A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, August 19, 1887, with a magnitude of 1.0518. 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 1.8 days before perigee (on August 21, 1887, at 0:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Germany, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, southeastern Latvia, Russia, Mongolia, China, North Korea, and Japan. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of Europe, Northeast Africa, Asia, northern Greenland, and Alaska.

Observations The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev ascended in a balloon near Moscow to observe this eclipse. The weather in Tver Governorate was cloudy and it was rain at morning, so Mendeleev forced to fly alone. He made some notes at 6:55, 20 minutes after the start, and made some observations of the solar corona. For this flight, the scientist was awarded the medal of the Academy of Aerostatic Meteorology. Partiality at sunrise from Berlin, GermanyIlya Repin, “The Solar Eclipse of 1887” (“Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev on the aerostat”), 1887.

Russian writer Anton Chekhov published the short story "From the Diary of a Hot-Tempered Man" six weeks before the eclipse passed through Russia. The story includes a major section about the frustrations of a man who is trying to make a great variety of observations during the short interval of totality. In the story the eclipse date is given as 7 August 1887, as per the Julian Calendar then in use in Russia.

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.

+August 19, 1887 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1887 August 19 at 03:05:23.2 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1887 August 19 at 04:09:44.3 UTC First Central Line 1887 August 19 at 04:11:03.8 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1887 August 19 at 04:12:23.8 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1887 August 19 at 05:15:23.5 UTC Greatest Duration 1887 August 19 at 05:31:45.2 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1887 August 19 at 05:32:05.2 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1887 August 19 at 05:38:34.1 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1887 August 19 at 06:51:56.7 UTC Last Central Line 1887 August 19 at 06:53:18.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1887 August 19 at 06:54:39.5 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1887 August 19 at 07:58:51.2 UTC

+August 19, 1887 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.05176 Eclipse Obscuration 1.10619 Gamma 0.63124 Sun Right Ascension 09h52m33.6s Sun Declination +12°53'52.0" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'48.5" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 09h53m11.8s Moon Declination +13°30'38.5" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'24.8" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'14.3" ΔT -6.0 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 August 1887 August 3Descending node (full moon) August 19Ascending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 117 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 143

Related eclipses Eclipses in 1887 A partial lunar eclipse on February 8. An annular solar eclipse on February 22. A partial lunar eclipse on August 3. A total solar eclipse on August 19.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 30, 1883 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1891

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 7, 1880 Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 29, 1894

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 13, 1878 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 23, 1896

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 17, 1876 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 18, 1898

Solar Saros 143 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 7, 1869 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 30, 1905

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 7, 1858 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 30, 1916

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 18, 1800 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 20, 1974

Solar eclipses of 1884–1888

The partial solar eclipses on April 25, 1884 and October 19, 1884 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on July 9, 1888 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1884 to 1888 Descending node  Ascending node Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma 108 March 27, 1884Partial 1.4602 113 118 March 16, 1885Annular 0.8030 123 September 8, 1885Total −0.8489 128 March 5, 1886Annular 0.0970 133 August 29, 1886Total −0.1059 138 February 22, 1887Annular −0.6040 143 August 19, 1887Total 0.6312 148 February 11, 1888Partial −1.2684 153 August 7, 1888Partial −1.2797

Saros 143

Metonic series All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

24 eclipse events between March 25, 1819 and August 20, 1906March 25–26January 11–12October 30–31August 18–20June 6–7107109111113115March 25, 1819January 12, 1823October 31, 1826August 18, 1830June 7, 1834117119121123125March 25, 1838January 11, 1842October 30, 1845August 18, 1849June 6, 1853127129131133135March 25, 1857January 11, 1861October 30, 1864August 18, 1868June 6, 1872137139141143145March 25, 1876January 11, 1880October 30, 1883August 19, 1887June 6, 1891147149151153March 26, 1895January 11, 1899October 31, 1902August 20, 1906

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

NASA graphic Googlemap NASA Besselian elements American Eclipse Expedition to Japan: The Total Solar Eclipse of 1887 "Preliminary Report of Prof. David P. Todd, Astronomer in Charge of the Expedition." Published by the Observatory Amherst, Mass., 1888

The total solar eclipse of August 19, 1887 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 48, p. 202 Sketchs of Solar Corona August 19, 1887 Solar eclipse of August 19, 1887 in Russia