An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, February 14, 1915, with a magnitude of 0.9789. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.7 days after perigee (on February 7, 1915, at 13:20 UTC) and 7.1 days before apogee (on February 21, 1915, at 5:50 UTC).
Annularity was visible from Australia, Papua in Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia), German New Guinea (now belonging to Papua New Guinea), and the South Seas Mandate of Japan (the parts now belonging to FS Micronesia and Marshall Islands, including Palikir). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica, Australia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.
The eclipse occurred on February 14 in the whole path of annularity, and also most of the places where a partial eclipse was visible. It was on February 13 only in a small part east of the International Date Line.
The date of this eclipse visible from Asia, February 14, was also Lunar New Year, celebrated in multiple countries.
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.
+February 14, 1915 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1915 February 14 at 01:41:50.2 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1915 February 14 at 02:43:23.8 UTC First Central Line 1915 February 14 at 02:44:33.6 UTC Greatest Duration 1915 February 14 at 02:44:33.6 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1915 February 14 at 02:45:43.5 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1915 February 14 at 03:49:42.8 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1915 February 14 at 04:22:46.6 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1915 February 14 at 04:31:05.1 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1915 February 14 at 04:33:20.0 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1915 February 14 at 05:17:11.0 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1915 February 14 at 06:21:01.1 UTC Last Central Line 1915 February 14 at 06:22:13.8 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1915 February 14 at 06:23:26.5 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1915 February 14 at 07:25:00.5 UTC
+February 14, 1915 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.97890 Eclipse Obscuration 0.95825 Gamma −0.20238 Sun Right Ascension 21h46m51.7s Sun Declination -13°23'30.7" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'11.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 21h47m11.9s Moon Declination -13°33'58.6" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'36.4" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'16.6" ΔT 17.3 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. The first and last eclipse in this sequence is separated by one synodic month.
+ Eclipse season of January–March 1915 January 31Descending node (full moon) February 14Ascending node (new moon) March 1Descending node (full moon) Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 103 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 129 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 141
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1915 A penumbral lunar eclipse on January 31. An annular solar eclipse on February 14. A penumbral lunar eclipse on March 1. A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 26. An annular solar eclipse on August 10. A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 24.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 3, 1918
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 3, 1908 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 28, 1922
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 9, 1906 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1924
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 17, 1904 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1926
Solar Saros 129 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 1, 1897 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 24, 1933
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 5, 1886 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 25, 1944
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 14, 1828 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 14, 2001
Solar eclipses of 1913–1917
Saros 129
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References