A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, September 21, 1903,[1][2][3][4] with a magnitude of 1.0316. 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 2.1 days after perigee (on September 19, 1904, at 2:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[5]
| Solar eclipse of September 21, 1903 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Total |
| Gamma | −0.8967 |
| Magnitude | 1.0316 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 132 s (2 min 12 s) |
| Coordinates | 58°00′S 77°12′E / 58°S 77.2°E |
| Max. width of band | 241 km (150 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 4:39:52 |
| References | |
| Saros | 123 (47 of 70) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9289 |
The path of totality crossed Antarctica and the south Indian Ocean. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southeast Africa, Southern Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica.
Eclipse details
editShown 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.[6]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1903 September 21 at 02:27:46.5 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1903 September 21 at 03:52:01.4 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1903 September 21 at 03:53:33.3 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1903 September 21 at 03:55:07.6 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1903 September 21 at 04:30:40.1 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1903 September 21 at 04:38:45.6 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1903 September 21 at 04:39:51.9 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1903 September 21 at 05:10:23.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1903 September 21 at 05:24:15.9 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1903 September 21 at 05:25:48.2 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1903 September 21 at 05:27:18.0 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1903 September 21 at 06:51:47.0 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.03156 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.06411 |
| Gamma | −0.89674 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 11h49m03.6s |
| Sun Declination | 01°11'08.7" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'55.9" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 11h47m57.9s |
| Moon Declination | 00°20'09.1" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'19.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°59'53.7" |
| ΔT | 2.2 s |
Eclipse season
editThis 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.
| September 21 Ascending node (new moon) |
October 6 Descending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| |
|
| Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 123 |
Partial lunar eclipse |
Related eclipses
editEclipses in 1903
edit- An annular solar eclipse on March 29.
- A partial lunar eclipse on April 12.
- A total solar eclipse on September 21.
- A partial lunar eclipse on October 6.
Metonic
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 3, 1899
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1907
Tzolkinex
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 9, 1896
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1910
Half-Saros
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 15, 1894
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 26, 1912
Tritos
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 20, 1892
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 21, 1914
Solar Saros 123
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 8, 1885
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 1, 1921
Inex
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 10, 1874
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1932
Triad
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 19, 1816
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990
Solar eclipses of 1902–1906
editThis 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.[7]
The partial solar eclipses on May 7, 1902 and October 31, 1902 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on July 21, 1906 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1902 to 1906 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 108 | April 8, 1902 Partial |
1.5024 | 113 | October 1, 1902 | ||
| 118 | March 29, 1903 Annular |
0.8413 | 123 | September 21, 1903 Total |
−0.8967 | |
| 128 | March 17, 1904 Annular |
0.1299 | 133 | September 9, 1904 Total |
−0.1625 | |
| 138 | March 6, 1905 Annular |
−0.5768 | 143
|
August 30, 1905 Total |
0.5708 | |
| 148 | February 23, 1906 Partial |
−1.2479 | 153 | August 20, 1906 Partial |
1.3731 | |
Saros 123
editThis eclipse is a part of Saros series 123, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 29, 1074. It contains annular eclipses from July 2, 1182 through April 19, 1651; hybrid eclipses from April 30, 1669 through May 22, 1705; and total eclipses from June 3, 1723 through October 23, 1957. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on May 31, 2318. 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 annularity was produced by member 19 at 8 minutes, 7 seconds on November 9, 1398, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 42 at 3 minutes, 27 seconds on July 27, 1813. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit.[8]
| Series members 42–63 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 42 | 43 | 44 |
 July 27, 1813 |
 August 7, 1831 |
 August 18, 1849 |
| 45 | 46 | 47 |
 August 29, 1867 |
 September 8, 1885 |
September 21, 1903 |
| 48 | 49 | 50 |
 October 1, 1921 |
 October 12, 1939 |
 October 23, 1957 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 |
 November 3, 1975 |
 November 13, 1993 |
 November 25, 2011 |
| 54 | 55 | 56 |
 December 5, 2029 |
 December 16, 2047 |
 December 27, 2065 |
| 57 | 58 | 59 |
 January 7, 2084 |
 January 19, 2102 |
 January 30, 2120 |
| 60 | 61 | 62 |
 February 9, 2138 |
 February 21, 2156 |
 March 3, 2174 |
| 63 | ||
 March 13, 2192 | ||
Metonic series
editThe 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 ascending node.
