A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, May 28, 1900, with a magnitude of 1.0249. 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 3.9 days after perigee (on May 24, 1900, at 17:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

The path of totality was visible from parts of Mexico, the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia in the United States, Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Tripoli, and Egypt. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Europe, West Africa, and North Africa.

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 the total solar eclipse, and the Smithsonian Solar Eclipse Expedition hoped to capture photographic images of the solar corona during the event for further study. The team included Thomas Smillie, the mission's photographer. 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. Smillie's work was considered an amazing photographic and scientific achievement.

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 Wadesboro's newspaper, the Anson Independent, 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 from rooftops and windows..

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. The eclipse was filmed by Nevil Maskelyne in North Carolina."‘Captivating’ – BFI shares first footage of a solar eclipse from 1900" (retrieved 30 May 2019) It was also observed from Mahelma in Algeria by John Evershed. A map from 1900The stars during total eclipseRecording of the eclipse

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.

+May 28, 1900 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1900 May 28 at 12:12:21.6 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1900 May 28 at 13:14:08.2 UTC First Central Line 1900 May 28 at 13:14:27.0 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1900 May 28 at 13:14:45.8 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1900 May 28 at 14:29:28.7 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1900 May 28 at 14:49:42.6 UTC Greatest Duration 1900 May 28 at 14:52:29.6 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1900 May 28 at 14:53:55.5 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1900 May 28 at 14:56:57.5 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1900 May 28 at 15:18:16.5 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1900 May 28 at 16:33:06.4 UTC Last Central Line 1900 May 28 at 16:33:22.5 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1900 May 28 at 16:33:38.7 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1900 May 28 at 17:35:33.8 UTC

+May 28, 1900 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.02494 Eclipse Obscuration 1.05051 Gamma 0.39427 Sun Right Ascension 04h19m46.8s Sun Declination +21°27'14.4" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'46.6" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 04h19m39.8s Moon Declination +21°50'10.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'55.8" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'27.9" ΔT -2.2 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) 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.

+ Eclipse season of May–June 1900 May 28Descending node (new moon) June 13Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 126 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 138

Related eclipses Eclipses in 1900 A total solar eclipse on May 28. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 13. An annular solar eclipse on November 22. A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 6.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 9, 1896 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 17, 1904

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 16, 1893 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1907

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 23, 1891 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1909

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 28, 1889 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911

Solar Saros 126 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 17, 1882 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 18, 1871 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1929

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 27, 1813 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987

Solar eclipses of 1898–1902

Saros 126

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

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