A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 17, 1882, with a magnitude of 1.0200. 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 4.2 days after perigee (on May 13, 1882, at 2:45 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Observations

A party of observers gathered in Egypt to watch the eclipse were greatly surprised when they observed a bright streak near to the Sun once totality began. By a remarkable coincidence, the eclipse had coincided with the perihelion passage of a Kreutz comet. The comet would otherwise have gone unnoticed—its sighting during the eclipse was the only observation of it. Photographs of the eclipse revealed that the comet had moved noticeably during the 1m50s eclipse, as would be expected for a comet racing past the Sun at almost 500 km/s. The comet is sometimes referred to as Tewfik, after Tewfik Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt at the time.

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 17, 1882 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1882 May 17 at 04:52:19.5 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1882 May 17 at 05:53:35.0 UTC First Central Line 1882 May 17 at 05:53:43.6 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1882 May 17 at 05:53:52.2 UTC First Penumbral Internal Contact 1882 May 17 at 07:02:13.9 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1882 May 17 at 07:32:55.8 UTC Greatest Duration 1882 May 17 at 07:35:20.9 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1882 May 17 at 07:36:26.9 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1882 May 17 at 07:41:22.6 UTC Last Penumbral Internal Contact 1882 May 17 at 08:10:31.0 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1882 May 17 at 09:19:01.4 UTC Last Central Line 1882 May 17 at 09:19:07.3 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1882 May 17 at 09:19:13.2 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1882 May 17 at 10:20:37.9 UTC

+May 17, 1882 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.02000 Eclipse Obscuration 1.04040 Gamma 0.32688 Sun Right Ascension 03h35m45.9s Sun Declination +19°19'37.1" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'48.5" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 03h35m34.8s Moon Declination +19°38'26.3" Moon Semi-Diameter 15'52.7" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°58'16.5" ΔT -5.5 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–June 1882 May 17Descending node (new moon) June 1Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 126 Penumbral lunar eclipseLunar Saros 138

Related eclipses Eclipses in 1882 A total solar eclipse on May 17. A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 1. An annular solar eclipse on November 10. A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 25.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 29, 1878 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 5, 1886

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 6, 1875 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 28, 1889

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 12, 1873 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 23, 1891

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 18, 1871 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 16, 1893

Solar Saros 126 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 6, 1864 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1853 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 16, 1795 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 18, 1969

Solar eclipses of 1880–1884

The solar eclipses on January 11, 1880 (total), July 7, 1880 (annular), and December 31, 1880 (partial) occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on March 27, 1884 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1880 to 1884 Ascending node  Descending node Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma 111 December 2, 1880Partial −1.5172 116 May 27, 1881Partial 1.1345 121 November 21, 1881Annular −0.8931 126 May 17, 1882Total 0.3269 131 November 10, 1882Annular −0.2056 136 May 6, 1883Total −0.4250 141 October 30, 1883Annular 0.5030 146 April 25, 1884Partial −1.1365 151 October 19, 1884Partial 1.1892

Saros 126

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

NASA graphic Googlemap NASA Besselian elements Sketchs of Solar Corona May 17, 1882