| 22 eclipse events between December 2, 1880 and July 9, 1964 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2–3 | September 20–21 | July 9–10 | April 26–28 | February 13–14 |
| 111 | 113 | 115 | 117 | 119 |
 December 2, 1880 |
 July 9, 1888 |
 April 26, 1892 |
 February 13, 1896 | |
| 121 | 123 | 125 | 127 | 129 |
 December 3, 1899 |
September 21, 1903 |
 July 10, 1907 |
 April 28, 1911 |
 February 14, 1915 |
| 131 | 133 | 135 | 137 | 139 |
 December 3, 1918 |
 September 21, 1922 |
 July 9, 1926 |
 April 28, 1930 |
 February 14, 1934 |
| 141 | 143 | 145 | 147 | 149 |
 December 2, 1937 |
 September 21, 1941 |
 July 9, 1945 |
 April 28, 1949 |
 February 14, 1953 |
| 151 | 153 | 155 | ||
 December 2, 1956 |
 September 20, 1960 |
 July 9, 1964 | ||
Tritos series
editThis eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 June 26, 1805 (Saros 114) |
 May 27, 1816 (Saros 115) |
 April 26, 1827 (Saros 116) |
 March 25, 1838 (Saros 117) |
 February 23, 1849 (Saros 118) |
 January 23, 1860 (Saros 119) |
 December 22, 1870 (Saros 120) |
 November 21, 1881 (Saros 121) |
 October 20, 1892 (Saros 122) |
September 21, 1903 (Saros 123) |
 August 21, 1914 (Saros 124) |
 July 20, 1925 (Saros 125) |
 June 19, 1936 (Saros 126) |
 May 20, 1947 (Saros 127) |
 April 19, 1958 (Saros 128) |
 March 18, 1969 (Saros 129) |
 February 16, 1980 (Saros 130) |
 January 15, 1991 (Saros 131) |
 December 14, 2001 (Saros 132) |
 November 13, 2012 (Saros 133) |
 October 14, 2023 (Saros 134) |
 September 12, 2034 (Saros 135) |
 August 12, 2045 (Saros 136) |
 July 12, 2056 (Saros 137) |
 June 11, 2067 (Saros 138) |
 May 11, 2078 (Saros 139) |
 April 10, 2089 (Saros 140) |
 March 10, 2100 (Saros 141) |
 February 8, 2111 (Saros 142) |
 January 8, 2122 (Saros 143) |
 December 7, 2132 (Saros 144) |
 November 7, 2143 (Saros 145) |
 October 7, 2154 (Saros 146) |
 September 5, 2165 (Saros 147) |
 August 4, 2176 (Saros 148) |
 July 6, 2187 (Saros 149) |
 June 4, 2198 (Saros 150) | |||
Inex series
editThis eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
 November 19, 1816 (Saros 120) |
 October 30, 1845 (Saros 121) |
 October 10, 1874 (Saros 122) |
| September 21, 1903 (Saros 123) |
 August 31, 1932 (Saros 124) |
 August 11, 1961 (Saros 125) |
 July 22, 1990 (Saros 126) |
 July 2, 2019 (Saros 127) |
 June 11, 2048 (Saros 128) |
 May 22, 2077 (Saros 129) |
 May 3, 2106 (Saros 130) |
 April 13, 2135 (Saros 131) |
 March 23, 2164 (Saros 132) |
 March 3, 2193 (Saros 133) |
|
Notes
edit- ^ "September 21, 1903 Total Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "Total eclipse of the sun". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, West Midlands, England. 1903-09-21. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Page 4". The Evening Star. Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. 1903-09-21. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Yesterday". Bruce Herald. Milton, Otago, New Zealand. 1903-09-22. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1903 Sep 21". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 123". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
References
edit- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
