An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, November 22, 1900,[1] with a magnitude of 0.9421. 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. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 4.5 days after apogee (on November 17, 1900, at 18:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.[2] This was also the last solar eclipse of the 19th century.
This eclipse's path traveled east, beginning in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Africa, traversing the continent, and passing through the Indian Ocean before terminating in Australia, in northeast Queensland. Outside the center of its path, the section of the Earth from which it was visible included locations in Africa such as the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Pretoria, and the south end of Madagascar. On the eastern portion of the path, it passed over the southern portion of the Philippine islands.
It appeared in some form over all of Australia, although only partially visible in most of it. It entered near Shark Bay and was partially visible in Adelaide. It was observed clearly from Melbourne, where it was seen "under favorable conditions, the sky being cloudless". Elsewhere in Australia, newspapers reported that it was seen from Rydal and Murrumburrah in New South Wales. An observer in Perth said that it was "distinctly visible", as "the sky was quite clear owing to the dimness of the sun's light. Persons out of doors could not fail to notice the eclipse." The Government Astronomer, W. E. Cooke, said that "in the streets it was observed by numbers of people with the aid of a piece of smoked or neutral tinted glass, and at the Observatory the exact times of commencement and finish were noted with the aid of the large equatorial".
At the time, it was claimed by Ira D. Hicks that the conjunction would "greatly increase atmospheric, electrical and seismic perturbations during the reactionary period, 21st to 23d". Viewers in Australia were advised to view the Sun through smoked glass, "prepared by holding it over the flame of an ordinary wax candle or vesta". It was expected to be "of little importance to astronomers for scientific purposes, excepting in showing how accurately such events may now be predicted".
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.[3]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1900 November 22 at 04:19:31.9 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1900 November 22 at 05:24:00.5 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1900 November 22 at 05:26:34.2 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1900 November 22 at 05:29:08.2 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1900 November 22 at 06:36:53.5 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1900 November 22 at 07:17:05.1 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1900 November 22 at 07:19:42.8 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1900 November 22 at 07:22:44.6 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1900 November 22 at 07:22:49.6 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1900 November 22 at 08:02:28.1 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1900 November 22 at 09:10:16.9 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1900 November 22 at 09:12:48.5 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1900 November 22 at 09:15:19.8 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1900 November 22 at 10:19:46.8 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.94207 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.88750 | |
| Gamma | −0.22450 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 15h49m25.8s | |
| Sun Declination | -20°03'58.1" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'11.9" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 15h49m19.7s | |
| Moon Declination | -20°16'14.2" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'02.0" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°55'10.4" | |
| ΔT | -1.5 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.