Solar eclipse of June 24, 1778

Solar eclipse of June 24, 1778
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.3127
Magnitude	1.0746
Maximum eclipse
Duration	352 s (5 min 52 s)
Coordinates	41°48′N55°00′W / 41.8°N 55°W / 41.8; -55
Max. width of band	255 km (158 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	15:34:56
References
Saros	133 (32 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	8985

A total solar eclipse occurred on June 24, 1778. 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.

The total eclipse was visible in a path across Mexico and the southeastern United States and ended across northern Africa.

Observations

Antonio de Ulloa

This was the first total solar eclipse recorded in the United States. The track passed from Lower California to New England. According to Thomas Jefferson, the eclipse was clouded out in Virginia. General George Rogers Clark and his men observed the eclipse as they passed over the Falls of the Ohio on their way to take Kaskaskia during the Illinois Campaign, regarding it as a good omen. ^[1] U.S. troops marching south through Georgia in an abortive attempt to invade British East Florida also subsequently recorded the event. ^[2] This solar eclipse lasted four minutes over the middle Atlantic and New England States. ^[3]

Saros 133

Solar Saros 133, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, contains 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 13, 1219. It contains annular eclipses from November 20, 1435, through January 13, 1526, with a hybrid eclipse on January 24, 1544. It has total eclipses from February 3, 1562, through June 21, 2373. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on September 5, 2499. The longest duration of totality was 6 minutes, 49.97 seconds on August 7, 1850. ^[4] The total eclipses of this saros series are getting shorter and farther south with each iteration. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s ascending node.

Series members 30–56 occur between 1742 and 2211
30	31	32
June 3, 1742	June 13, 1760	June 24, 1778
33	34	35
July 4, 1796	July 17, 1814	July 27, 1832
36	37	38
August 7, 1850	August 18, 1868	August 29, 1886
39	40	41
September 9, 1904	September 21, 1922	October 1, 1940
42	43	44
October 12, 1958	October 23, 1976	November 3, 1994
45	46	47
November 13, 2012	November 25, 2030	December 5, 2048
48	49	50
December 17, 2066	December 27, 2084	January 8, 2103
51	52	53
January 19, 2121	January 30, 2139	February 9, 2157
54	55	56
February 21, 2175	March 3, 2193	March 15, 2211

Notes

1. James, George Rogers Clark, 117.
2. Revolutionary War Pension Declaration of Sgt Caleb Johnson, Georgia, December 4, 1832, S.7081, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
3. "Solar Eclipse Newsletter, June 2004" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-12-13.
4. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros133.html

References

• NASA graphic
• Googlemap
• NASA Besselian elements
• Mabel Loomis Todd (1900). Total Eclipses of the Sun. Little, Brown.
• The Solar Corona in the Eclipse of 24 June 1778 Solar Physics: Volume 216, Numbers 1–2 / September, 2003