Solar eclipse of September 21, 1922


A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, September 21, 1922, with a magnitude of 1.0678. 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 2 hours after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. Perigee did occur as the eclipse was past its greatest eclipse.
Totality started in Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland, and passed British Maldives and Christmas Island in the Straits Settlements in the Indian Ocean, and Australia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania.

Observations

Observations of the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919 got results consistent with gravitational lens proposed by Einstein's general relativity. To reconfirm the result, observatories in South Australia and New South Wales each organized a large scientific expedition. A total of 20 teams went to sparsely populated Wallal on the northern coast of Western Australia. Among them, the American team from the Lick Observatory arrived in Sydney on August 5, took a train westward and arrived in Perth on August 16. The team took a ship on August 20 from Fremantle, a port southwest of Perth, to Broome, and then finally arrived at Wallal. Although not organizing any observations, the Australian government provided financial support to the teams. For example, the round-trip travel expenses between Sydney and Wallal were paid by the federal government.

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 Contact1922 September 21 at 02:04:28.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1922 September 21 at 02:58:45.3 UTC
First Central Line1922 September 21 at 03:00:06.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1922 September 21 at 03:01:27.5 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact1922 September 21 at 03:57:50.9 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1922 September 21 at 04:38:20.9 UTC
Greatest Duration1922 September 21 at 04:40:07.8 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1922 September 21 at 04:40:31.1 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1922 September 21 at 04:47:31.9 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact1922 September 21 at 05:23:00.2 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1922 September 21 at 06:19:29.4 UTC
Last Central Line1922 September 21 at 06:20:50.6 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1922 September 21 at 06:22:11.7 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1922 September 21 at 07:16:30.2 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.06783
Eclipse Obscuration1.14026
Gamma−0.21299
Sun Right Ascension11h50m29.6s
Sun Declination+01°01'49.3"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'56.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension11h50m13.7s
Moon Declination+00°49'23.8"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'43.8"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax1°01'24.1"
ΔT22.8 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.
September 21
Ascending node 		October 6
Descending node
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 133		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 145

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1922

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 133

Inex

Triad