An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Friday, May 26, 1854, with a magnitude of 0.9551. 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 about 3.2 days before apogee (on May 30, 1854, at 2:25 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
The path of annularity was visible from parts of the modern-day Marshall Islands, southern Canada, Washington, northern Idaho, northern Montana, northern North Dakota, Minnesota, the upper peninsula of Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of Northeast Asia, northern Oceania, Hawaii, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, far northern South America, and northern Scandinavia.
Visibility The annular path crossed close to the boundary between the United States and Canada.
Observations Partiality by Langenheim Brothers.
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 26, 1854 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1854 May 26 at 17:45:31.9 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1854 May 26 at 18:52:54.1 UTC First Central Line 1854 May 26 at 18:55:03.1 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1854 May 26 at 18:57:12.6 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1854 May 26 at 20:20:41.5 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1854 May 26 at 20:42:52.6 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1854 May 26 at 20:47:29.4 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1854 May 26 at 20:56:05.1 UTC Greatest Duration 1854 May 26 at 20:59:47.7 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1854 May 26 at 21:04:43.2 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1854 May 26 at 22:28:22.6 UTC Last Central Line 1854 May 26 at 22:30:34.0 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1854 May 26 at 22:32:45.0 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1854 May 26 at 23:40:11.8 UTC
+May 26, 1854 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 0.95510 Eclipse Obscuration 0.91221 Gamma 0.39177 Sun Right Ascension 04h13m05.4s Sun Declination +21°11'11.2" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'46.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 04h12m40.1s Moon Declination +21°31'39.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 14'51.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°54'32.6" ΔT 7.1 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 May 1854 May 12Descending node (full moon) May 26Ascending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 109 Annular solar eclipseSolar Saros 135
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1854 A partial lunar eclipse on May 12. An annular solar eclipse on May 26. A total lunar eclipse on November 4. A hybrid solar eclipse on November 20.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 21, 1852 Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 28, 1859
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 15, 1847 Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 8, 1861
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 21, 1845 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 1, 1863
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 27, 1843 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 25, 1865
Solar Saros 135 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 15, 1836 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1872
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 16, 1825 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 6, 1883
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 25, 1767 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 27, 1941
Solar eclipses of 1852–1855
The partial solar eclipse on January 21, 1852 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
Solar eclipse series sets from 1852 to 1855 Ascending node Descending node Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma 115 June 17, 1852Partial −1.1111 120 December 11, 1852Total 0.8551 125 June 6, 1853Annular −0.3686 130 November 30, 1853Total 0.1763 135 May 26, 1854Annular 0.3918 140 November 20, 1854Hybrid −0.5179 145 May 16, 1855Partial 1.1249 150 November 9, 1855Partial −1.2767
Saros 135
Metonic series All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.
25 eclipse events between March 14, 1801 and August 7, 1888March 14–15December 31–January 1October 19–20August 7May 26–27107109111113115March 14, 1801January 1, 1805October 19, 1808August 7, 1812May 27, 1816117119121123125March 14, 1820January 1, 1824October 20, 1827August 7, 1831May 27, 1835127129131133135March 15, 1839December 31, 1842October 20, 1846August 7, 1850May 26, 1854137139141143145March 15, 1858December 31, 1861October 19, 1865August 7, 1869May 26, 1873147149151153March 15, 1877December 31, 1880October 19, 1884August 7, 1888
Tritos series
Inex series
Notes
References
Total Eclipses of the Sun, By Mabel Loomis Todd, 1894, new and revised edition by David P. Todd, 1900. Suggestions relative to the observation of the solar eclipse of May 26, 1854, Astronomical Journal, vol. 3, iss. 70, p. 169–172 (1854). Alexander, S. On the solar eclipse of 1854, May 26, Bartlett, W. H. C. Astronomical Journal, vol. 4, iss. 77, p. 33–35 (1854). Observation of the annular eclipse of May 26, in the suburbs of Ogdensburgh, N. Y. Astronomical Journal, vol. 3, iss. 70, p. 169–172 (1854). Alexander, S.