Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900

A total solar eclipse occurred on May 28, 1900. 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.

Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900
Totality photographed in Wadesboro, North Carolina, by Thomas Smillie for the Smithsonian Solar Eclipse Expedition to capture photographic proof of the solar corona
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.3943
Magnitude	1.0249
Maximum eclipse
Duration	130 sec (2 m 10 s)
Coordinates	44.8°N 46.5°W
Max. width of band	92 km (57 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	14:53:56
References
Saros	126 (41 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9281

Viewing

In 1900 the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, then based in Washington, D.C., loaded several railroad cars with scientific equipment and headed to Wadesboro, North Carolina. Scientists had determined that this small town would be the best location in North America for viewing an expected total solar eclipse, and the Smithsonian Solar Eclipse Expedition hoped to capture photographic proof of the solar corona during the event for further study.[1] The team included Smithsonian photographer Thomas Smillie, who headed up the missions photographic component. Smillie rigged cameras to seven telescopes and successfully made eight glass-plate negatives, ranging in size from eleven by fourteen inches to thirty by thirty inches. At the time, Smillie's work was considered an amazing photographic and scientific achievement.[2]

In addition to the team from the Smithsonian:

[s]cientific expeditions were mounted from some of the world’s preeminent astronomy programs including Princeton University, the University of Chicago, . . . and the British Astronomical Association. S. P. Langley and C. A. Young, two of the founders of modern astronomy, were also there.

According to the Anson Independent, a local newspaper, the public came out in droves. Extra trains—including a special excursion train from Charlotte—brought out hundreds of people, and by the time the eclipse’s effects were beginning to be seen around 7:30 a.m., the streets were packed and people were vying for better spots on top of and out of the windows of buildings.

The same local newspaper described the total eclipse itself as lasting for less than a minute and a half, and recorded that though a large crowd was on hand it was nearly silent during that entire time. The paper also mentioned that the drop in temperature from the shadow caused by the eclipse was quite significant.[1]

The eclipse was filmed by Nevil Maskelyne in North Carolina.[3]

A map from 1900

The stars during total eclipse

Next Solar Eclipses in Central Europe (120° east of USA)

• February 15, 1961

• August 11, 1999

Related eclipses

Solar eclipses of 1898–1902

This eclipse is a member of the 1898–1902 solar eclipse 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.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1898–1902
Ascending node			Descending node
111	December 13, 1898 Partial		116	June 8, 1899 Partial
121	December 3, 1899 Annular		126	May 28, 1900 Total
131	November 22, 1900 Annular		136	May 18, 1901 Total
141	November 11, 1901 Annular		146	May 7, 1902 Partial
151	October 31, 1902 Partial

Saros 126

It is a part of Saros cycle 126, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on March 10, 1179. It contains annular eclipses from June 4, 1323 through April 4, 1810, hybrid eclipses from April 14, 1828 through May 6, 1864 and total eclipses from May 17, 1882 through August 23, 2044. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on May 3, 2459. The longest duration of central eclipse (annular or total) was 6 minutes, 30 seconds of annularity on June 26, 1359. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 36 seconds on July 10, 1972. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.

Series members 42–52 occur between 1901 and 2100
42	43	44
June 8, 1918	June 19, 1936	June 30, 1954
45	46	47
July 10, 1972	July 22, 1990	August 1, 2008
48	49	50
August 12, 2026	August 23, 2044	September 3, 2062
51	52
September 13, 2080	September 25, 2098

Notes

1. "Wadesboro Prime for Viewing of 1900 Solar Eclipse". This Day in North Carolina History. N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
2. Foresta, Merry. "Smillie and the 1900 Eclipse". Smithsonian Institution Archives.
3. "‘Captivating’ – BFI shares first footage of a solar eclipse from 1900" (retrieved 30 May 2019)

References

• NASA graphic
  • Googlemap
  • NASA Besselian elements
• Photos and sketches of the Solar Corona May 28, 1900
• The Total Solar Eclipse, 1900 Report of the expeditions organized by the British Astronomical Association to observe the total solar eclipse of 1900, May 28, A Publication of the British Astronomical Association, Chapter VII: "Elche" (Spain), by Mr. E. W. Johnson
• Total Eclipses of the Sun, By Mabel Loomis Todd, 1894, new and revised edition by David Peck Todd, 1900.
• Lewis E. Jewell et al. "Reports concerning the total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900 and of May 17, 1901”, Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory 4 (1906) app. 1, 94–97, 121–151, 203–215, 299–307 and pl. LXXII.
• Russia expedition for solar eclipse of May 28, 1900
• "Print from Glass Plate Negative of eclipse, Wilkes County, Georgia, 1900 May 28". Vanishing Georgia, Georgia Archives. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 5 April 2018.