A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, May 28, 1900, with a magnitude of 1.0249. 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 3.9 days after perigee (on May 24, 1900, at 17:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. The path of totality was visible from parts of Mexico, the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia in the United States, Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Tripoli, and Egypt. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Europe, West Africa, and North Africa.

Viewing

In 1900 the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, then based in Washington, D.C., loaded several railroad cars with scientific equipment and headed to Wadesboro, North Carolina. Scientists had determined that this small town would be the best location in North America for viewing the total solar eclipse, and the Smithsonian Solar Eclipse Expedition hoped to capture photographic images of the solar corona during the event for further study. The team included Thomas Smillie, the mission's photographer. Smillie rigged cameras to seven telescopes and successfully made eight glass-plate negatives, ranging in size from eleven by fourteen inches to thirty by thirty inches. Smillie's work was considered an amazing photographic and scientific achievement. In addition to the team from the Smithsonian: [s]cientific expeditions were mounted from some of the world’s preeminent astronomy programs including Princeton University, the University of Chicago,. . . and the British Astronomical Association. S. P. Langley and C. A. Young, two of the founders of modern astronomy, were also there. According to Wadesboro's newspaper, the Anson Independent, the public came out in droves. Extra trains—including a special excursion train from Charlotte—brought out hundreds of people, and by the time the eclipse’s effects were beginning to be seen around 7:30 a.m., the streets were packed, and people were vying for better spots from rooftops and windows.. The same local newspaper described the total eclipse itself as lasting for less than a minute and a half, and recorded that though a large crowd was on hand, it was nearly silent during that entire time. The paper also mentioned that the drop in temperature from the shadow caused by the eclipse was quite significant. The eclipse was filmed by Nevil Maskelyne in North Carolina. It was also observed from Mahelma in Algeria by John Evershed.

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 1900

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 126

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses of 1898–1902

Saros 126

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series