A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 23, 1908,[1] [2] [3] [4] with a magnitude of 1.0024. It was a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. 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 3.1 days before perigee (on December 26, 1908, at 13:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[5]
Annularity was visible from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, while totality was visible only from southern Atlantic Ocean with no land. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of northern South America, most of North America, the Caribbean, West Africa, North Africa, and Western Europe.
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.[6]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1908 December 23 at 09:06:26.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1908 December 23 at 10:10:43.8 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1908 December 23 at 10:11:10.4 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1908 December 23 at 10:11:10.4 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1908 December 23 at 10:11:37.1 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1908 December 23 at 11:44:27.5 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1908 December 23 at 11:49:14.3 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1908 December 23 at 11:49:45.9 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1908 December 23 at 13:17:16.8 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1908 December 23 at 13:17:40.9 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1908 December 23 at 13:18:04.9 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1908 December 23 at 14:22:20.6 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.00243 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.00486 | |
| Gamma | –0.49845 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 18h05m35.3s | |
| Sun Declination | -23°26'42.1" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'15.7" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 18h05m23.9s | |
| Moon Declination | -23°55'54.7" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'04.3" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°58'59.0" | |
| ΔT | 9.1 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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.