Solar eclipse of December 12, 1871
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A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, December 12, 1871, with a magnitude of 1.0465. 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 10.5 hours before perigee (on December 12, 1871, at 14:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day India, Indonesia, Australia, and the Solomon Islands. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania.
Observations
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.
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1871 December 12 at 01:26:08.7 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1871 December 12 at 02:21:32.0 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1871 December 12 at 02:22:19.2 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1871 December 12 at 02:23:06.3 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1871 December 12 at 03:20:05.5 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1871 December 12 at 04:00:15.7 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1871 December 12 at 04:01:45.0 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1871 December 12 at 04:03:38.0 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1871 December 12 at 04:07:16.3 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1871 December 12 at 04:47:15.4 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1871 December 12 at 05:44:11.2 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1871 December 12 at 05:44:58.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1871 December 12 at 05:45:46.5 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1871 December 12 at 06:41:07.5 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.04651 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.09519 |
| Gamma | 0.18356 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 17h15m20.1s |
| Sun Declination | -23°03'31.7" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'14.9" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 17h15m28.6s |
| Moon Declination | -22°52'28.0" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'43.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'21.7" |
| ΔT | -1.0 s |
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.
| December 12 Descending node (new moon) | December 26 Ascending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 130 | Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 142 |
Related eclipses
Eclipses in 1871
- A partial lunar eclipse on January 6.
- An annular solar eclipse on June 18.
- A partial lunar eclipse on July 2.
- A total solar eclipse on December 12.
- A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 26.
Metonic
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 23, 1868
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 29, 1875
Tzolkinex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 30, 1864
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 22, 1879
Half-Saros
- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 6, 1862
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 16, 1880
Tritos
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 11, 1861
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 10, 1882
Solar Saros 130
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 30, 1853
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 22, 1889
Inex
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 31, 1842
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 22, 1900
Triad
- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 9, 1785
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 12, 1958
Solar eclipses of 1870–1873
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 January 31, 1870 and July 28, 1870 occurs in the previous lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1870 to 1873 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | ||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 115 | June 28, 1870 Partial | −1.1949 | 120 | December 22, 1870 Total | 0.8585 |
| 125 | June 18, 1871 Annular | −0.4550 | 130 | December 12, 1871 Total | 0.1836 |
| 135 | June 6, 1872 Annular | 0.3095 | 140 | November 30, 1872 Hybrid | −0.5081 |
| 145 | May 26, 1873 Partial | 1.0513 | 150 | November 20, 1873 Partial | −1.2625 |
Saros 130
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 130, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 73 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on August 20, 1096. It contains total eclipses from April 5, 1475 through July 18, 2232. There are no annular or hybrid eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on October 25, 2394. 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 totality was produced by member 30 at 6 minutes, 41 seconds on July 11, 1619. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
| Series members 41–62 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 41 | 42 | 43 |
| November 9, 1817 | November 20, 1835 | November 30, 1853 |
| 44 | 45 | 46 |
| December 12, 1871 | December 22, 1889 | January 3, 1908 |
| 47 | 48 | 49 |
| January 14, 1926 | January 25, 1944 | February 5, 1962 |
| 50 | 51 | 52 |
| February 16, 1980 | February 26, 1998 | March 9, 2016 |
| 53 | 54 | 55 |
| March 20, 2034 | March 30, 2052 | April 11, 2070 |
| 56 | 57 | 58 |
| April 21, 2088 | May 3, 2106 | May 14, 2124 |
| 59 | 60 | 61 |
| May 25, 2142 | June 4, 2160 | June 16, 2178 |
| 62 | ||
| June 26, 2196 |
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 descending node.
| 22 eclipse events between February 23, 1830 and July 19, 1917 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 22–23 | December 11–12 | September 29–30 | July 18–19 | May 6–7 |
| 108 | 110 | 112 | 114 | 116 |
| February 23, 1830 | July 18, 1841 | May 6, 1845 | ||
| 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
| February 23, 1849 | December 11, 1852 | September 29, 1856 | July 18, 1860 | May 6, 1864 |
| 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
| February 23, 1868 | December 12, 1871 | September 29, 1875 | July 19, 1879 | May 6, 1883 |
| 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
| February 22, 1887 | December 12, 1890 | September 29, 1894 | July 18, 1898 | May 7, 1902 |
| 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | |
| February 23, 1906 | December 12, 1909 | September 30, 1913 | July 19, 1917 |
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.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 16, 1806 (Saros 124) | May 16, 1817 (Saros 125) | April 14, 1828 (Saros 126) | March 15, 1839 (Saros 127) | February 12, 1850 (Saros 128) |
| January 11, 1861 (Saros 129) | December 12, 1871 (Saros 130) | November 10, 1882 (Saros 131) | October 9, 1893 (Saros 132) | September 9, 1904 (Saros 133) |
| August 10, 1915 (Saros 134) | July 9, 1926 (Saros 135) | June 8, 1937 (Saros 136) | May 9, 1948 (Saros 137) | April 8, 1959 (Saros 138) |
| March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) | February 4, 1981 (Saros 140) | January 4, 1992 (Saros 141) | December 4, 2002 (Saros 142) | November 3, 2013 (Saros 143) |
| October 2, 2024 (Saros 144) | September 2, 2035 (Saros 145) | August 2, 2046 (Saros 146) | July 1, 2057 (Saros 147) | May 31, 2068 (Saros 148) |
| May 1, 2079 (Saros 149) | March 31, 2090 (Saros 150) | February 28, 2101 (Saros 151) | January 29, 2112 (Saros 152) | December 28, 2122 (Saros 153) |
| November 26, 2133 (Saros 154) | October 26, 2144 (Saros 155) | September 26, 2155 (Saros 156) | August 25, 2166 (Saros 157) | July 25, 2177 (Saros 158) |
| June 24, 2188 (Saros 159) | May 24, 2199 (Saros 160) |
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.
| Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
|---|---|---|
| January 21, 1814 (Saros 128) | December 31, 1842 (Saros 129) | December 12, 1871 (Saros 130) |
| November 22, 1900 (Saros 131) | November 1, 1929 (Saros 132) | October 12, 1958 (Saros 133) |
| September 23, 1987 (Saros 134) | September 1, 2016 (Saros 135) | August 12, 2045 (Saros 136) |
| July 24, 2074 (Saros 137) | July 4, 2103 (Saros 138) | June 13, 2132 (Saros 139) |
| May 25, 2161 (Saros 140) | May 4, 2190 (Saros 141) |
- Mabel Loomis Todd (1900). . Little, Brown.
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