Solar eclipse of June 24, 1778

Solar eclipse of June 24, 1778
Map
Type of eclipse
Nature Total
Gamma 0.3127
Magnitude 1.0746
Maximum eclipse
Duration 352 sec (5 m 52 s)
Coordinates 41°48′N 55°00′W / 41.8°N 55°W / 41.8; -55
Max. width of band 255 km (158 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse 15:34:56
References
Saros 133 (32 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000) 8985

A total solar eclipse occurred on June 24, 1778. 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.

The total eclipse was visible in a path across Mexico, southeastern United States, and ended across northern Africa.

Observations

This was the first total solar eclipse recorded in the United States. The track passed from Lower California to New England. According to Thomas Jefferson, the eclipse was clouded out in Virginia. General George Rogers Clark and his men observed the eclipse as they passed over the Falls of the Ohio on their way to take Kaskaskia during the Illinois Campaign, regarding it as a good omen.[1] This solar eclipse lasted four minutes over the middle Atlantic and New England States.[2]

Saros 133

Solar Saros 133, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, contains 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 13, 1219. It contains annular eclipses from November 20, 1435, through January 13, 1526, with a hybrid eclipse on January 24, 1544. It has total eclipses from February 3, 1562, through June 21, 2373. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on September 5, 2499. The longest duration of totality was 6 minutes, 50 seconds on August 7, 1850.[3] The total eclipses of this saros series are getting shorter and farther south with each iteration.

Notes

  1. ↑ James, George Rogers Clark, 117.
  2. ↑ "Solar Eclipse Newsletter, June 2004" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  3. ↑ http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros133.html

References

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