A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, May 9, 1910, with a magnitude of 1.06. 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 10 hours after perigee (on May 8, 1910, at 19:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Totality was visible from part of Wilkes Land in Antarctica and Tasmania in Australia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Observations Except for Antarctica, the only land covered by the path of totality was the central and southern parts of Tasmania. The eclipse occurred in winter when Tasmania is usually rainy with bad observation conditions. However, British pioneer aviator Francis McClean still organized and led a team to Port Davey on the southwestern coast of Tasmania, but in the end failed to make observations due to rainy weather. In addition, observations on Bruny Island, southeast of Tasmania also failed due to the weather. Zeehan and Strahan on the west coast of Tasmania were clear during the partial phase, but had poor weather during the total phase. Queenstown, located slightly inland, was one of the few places where the entire process of the eclipse was seen. Some observers took images of the corona there.
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 9, 1910 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1910 May 9 at 03:38:20.0 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1910 May 9 at 05:03:20.8 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1910 May 9 at 05:04:55.4 UTC First Central Line 1910 May 9 at 05:09:08.5 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1910 May 9 at 05:13:54.4 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1910 May 9 at 05:32:47.7 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1910 May 9 at 05:42:12.6 UTC Greatest Duration 1910 May 9 at 05:42:47.5 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1910 May 9 at 06:10:56.2 UTC Last Central Line 1910 May 9 at 06:15:41.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1910 May 9 at 06:19:53.6 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1910 May 9 at 07:46:22.1 UTC
+May 9, 1910 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.06000 Eclipse Obscuration 1.12360 Gamma –0.94372 Sun Right Ascension 03h01m00.1s Sun Declination +17°07'25.6" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'50.4" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 03h02m29.5s Moon Declination +16°13'49.4" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'42.2" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'18.1" ΔT 10.8 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 May 1910 May 9Ascending node (new moon) May 24Descending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 117 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 129
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1910 A total solar eclipse on May 9 A total lunar eclipse on May 24 A partial solar eclipse on November 2 A total lunar eclipse on November 17
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 21, 1906 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1914
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 1903 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 19, 1917
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1901 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 15, 1919
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1899 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1921
Solar Saros 117 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 26, 1892 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 19, 1928
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 27, 1881 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 1939
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 8, 1823 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
Solar eclipses of 1910–1913
Saros 117
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References