Solar eclipse of April 25, 1865

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 25, 1865, with a magnitude of 1.0584. 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 1.2 days after perigee (on April 24, 1865, at 9:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Angola, Zambia, and extreme northwestern Mozambique. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for much of South America, Antarctica, and Africa.

Observations

The total eclipse was also witnessed by the passengers and crew of the SS Great Britain, passing the coastline of Brazil en route from Australia to England;[better source needed] they were able to observe stars in the daytime.

Eclipse details

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.

Eclipse season

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.

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1865

• A partial lunar eclipse on April 11.
• A total solar eclipse on April 25.
• A partial lunar eclipse on October 4.
• An annular solar eclipse on October 19.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 8, 1861
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 11, 1869

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 15, 1858
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 6, 1872

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 20, 1856
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 1, 1874

Tritos

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 26, 1854
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 25, 1876

Solar Saros 136

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 15, 1847
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 6, 1883

Inex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 15, 1836
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 6, 1894

Triad

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 24, 1778
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1952

Solar eclipses of 1862–1866

This 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.

The partial solar eclipses on June 27, 1862 and December 21, 1862 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on March 16, 1866 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 136

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 136, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on June 14, 1360. It contains annular eclipses from September 8, 1504 through November 12, 1594; hybrid eclipses from November 22, 1612 through January 17, 1703; and total eclipses from January 27, 1721 through May 13, 2496. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 30, 2622. 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 9 at 32 seconds on September 8, 1504, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 34 at 7 minutes, 7.74 seconds on June 20, 1955. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.

Metonic series

The 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.

Tritos series

This 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.

The partial solar eclipses on December 7, 2170 (part of Saros 164) and November 7, 2181 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Inex series

This 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.

• Mabel Loomis Todd (1900). . Little, Brown.