solar eclipse
Solar Saros 140

Eclipses in 1908

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 140

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses of 1906–1909

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. [7]

The partial solar eclipses on February 23, 1906 and August 20, 1906 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1906 to 1909
Ascending node Descending node
SarosMapGammaSarosMapGamma
115 July 21, 1906
SE1906Jul21P.png
Partial
−1.3637120 January 14, 1907
SE1907Jan14T.png
Total
0.8628
125 July 10, 1907
SE1907Jul10A.png
Annular
−0.6313130 January 3, 1908
SE1908Jan03T.png
Total
0.1934
135 June 28, 1908
SE1908Jun28A.png
Annular
0.1389140 December 23, 1908
SE1908Dec23H.png
Hybrid
−0.4985
145 June 17, 1909
SE1909Jun17H.png
Hybrid
0.8957150 December 12, 1909
SE1909Dec12P.png
Partial
−1.2456

Saros 140

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 140, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 16, 1512. It contains total eclipses from July 21, 1656 through November 9, 1836; hybrid eclipses from November 20, 1854 through December 23, 1908; and annular eclipses from January 3, 1927 through December 7, 2485. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on June 1, 2774. 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 11 at 4 minutes, 10 seconds on August 12, 1692, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 53 at 7 minutes, 35 seconds on November 15, 2449. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit. [8]

Series members 18–39 occur between 1801 and 2200:
181920
SE1818Oct29T.png
October 29, 1818
SE1836Nov09T.png
November 9, 1836
SE1854Nov20H.png
November 20, 1854
212223
SE1872Nov30H.png
November 30, 1872
SE1890Dec12H.png
December 12, 1890
SE1908Dec23H.png
December 23, 1908
242526
SE1927Jan03A.png
January 3, 1927
SE1945Jan14A.png
January 14, 1945
SE1963Jan25A.png
January 25, 1963
272829
SE1981Feb04A.png
February 4, 1981
SE1999Feb16A.png
February 16, 1999
SE2017Feb26A.png
February 26, 2017
303132
SE2035Mar09A.png
March 9, 2035
SE2053Mar20A.png
March 20, 2053
SE2071Mar31A.png
March 31, 2071
333435
SE2089Apr10A.png
April 10, 2089
SE2107Apr23A.png
April 23, 2107
SE2125May03A.png
May 3, 2125
363738
SE2143May14A.png
May 14, 2143
SE2161May25A.png
May 25, 2161
SE2179Jun05A.png
June 5, 2179
39
SE2197Jun15A.png
June 15, 2197

Metonic series

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 5–6December 22–24October 9–11July 29–30May 17–18
108110112114116
SE1848Mar05P.gif
March 5, 1848
SE1859Jul29P.gif
July 29, 1859
SE1863May17P.gif
May 17, 1863
118120122124126
SE1867Mar06A.gif
March 6, 1867
SE1870Dec22T.png
December 22, 1870
SE1874Oct10An.gif
October 10, 1874
SE1878Jul29T.png
July 29, 1878
SE1882May17T.png
May 17, 1882
128130132134136
SE1886Mar05A.gif
March 5, 1886
SE1889Dec22T.png
December 22, 1889
SE1893Oct09A.png
October 9, 1893
SE1897Jul29A.png
July 29, 1897
SE1901May18T.png
May 18, 1901
138140142144146
SE1905Mar06A.png
March 6, 1905
SE1908Dec23H.png
December 23, 1908
SE1912Oct10T.png
October 10, 1912
SE1916Jul30A.png
July 30, 1916
SE1920May18P.png
May 18, 1920
148150152154
SE1924Mar05P.png
March 5, 1924
SE1927Dec24P.png
December 24, 1927
SE1931Oct11P.png
October 11, 1931
SE1935Jul30P.png
July 30, 1935

Tritos series

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.

The partial solar eclipses on December 7, 2170 (part of Saros 164) and November 7, 2181 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Series members between 1801 and 2105
SE1810Sep28A.gif
September 28, 1810
(Saros 131)
SE1821Aug27A.gif
August 27, 1821
(Saros 132)
SE1832Jul27T.gif
July 27, 1832
(Saros 133)
SE1843Jun27H.gif
June 27, 1843
(Saros 134)
SE1854May26A.png
May 26, 1854
(Saros 135)
SE1865Apr25T.png
April 25, 1865
(Saros 136)
SE1876Mar25A.gif
March 25, 1876
(Saros 137)
SE1887Feb22A.png
February 22, 1887
(Saros 138)
SE1898Jan22T.png
January 22, 1898
(Saros 139)
SE1908Dec23H.png
December 23, 1908
(Saros 140)
SE1919Nov22A.png
November 22, 1919
(Saros 141)
SE1930Oct21T.png
October 21, 1930
(Saros 142)
SE1941Sep21T.png
September 21, 1941
(Saros 143)
SE1952Aug20A.png
August 20, 1952
(Saros 144)
SE1963Jul20T.png
July 20, 1963
(Saros 145)
SE1974Jun20T.png
June 20, 1974
(Saros 146)
SE1985May19P.png
May 19, 1985
(Saros 147)
SE1996Apr17P.png
April 17, 1996
(Saros 148)
SE2007Mar19P.png
March 19, 2007
(Saros 149)
SE2018Feb15P.png
February 15, 2018
(Saros 150)
SE2029Jan14P.png
January 14, 2029
(Saros 151)
SE2039Dec15T.png
December 15, 2039
(Saros 152)
SE2050Nov14P.png
November 14, 2050
(Saros 153)
SE2061Oct13A.png
October 13, 2061
(Saros 154)
SE2072Sep12T.png
September 12, 2072
(Saros 155)
SE2083Aug13P.png
August 13, 2083
(Saros 156)
SE2094Jul12P.png
July 12, 2094
(Saros 157)
Saros158 03van70 SE2105Jun12P.jpg
June 12, 2105
(Saros 158)

Inex series

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
SE1822Feb21A.gif
February 21, 1822
(Saros 137)
SE1851Feb01A.gif
February 1, 1851
(Saros 138)
SE1880Jan11T.gif
January 11, 1880
(Saros 139)
SE1908Dec23H.png
December 23, 1908
(Saros 140)
SE1937Dec02A.png
December 2, 1937
(Saros 141)
SE1966Nov12T.png
November 12, 1966
(Saros 142)
SE1995Oct24T.png
October 24, 1995
(Saros 143)
SE2024Oct02A.png
October 2, 2024
(Saros 144)
SE2053Sep12T.png
September 12, 2053
(Saros 145)
SE2082Aug24T.png
August 24, 2082
(Saros 146)
SE2111Aug04A.png
August 4, 2111
(Saros 147)
Saros148 28van75 SE2140Jul14T.jpg
July 14, 2140
(Saros 148)
Saros149 29van71 SE2169Jun25T.jpg
June 25, 2169
(Saros 149)
Saros150 27van71 SE2198Jun04A.jpg
June 4, 2198
(Saros 150)

References

  1. "December 23, 1908 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  2. "SAVANTS OBSERVE ECLIPSE". The Oshkosh Northwestern. Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 1908-12-23. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-11-01 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Sky sharps watch eclipse". The Portsmouth Star. Portsmouth, Virginia. 1908-12-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-11-01 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Scientists to view eclipse". The Pomona Progress. Pomona, California. 1908-12-23. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-11-01 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  6. "Hybrid Solar Eclipse of 1908 Dec 23". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  7. 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.
  8. "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 140". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.