A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Friday, January 3 and Saturday, January 4, 1908,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] with a magnitude of 1.0437. 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 only about 14 hours before perigee (on January 4, 1908, at 12:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[6]
Totality was visible from Ebon Atoll in German New Guinea (now in Marshall Islands), British Western Pacific Territories (the part now belonging to Kiribati), Line Islands (now in Kiribati), Phoenix Islands (now in Kiribati) on January 4 (Saturday), and Costa Rica on January 3 (Friday). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of northern Oceania, Hawaii, southern North America, Central America, the western Caribbean, and western South America.
The eclipse was observed by astronomer William Wallace Campbell of Lick Observatory, viewed from Flint Island, Kiribati, an uninhabited island in the Line Islands. The team of Lick Observatory departed from San Francisco on November 22, 1907, and arrived in Papeete, Tahiti Island, the capital of French Polynesia on December 4. After making preparations of supplies and logistics personnel, it departed again on the evening of December 7 and arrived at Flint Island on the afternoon of the 9:[7]
Astronomers from the Royal Astronomical Society, Sydney Observatory and surveyors from New Zealand also observed the total eclipse near the observation site of Lick Observatory. The team successfully took images of the corona.[8]
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.[9]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1908 January 03 at 19:07:37.2 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1908 January 03 at 20:03:19.2 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1908 January 03 at 20:04:02.0 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1908 January 03 at 20:04:44.8 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1908 January 03 at 21:02:14.0 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1908 January 03 at 21:43:22.3 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1908 January 03 at 21:45:11.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1908 January 03 at 21:45:21.4 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1908 January 03 at 21:45:57.9 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1908 January 03 at 22:28:29.5 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1908 January 03 at 23:25:57.2 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1908 January 03 at 23:26:40.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1908 January 03 at 23:27:24.4 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1908 January 04 at 00:23:04.0 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.04375 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.08941 | |
| Gamma | 0.19334 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 18h52m47.6s | |
| Sun Declination | -22°53'44.4" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'16.0" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 18h52m48.0s | |
| Moon Declination | -22°41'55.4" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'41.7" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'16.1" | |
| ΔT | 7.7 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.