A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, May 18, 1901,[1][2][3][4] with a magnitude of 1.068. 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 path of totality crossed French Madagascar (the part now belonging to Madagascar), Réunion, British Mauritius (now Mauritius), Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and British New Guinea (now belonging to Papua New Guinea).
| Solar eclipse of May 18, 1901 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Total |
| Gamma | −0.3626 |
| Magnitude | 1.068 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 389 s (6 min 29 s) |
| Coordinates | 1°42′S 98°24′E / 1.7°S 98.4°E |
| Max. width of band | 238 km (148 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 5:33:48 |
| References | |
| Saros | 136 (31 of 71) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9283 |
Observations
editThe Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee of the Royal Society and Royal Astronomical Society observed the total eclipse in Padang on the west coast of Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. The weather was good after sunrise on May 18, but clouds gradually increased after the start of the eclipse. During the total phase, clouds continued to cover the sun and tended to become thicker, making it increasingly difficult to see the sun through the clouds.[5] A team from Lick Observatory, California also observed it in Padang.[6]
Related eclipses
editEclipses in 1901
edit- A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 3, 1901.
- A total solar eclipse on May 18, 1901.
- A partial lunar eclipse on October 27, 1901.
- An annular solar eclipse on November 11, 1901.
Metonic
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 29, 1897
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 6, 1905
Tzolkinex
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 6, 1894
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 28, 1908
Half-Saros
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 11, 1892
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 24, 1910
Tritos
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 17, 1890
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 17, 1912
Solar Saros 136
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 6, 1883
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919
Inex
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1872
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1930
Triad
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 17, 1814
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1988
Solar eclipses of 1898–1902
editThis 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 eclipse on April 8, 1902 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1898 to 1902 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 111 | December 13, 1898 Partial |
−1.5252 | 116 | June 8, 1899 Partial |
1.2089 | |
| 121 | December 3, 1899 Annular |
−0.9061 | 126 | May 28, 1900 Total |
0.3943 | |
| 131 | November 22, 1900 Annular |
−0.2245 | 136 | May 18, 1901 Total |
−0.3626 | |
| 141 | November 11, 1901 Annular |
0.4758 | 146 | May 7, 1902 Partial |
−1.0831 | |
| 151 | October 31, 1902 Partial |
1.1556 | ||||
Saros 136
editThis eclipse is a part of Saros series 136, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 14, 1360. It contains annular eclipses from September 8, 1504 through November 12, 1594; hybrid eclipses from November 22, 1612 through January 17, 1703; and total eclipses from January 27, 1721 through May 13, 2496. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 30, 2622. 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 9 at 32 seconds on September 8, 1504, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 34 at 7 minutes, 7.74 seconds on June 20, 1955. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[8]
| Series members 26–47 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
March 24, 1811 |
April 3, 1829 |
April 15, 1847 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
April 25, 1865 |
May 6, 1883 |
May 18, 1901 |
| 32 | 33 | 34 |
May 29, 1919 |
June 8, 1937 |
June 20, 1955 |
| 35 | 36 | 37 |
June 30, 1973 |
July 11, 1991 |
July 22, 2009 |
| 38 | 39 | 40 |
August 2, 2027 |
August 12, 2045 |
August 24, 2063 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 |
September 3, 2081 |
September 14, 2099 |
September 26, 2117 |
| 44 | 45 | 46 |
October 7, 2135 |
October 17, 2153 |
October 29, 2171 |
| 47 | ||
November 8, 2189 | ||
Inex series
editThis 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.
| Inex series members between 1901 and 2100: | ||
|---|---|---|
May 18, 1901 (Saros 136) |
April 28, 1930 (Saros 137) |
April 8, 1959 (Saros 138) |
March 18, 1988 (Saros 139) |
February 26, 2017 (Saros 140) |
February 5, 2046 (Saros 141) |
January 16, 2075 (Saros 142) |
||
Notes
edit- ^ "Viewing the solar eclipse: Many of America's astronomers now on the other side of the globe". The Atchison Daily Globe. Atchison, Kansas. 1901-05-17. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The sun eclipsed: On the whole astronomers have been disappointed". The Fresno Morning Republican. Fresno, California. 1901-05-19. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Eclipse of the Sun". Daily News Advertiser. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 1901-05-19. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "What is the solar corona?". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. 1901-11-10. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ H. F. Newall (1901–1902). "Total Solar Eclipse of 1901, May 17-18. Preliminary Report of the Observations Made at Ayer Karoe, Sawah Loento, Sumatra". Royal Society. pp. 209–234. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020.
- ^ C. D. Perrine (1 December 1901). "THE LICK OBSERVATORY-CROCKER EXPEDITION TO OBSERVE THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 1901, MAY 17-18". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific: 187–204. ISSN 0004-6280.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 136". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
References
edit- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
- Photo of Solar Corona May 18, 1901
- Eclipse of May 18, 1901 (Sumatra). Contact print from the original glass plate negative. Lick Observatory Plate Archive, Mt. Hamilton.
- Total Eclipse of the Sun, May 18, 1901 Reports on the Dutch Expedition to Karang Sago, Sumatra, by Dr. A. A. Nijland, March 1903, Utrecht, Published by the Eclipse Committee of the Royal Academy, Amsterdam
- Russia expedition for solar eclipse of May 18, 1901
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