Solar eclipse of January 22, 1879

An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday January 22, 1879, with a magnitude of 0.9700. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 8.1 days after perigee (on January 14, 1879, at 16:55 UTC) and 6.7 days before apogee (on January 29, 1879, at 5:10 UTC).[1]

Solar eclipse of January 22, 1879
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureAnnular
Gamma−0.1824
Magnitude0.97
Maximum eclipse
Duration183 s (3 min 3 s)
Coordinates29°48′S 8°30′E / 29.8°S 8.5°E / -29.8; 8.5
Max. width of band110 km (68 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse11:53:08
References
Saros129 (44 of 80)
Catalog # (SE5000)9231

The path of annularity was visible from parts of modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, the southernmost Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Malawi, and Tanzania. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of South America, Antarctica, Africa, and the Middle East.

Observations

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On 22 January 1879, approximately 1,700 British soldiers and over 1,000 Zulu warriors were killed during the Zulu War in South Africa. At 2:29 PM there was a solar eclipse, and according to legend, this motivated the Zulus, who claimed that it was a sign that they would prevail.[2][3] The conflict was named the Battle of Isandlwana, the Zulu name for the battle translates as "the day of the dead moon".[4]

Eclipse details

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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]

January 22, 1879 Solar Eclipse Times
Event Time (UTC)
First Penumbral External Contact 1879 January 22 at 08:59:48.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact 1879 January 22 at 10:01:38.5 UTC
First Central Line 1879 January 22 at 10:03:06.2 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact 1879 January 22 at 10:04:33.9 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact 1879 January 22 at 11:08:22.0 UTC
Greatest Duration 1879 January 22 at 11:31:00.1 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction 1879 January 22 at 11:46:12.9 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction 1879 January 22 at 11:51:05.4 UTC
Greatest Eclipse 1879 January 22 at 11:53:08.0 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1879 January 22 at 12:38:03.0 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact 1879 January 22 at 13:41:44.5 UTC
Last Central Line 1879 January 22 at 13:43:15.1 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact 1879 January 22 at 13:44:45.8 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact 1879 January 22 at 14:46:36.9 UTC
January 22, 1879 Solar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 0.97002
Eclipse Obscuration 0.94094
Gamma −0.18240
Sun Right Ascension 20h17m38.7s
Sun Declination -19°41'46.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'14.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 20h17m52.8s
Moon Declination -19°51'35.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'31.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°56'56.8"
ΔT -4.9 s

Eclipse season

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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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.

Eclipse season of January–February 1879
January 8
Descending node (full moon)
January 22
Ascending node (new moon)
February 7
Descending node (full moon)
 
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 103
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 129
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 141
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Eclipses in 1879

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Solar Saros 129

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Inex

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Triad

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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, 1877
 
Partial
1.3277 119 February 2, 1878
 
Annular
−0.9071
124 July 29, 1878
 
Total
0.6232 129 January 22, 1879
 
Annular
−0.1824
134 July 19, 1879
 
Annular
−0.1439 139 January 11, 1880
 
Total
0.6136
144 July 7, 1880
 
Annular
−0.9406 146 December 31, 1880
 
Partial
1.1591

Saros 129

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This eclipse is a part of Saros series 129, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 80 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on October 3, 1103. It contains annular eclipses from May 6, 1464 through March 18, 1969; hybrid eclipses from March 29, 1987 through April 20, 2023; and total eclipses from April 30, 2041 through July 26, 2185. The series ends at member 80 as a partial eclipse on February 21, 2528. 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 annularity was produced by member 34 at 5 minutes, 10 seconds on October 4, 1698, and the longest duration of totality will be produced by member 58 at 3 minutes, 43 seconds on June 25, 2131. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[7]

Series members 40–61 occur between 1801 and 2200:
40 41 42
 
December 10, 1806
 
December 20, 1824
 
December 31, 1842
43 44 45
 
January 11, 1861
 
January 22, 1879
 
February 1, 1897
46 47 48
 
February 14, 1915
 
February 24, 1933
 
March 7, 1951
49 50 51
 
March 18, 1969
 
March 29, 1987
 
April 8, 2005
52 53 54
 
April 20, 2023
 
April 30, 2041
 
May 11, 2059
55 56 57
 
May 22, 2077
 
June 2, 2095
 
June 13, 2113
58 59 60
 
June 25, 2131
 
July 5, 2149
 
July 16, 2167
61
 
July 26, 2185

Metonic series

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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 ascending node.

