A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, December 22, 1870, with a magnitude of 1.0248. 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 1.4 days before perigee (on December 21, 1870, at 3:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day southern Portugal, southern Spain, northern Morocco, northern Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, Greece, northwestern Turkey, southeastern Bulgaria, southeastern Ukraine, and western Russia. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of eastern Canada, Europe, North Africa, West Africa, and the Middle East.
Observations
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 22, 1870 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1870 December 22 at 10:13:56.6 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1870 December 22 at 11:33:35.2 UTC First Central Line 1870 December 22 at 11:34:27.4 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1870 December 22 at 11:35:20.3 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1870 December 22 at 12:18:47.9 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1870 December 22 at 12:19:09.0 UTC Greatest Duration 1870 December 22 at 12:27:10.9 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1870 December 22 at 12:27:32.6 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1870 December 22 at 13:19:52.2 UTC Last Central Line 1870 December 22 at 13:20:43.5 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1870 December 22 at 13:21:34.1 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1870 December 22 at 14:41:15.4 UTC
+December 22, 1870 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.02476 Eclipse Obscuration 1.05013 Gamma 0.85849 Sun Right Ascension 18h02m16.0s Sun Declination -23°27'15.7" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'15.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9" Moon Right Ascension 18h02m37.0s Moon Declination -22°35'32.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'31.5" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'38.9" ΔT -0.1 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 December 1870–January 1871 December 22Descending node (new moon) January 6Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 120 Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 132
Related eclipses Eclipses in 1870 A total lunar eclipse on January 17. A partial solar eclipse on January 31. A partial solar eclipse on June 28. A total lunar eclipse on July 12. A partial solar eclipse on July 28. A total solar eclipse on December 22.
Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 6, 1867 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 10, 1874
Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 11, 1863 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 2, 1878
Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 17, 1861 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 28, 1879
Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 23, 1860 Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 21, 1881
Solar Saros 120 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 11, 1852 Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 1, 1889
Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 11, 1842 Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 3, 1899
Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 20, 1784 Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 1957
Solar eclipses of 1870–1873
The partial solar eclipses on January 31, 1870 and July 28, 1870 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
Solar eclipse series sets from 1870 to 1873 Ascending node Descending node Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma 115 June 28, 1870Partial −1.1949 120 December 22, 1870Total 0.8585 125 June 18, 1871Annular −0.4550 130 December 12, 1871Total 0.1836 135 June 6, 1872Annular 0.3095 140 November 30, 1872Hybrid −0.5081 145 May 26, 1873Partial 1.0513 150 November 20, 1873Partial −1.2625
Saros 120
Metonic series
Tritos series
Inex series
References
NASA chart graphics Googlemap NASA Besselian elements
Reports on observations of the total solar eclipse of December 22, 1870 By United States Naval Observatory, Simon Newcomb, Asaph Hall, William Harkness, John Robie Eastman Solar Eclipse seen from Jerez in 1870 The sun was crowned in Jerez