Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Solar eclipse". A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, July 28, 1851, with a magnitude of 1.0577. 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 1.5 days before perigee (on July 30, 1851, at 2:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[1]
The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Russia, southwestern Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of North America, Europe, North Africa, Russia, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
This was the earliest scientifically useful photograph of a total solar eclipse, made by Julius Berkowski at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia. It was the first occasion that an accurate photographic image of a solar eclipse was recorded.
Background
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow on Earth that temporarily obscures part or all of the Sun's disc. Eclipses can occur only when all three bodies are properly aligned. Partial eclipses, in which only a portion of the Sun's surface is obscured, are relatively common due to the width of the Moon's outer shadow, or penumbra, which may be several hundred miles wide. Total eclipses occur when the Moon's inner shadow, or umbra, reaches the surface of the Earth, completely obscuring the Sun over a much narrower portion of the ground. If the Moon is too far away at the time of an eclipse, its umbra may not reach the Earth's surface, and only a partial eclipse will be visible.
Before the advent of modern science, solar eclipses were often viewed with superstitious dread. However, eclipses are also of interest to science due to the various phenomena that can be observed when they occur. The Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, is normally invisible due to the brightness of the solar disc, but becomes visible from Earth during a total eclipse. Until the twentieth century, solar eclipses provided the only opportunity for scientists to observe and study the Sun's corona. With the development of photography during the first half of the nineteenth century, it became theoretically possible to record a still image of the Sun during a total eclipse. A variety of processes were used for early photographs, of which the most successful was the daguerreotype.
Monday, July 28, 1851
Photographing a rare event such as a total eclipse posed unique challenges for early photography, including the extreme contrast between the corona and the dark shadow of the Moon, as well as the unusual angle to which photographic equipment had to be oriented. Prior to the eclipse of July 28, 1851, no properly exposed photograph of the solar corona had yet been produced. For this occasion, the Royal Prussian Observatory at Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) commissioned one of the city's most skilled daguerreotypists, Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski, to record a still image of the event.[2] The observers attached a small six-centimeter refracting telescope to a 15.8 centimeter Fraunhofer heliometer, and Berkowski made an eighty-four second exposure shortly after the beginning of totality.[3]
Among the other observers were British astronomers Robert Grant and William Swan, and Austrian astronomer Karl Ludwig von Littrow. They deduced that prominences were part of the Sun, because the Moon was seen to cover and uncover them as it moved in front of the Sun.[4]Template:Better source
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From Gdańsk
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Partial from Shelbyville, Kentucky
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.[5]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1851 July 28 at 12:15:06.1 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1851 July 28 at 13:24:53.6 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1851 July 28 at 13:26:48.7 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1851 July 28 at 13:28:45.8 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1851 July 28 at 14:21:59.0 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1851 July 28 at 14:33:41.9 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1851 July 28 at 14:33:48.3 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1851 July 28 at 14:41:27.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1851 July 28 at 15:38:44.7 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1851 July 28 at 15:40:43.2 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1851 July 28 at 15:42:39.8 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1851 July 28 at 16:52:19.9 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.05765 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.11863 |
| Gamma | 0.76436 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 08h28m49.7s |
| Sun Declination | +19°03'55.7" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'45.2" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 08h29m18.2s |
| Moon Declination | +19°49'34.3" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'29.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'30.3" |
| ΔT | 7.1 s |
Eclipse season
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". 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.
| July 13 Descending node (full moon) |
July 28 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
| File:SE1851Jul28T.png | |
| Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 117 |
Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 143 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1851
- A partial lunar eclipse on January 17.
- An annular solar eclipse on February 1.
- A partial lunar eclipse on July 13.
