An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, December 14, 1917, with a magnitude of 0.9791. 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. Occurring 4.6 days before apogee (on December 18, 1917, at 22:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
This was the last of four solar eclipses in 1917, with the others occurring on January 23, June 19 and July 19.
The path of annularity crossed Antarctica. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica, southern South America, and Australia. This annular eclipse is notable in that the path of annularity passed over the South Pole.
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 14, 1917 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1917 December 14 at 07:09:48.7 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1917 December 14 at 08:41:49.9 UTC First Central Line 1917 December 14 at 08:43:56.6 UTC Greatest Duration 1917 December 14 at 08:43:56.6 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1917 December 14 at 08:46:08.6 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1917 December 14 at 09:17:22.8 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1917 December 14 at 09:23:35.1 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1917 December 14 at 09:27:19.7 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1917 December 14 at 10:08:36.2 UTC Last Central Line 1917 December 14 at 10:10:45.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1917 December 14 at 10:12:49.1 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1917 December 14 at 11:44:46.7 UTC
+December 14, 1917 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.97913 Eclipse Obscuration 0.95870 Gamma –0.91566 Sun Right Ascension 17h24m28.1s Sun Declination -23°11'55.0" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.0" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 17h24m36.7s Moon Declination -24°04'53.4" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'48.9" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'02.6" ΔT 20.2 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 December 1917 December 14Ascending node (new moon) December 28Descending node (full moon) Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 121 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 133
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1917 A total lunar eclipse on January 8. A partial solar eclipse on January 23. A partial solar eclipse on June 19. A total lunar eclipse on July 4. A partial solar eclipse on July 19. An annular solar eclipse on December 14. A total lunar eclipse on December 28.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1914 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 1, 1921
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1910 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 24, 1925
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 7, 1908 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 19, 1926
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1907 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 12, 1928
Solar Saros 121 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 3, 1899 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 25, 1935
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 23, 1946
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 12, 1831 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2004
Solar eclipses of 1916–1920
Saros 121
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References