A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 25, 1865, with a magnitude of 1.0584. 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 1.2 days after perigee (on April 24, 1865, at 9:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Angola, Zambia, and extreme northwestern Mozambique. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for much of South America, Antarctica, and Africa.

Observations

The total eclipse was also witnessed by the passengers and crew of the SS Great Britain, passing the coastline of Brazil en route from Australia to England; they were able to observe stars in the daytime.

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.

+April 25, 1865 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 1865 April 25 at 11:37:22.8 UTC First Umbral External Contact 1865 April 25 at 12:36:28.9 UTC First Central Line 1865 April 25 at 12:37:48.3 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 1865 April 25 at 12:39:07.9 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 1865 April 25 at 13:56:13.5 UTC Greatest Eclipse 1865 April 25 at 14:08:34.2 UTC Greatest Duration 1865 April 25 at 14:10:32.0 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 1865 April 25 at 14:13:31.6 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 1865 April 25 at 15:38:11.0 UTC Last Central Line 1865 April 25 at 15:39:29.2 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 1865 April 25 at 15:40:47.2 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 1865 April 25 at 16:39:54.1 UTC

+April 25, 1865 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.05844 Eclipse Obscuration 1.12029 Gamma −0.48262 Sun Right Ascension 02h12m14.0s Sun Declination +13°18'55.3" Sun Semi-Diameter 15'53.1" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.7" Moon Right Ascension 02h12m42.7s Moon Declination +12°50'29.9" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'34.0" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°00'47.9" ΔT 5.6 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 April 1865 April 11Ascending node (full moon) April 25Descending node (new moon) Partial lunar eclipseLunar Saros 110 Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 136

Related eclipses Eclipses in 1865 A partial lunar eclipse on April 11. A total solar eclipse on April 25. A partial lunar eclipse on October 4. An annular solar eclipse on October 19.

Metonic Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 8, 1861 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 11, 1869

Tzolkinex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 15, 1858 Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1872

Half-Saros Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 20, 1856 Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 1, 1874

Tritos Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 26, 1854 Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 25, 1876

Solar Saros 136 Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 15, 1847 Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 6, 1883

Inex Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 15, 1836 Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 6, 1894

Triad Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 24, 1778 Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952

Solar eclipses of 1862–1866

The partial solar eclipses on June 27, 1862 and December 21, 1862 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on March 16, 1866 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1862 to 1866 Ascending node  Descending node Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma 111 November 21, 1862Partial −1.5052 116 May 17, 1863Partial 1.0627 121 November 11, 1863Annular −0.8760 126 May 6, 1864Hybrid 0.2622 131 October 30, 1864Annular −0.1816 136 April 25, 1865Total −0.4826 141 October 19, 1865Annular 0.5366 146 April 15, 1866Partial −1.1846 151 October 8, 1866Partial 1.2296

Saros 136

Metonic series All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

25 eclipse events between February 12, 1812 and September 18, 1895February 11–12November 30–December 1September 17–19July 7–8April 25–26108110112114116February 12, 1812September 19, 1819July 8, 1823April 26, 1827118120122124126February 12, 1831November 30, 1834September 18, 1838July 8, 1842April 25, 1846128130132134136February 12, 1850November 30, 1853September 18, 1857July 8, 1861April 25, 1865138140142144146February 11, 1869November 30, 1872September 17, 1876July 7, 1880April 25, 1884148150152February 11, 1888December 1, 1891September 18, 1895

Tritos series

Inex series

References

NASA chart graphics Googlemap NASA Besselian elements