A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 23, 1908, with a magnitude of 1.0024. It was a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. 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 hybrid solar eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance from annular to total and back as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. Totality occurs between the annularity paths across the surface of the Earth, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 3.1 days before perigee (on December 26, 1908, at 13:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Annularity was visible from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, while totality was visible only from southern Atlantic Ocean with no land. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of northern South America, most of North America, the Caribbean, West Africa, North Africa, and Western Europe.
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.
+December 23, 1908 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1908 December 23 at 09:06:26.9 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1908 December 23 at 10:10:43.8 UTC First Central Line 1908 December 23 at 10:11:10.4 UTC Greatest Duration 1908 December 23 at 10:11:10.4 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1908 December 23 at 10:11:37.1 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1908 December 23 at 11:44:27.5 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1908 December 23 at 11:49:14.3 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1908 December 23 at 11:49:45.9 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1908 December 23 at 13:17:16.8 UTC Last Central Line 1908 December 23 at 13:17:40.9 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1908 December 23 at 13:18:04.9 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1908 December 23 at 14:22:20.6 UTC
+December 23, 1908 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.00243 Eclipse Obscuration 1.00486 Gamma –0.49845 Sun Right Ascension 18h05m35.3s Sun Declination -23°26'42.1" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 18h05m23.9s Moon Declination -23°55'54.7" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'04.3" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'59.0" ΔT 9.1 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 December 1908 December 7Ascending node (full moon) December 23Descending node (new moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 114 Hybrid solar eclipseSolar Saros 140
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1908 A total solar eclipse on January 3. A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 18. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 14. An annular solar eclipse on June 28. A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 13. A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 7. A hybrid solar eclipse on December 23.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 6, 1905 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 10, 1912
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 11, 1901 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 3, 1916
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 17, 1899 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 28, 1917
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 22, 1898 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 22, 1919
Solar Saros 140 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 12, 1890 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 3, 1927
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 11, 1880 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 2, 1937
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 21, 1822 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995
Solar eclipses of 1906–1909
Saros 140
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References