25 eclipse events between April 5, 1837 and June 17, 1928
April 5–6 January 22–23 November 10–11 August 28–30 June 17–18
107 109 111 113 115
 
April 5, 1837
 
January 22, 1841
 
November 10, 1844
 
August 28, 1848
 
June 17, 1852
117 119 121 123 125
 
April 5, 1856
 
January 23, 1860
 
November 11, 1863
 
August 29, 1867
 
June 18, 1871
127 129 131 133 135
 
April 6, 1875
 
January 22, 1879
 
November 10, 1882
 
August 29, 1886
 
June 17, 1890
137 139 141 143 145
 
April 6, 1894
 
January 22, 1898
 
November 11, 1901
 
August 30, 1905
 
June 17, 1909
147 149 151 153 155
 
April 6, 1913
 
January 23, 1917
 
November 10, 1920
 
August 30, 1924
 
June 17, 1928

Tritos series

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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
 
August 28, 1802
(Saros 122)
 
July 27, 1813
(Saros 123)
 
June 26, 1824
(Saros 124)
 
May 27, 1835
(Saros 125)
 
April 25, 1846
(Saros 126)
 
March 25, 1857
(Saros 127)
 
February 23, 1868
(Saros 128)
 
January 22, 1879
(Saros 129)
 
December 22, 1889
(Saros 130)
 
November 22, 1900
(Saros 131)
 
October 22, 1911
(Saros 132)
 
September 21, 1922
(Saros 133)
 
August 21, 1933
(Saros 134)
 
July 20, 1944
(Saros 135)
 
June 20, 1955
(Saros 136)
 
May 20, 1966
(Saros 137)
 
April 18, 1977
(Saros 138)
 
March 18, 1988
(Saros 139)
 
February 16, 1999
(Saros 140)
 
January 15, 2010
(Saros 141)
 
December 14, 2020
(Saros 142)
 
November 14, 2031
(Saros 143)
 
October 14, 2042
(Saros 144)
 
September 12, 2053
(Saros 145)
 
August 12, 2064
(Saros 146)
 
July 13, 2075
(Saros 147)
 
June 11, 2086
(Saros 148)
 
May 11, 2097
(Saros 149)
 
April 11, 2108
(Saros 150)
 
March 11, 2119
(Saros 151)
 
February 8, 2130
(Saros 152)
 
January 8, 2141
(Saros 153)
 
December 8, 2151
(Saros 154)
 
November 7, 2162
(Saros 155)
 
October 7, 2173
(Saros 156)
 
September 4, 2184
(Saros 157)
 
August 5, 2195
(Saros 158)

Inex series

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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
 
March 4, 1821
(Saros 127)
 
February 12, 1850
(Saros 128)
 
January 22, 1879
(Saros 129)
 
January 3, 1908
(Saros 130)
 
December 13, 1936
(Saros 131)
 
November 23, 1965
(Saros 132)
 
November 3, 1994
(Saros 133)
 
October 14, 2023
(Saros 134)
 
September 22, 2052
(Saros 135)
 
September 3, 2081
(Saros 136)
 
August 15, 2110
(Saros 137)
 
July 25, 2139
(Saros 138)
 
July 5, 2168
(Saros 139)
 
June 15, 2197
(Saros 140)

Notes

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  1. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. ^ "The Battle of Isandlwana - The Zulu War".
  3. ^ "Zulus and British re-enact 1879 battle". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  4. ^ Rattray, David (author) (1997). The Day of the Dead Moon (The Story of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879) (CD). GTV. ASIN B0010JC3ZU. audio.
  5. ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse of 1879 Jan 22". 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 129". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.

References

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