Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911

Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911
Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	−0.2294
Magnitude	1.0562
Maximum eclipse
Duration	297 s (4 min 57 s)
Coordinates	1°54′N 151°54′W / 1.9°N 151.9°W
Max. width of band	190 km (120 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	22:27:22
References
Saros	127 (52 of 82)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9306

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, April 28, 1911,^[1]^[2]^[3] with a magnitude of 1.0562. 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. Totality was visible from southeastern tip of Australia, Tonga, American Samoa and Cook Islands. Places west of International Date Line witnessed the eclipse on Saturday 29 April 1911.

Observations[edit]

A team of Stonyhurst College, England and Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, New South Wales made observations in Vavaʻu Islands, Tonga. Members of Stonyhurst College departed from Tilbury, England by ship on February 3 and arrived in Sydney on March 16. The team later departed from Sydney on March 25 and arrived in Vavaʻu on April 2. All the instruments were shipped ashore on April 5. The weather was clear for the next few days, but heavy rain showers fell almost every day starting from April 10. The southeast wind starting on April 26 brought thick and large cirrus clouds. On April 28, one day before the eclipse, there were many clouds, which lasted until the morning of April 29. On April 29, the eclipse day, the sky cleared before the first contact (beginning of the partial phase). Afterwards, some cumulus clouds passed through at first, and the weather remained relatively good. During the totality, weather conditions were good in Neiafu, but some areas about 2 miles (3.2 km) away were affected by cirrostratus clouds, and the sun was not visible until 90 seconds before the third contact (end of the total phase). During the eclipse, there was almost no sound on the island except the chirping of crickets, because the government told the local people to keep quiet and not to light fires to avoid creating smoke and disturbing the observations. The team shipped the instruments back on May 2, and the team members departed the island on May 4. They first arrived in Suva, capital of the Colony of Fiji on May 6, and departed again on May 11 and arrived in Sydney on May 17. The British in charge boarded the ship with the instruments leaving Sydney on June 10 and arriving in Tilbury on July 23.^[4]

Related eclipses[edit]

Solar eclipses of 1910–1913[edit]

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.^[5]

The partial solar eclipse on August 31, 1913 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1910 to 1913
Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
117	May 9, 1910 Total	−0.9437	122	November 2, 1910 Partial	1.0603
127	April 28, 1911 Total	−0.2294	132	October 22, 1911 Annular	0.3224
137	April 17, 1912 Hybrid	0.528	142	October 10, 1912 Total	−0.4149
147	April 6, 1913 Partial	1.3147	152	September 30, 1913 Partial	−1.1005

Saros 127[edit]

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 127, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 82 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on October 10, 991 AD. It contains total eclipses from May 14, 1352 through August 15, 2091. There are no annular or hybrid eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 82 as a partial eclipse on March 21, 2452. 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 totality was produced by member 31 at 5 minutes, 40 seconds on August 30, 1532. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.^[6]

Series members 46–68 occur between 1801 and 2200:
46	47	48
February 21, 1803	March 4, 1821	March 15, 1839
49	50	51
March 25, 1857	April 6, 1875	April 16, 1893
52	53	54
April 28, 1911	May 9, 1929	May 20, 1947
55	56	57
May 30, 1965	June 11, 1983	June 21, 2001
58	59	60
July 2, 2019	July 13, 2037	July 24, 2055
61	62	63
August 3, 2073	August 15, 2091	August 26, 2109
64	65	66
September 6, 2127	September 16, 2145	September 28, 2163
67	68
October 8, 2181	October 19, 2199