- A total solar eclipse on July 28.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 9, 1847
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 16, 1855
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 16, 1844
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 7, 1858
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of July 22, 1842
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 1, 1860
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 27, 1840
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 27, 1862
Solar Saros 143
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 17, 1833
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 7, 1869
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 16, 1822
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 7, 1880
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 25, 1764
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 29, 1938
Solar eclipses of 1848–1852
This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[6]
The partial solar eclipses on April 3, 1848 and September 27, 1848 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the solar eclipses on June 17, 1852 (partial) and December 11, 1852 (total) occur in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1848 to 1852 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 108 | March 5, 1848 File:SE1848Mar05P.gif Partial |
1.3950 | 113 | August 28, 1848 File:SE1848Aug28P.gif Partial |
−1.5475 | |
| 118 | February 23, 1849 File:SE1849Feb23A.gif Annular |
0.7475 | 123 | August 18, 1849 File:SE1849Aug18T.gif Total |
−0.7343 | |
| 128 | February 12, 1850 File:SE1850Feb12A.gif Annular |
0.0503 | 133 | August 7, 1850 File:SE1850Aug07T.gif Total |
0.0215 | |
| 138 | February 1, 1851 File:SE1851Feb01A.gif Annular |
−0.6413 | 143 | July 28, 1851 File:SE1851Jul28T.png Total |
0.7644 | |
| 148 | January 21, 1852 File:SE1852Jan21P.png Partial |
−1.2948 | ||||
Saros 143
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 143, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on March 7, 1617. It contains total eclipses from June 24, 1797 through October 24, 1995; hybrid eclipses from November 3, 2013 through December 6, 2067; and annular eclipses from December 16, 2085 through September 16, 2536. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on April 23, 2897. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 16 at 3 minutes, 50 seconds on August 19, 1887, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 51 at 4 minutes, 54 seconds on September 6, 2518. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[7]
| Series members 12–33 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 12 | 13 | 14 |
| File:SE1815Jul06T.png July 6, 1815 |
File:SE1833Jul17T.png July 17, 1833 |
File:SE1851Jul28T.png July 28, 1851 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 |
| File:SE1869Aug07T.png August 7, 1869 |
File:SE1887Aug19T.png August 19, 1887 |
File:SE1905Aug30T.png August 30, 1905 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 |
| File:SE1923Sep10T.png September 10, 1923 |
File:SE1941Sep21T.png September 21, 1941 |
File:SE1959Oct02T.png October 2, 1959 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 |
| File:SE1977Oct12T.png October 12, 1977 |
File:SE1995Oct24T.png October 24, 1995 |
File:SE2013Nov03H.png November 3, 2013 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 |
| File:SE2031Nov14H.png November 14, 2031 |
File:SE2049Nov25H.png November 25, 2049 |
File:SE2067Dec06H.png December 6, 2067 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 |
| File:SE2085Dec16A.png December 16, 2085 |
File:SE2103Dec29A.png December 29, 2103 |
File:SE2122Jan08A.png January 8, 2122 |
| 30 | 31 | 32 |
| File:SE2140Jan20A.png January 20, 2140 |
File:SE2158Jan30A.png January 30, 2158 |
File:SE2176Feb10A.png February 10, 2176 |
| 33 | ||
| File:SE2194Feb21A.png February 21, 2194 | ||
Metonic series
The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.
| 24 eclipse events between March 4, 1802 and July 28, 1870 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 4 | December 20–21 | October 8–9 | July 27–28 | May 15–16 |
| 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 | 125 |
| File:SE1802Mar04T.png March 4, 1802 |
File:SE1805Dec21A.gif December 21, 1805 |
File:SE1809Oct09T.gif October 9, 1809 |
File:SE1813Jul27T.gif July 27, 1813 |
File:SE1817May16A.gif May 16, 1817 |
| 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 | 135 |
| File:SE1821Mar04T.gif March 4, 1821 |
File:SE1824Dec20Am.gif December 20, 1824 |
File:SE1828Oct09A.gif October 9, 1828 |
File:SE1832Jul27T.gif July 27, 1832 |
File:SE1836May15A.gif May 15, 1836 |
| 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 | 145 |
| File:SE1840Mar04A.gif March 4, 1840 |
File:SE1843Dec21T.gif December 21, 1843 |
File:SE1847Oct09A.gif October 9, 1847 |
File:SE1851Jul28T.png July 28, 1851 |
File:SE1855May16P.gif May 16, 1855 |
| 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 | |
| File:SE1859Mar04P.gif March 4, 1859 |
File:SE1862Dec21P.gif December 21, 1862 |
File:SE1866Oct08P.gif October 8, 1866 |
File:SE1870Jul28Pb.gif July 28, 1870 | |
Tritos series
Template:Solar Tritos series 1982 July 20
Inex series
Template:Solar Inex series 2025 March 29
References
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External links
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- NASA chart graphics
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- FIRST SUN PHOTO
- On the Berkowski Daguerreotype (Konigsberg, 1851 July 28): The First Correctly Exposed Eclipse Photograph of the Solar Corona
- From eclipse drawings to the coronagraph and spectroscopy
- History of Astrophotography Timeline
- Sketch of Solar Corona 1851 July 28
- Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851 in Russia Script error: No such module "webarchive".
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