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. 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 and 6.7 days before apogee.
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

On 22 January 1879, three battles were fought in the Anglo-Zulu War. During the Battle of Isandlwana, in which 1,300 British and over 1,000 Zulus were killed, 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. The Zulu name for the battle translates as "the day of the dead moon".

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.
EventTime
First Penumbral External Contact1879 January 22 at 08:59:48.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1879 January 22 at 10:01:38.5 UTC
First Central Line1879 January 22 at 10:03:06.2 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1879 January 22 at 10:04:33.9 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1879 January 22 at 11:08:22.0 UTC
Greatest Duration1879 January 22 at 11:31:00.1 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1879 January 22 at 11:46:12.9 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1879 January 22 at 11:51:05.4 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1879 January 22 at 11:53:08.0 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1879 January 22 at 12:38:03.0 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1879 January 22 at 13:41:44.5 UTC
Last Central Line1879 January 22 at 13:43:15.1 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1879 January 22 at 13:44:45.8 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1879 January 22 at 14:46:36.9 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.97002
Eclipse Obscuration0.94094
Gamma−0.18240
Sun Right Ascension20h17m38.7s
Sun Declination-19°41'46.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'14.9"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension20h17m52.8s
Moon Declination-19°51'35.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'31.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°56'56.8"
ΔT-4.9 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months 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.
January 8
Descending node
January 22
Ascending node
February 7
Descending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 103		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 129		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1879

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

  • Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 17, 1870
  • Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 28, 1888

Tritos

Solar Saros 129

  • Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 11, 1861
  • Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 1, 1897

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses of 1877–1880

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.