An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29, 1903,[1][2][3] with a magnitude of 0.9767. 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. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.7 days after apogee (on March 22, 1903, at 8:40 UTC) and 7.8 days before perigee (on April 5, 1903, at 18:40 UTC).[4]
| Solar eclipse of March 29, 1903 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Annular |
| Gamma | 0.8413 |
| Magnitude | 0.9767 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 113 s (1 min 53 s) |
| Coordinates | 56°12′N 130°18′E / 56.2°N 130.3°E |
| Max. width of band | 153 km (95 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 1:35:23 |
| References | |
| Saros | 118 (62 of 72) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9288 |
Annularity was visible from China (now northwestern China, Mongolia and northeastern China), Russia on March 29 (Sunday), and Northern Canada on March 28 (Saturday). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, North Asia, Alaska, and Northwestern North America.
Eclipse details
editShown 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.[5]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1903 March 28 at 23:09:08.3 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1903 March 29 at 00:33:20.8 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1903 March 29 at 00:35:13.8 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1903 March 29 at 00:35:13.8 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1903 March 29 at 00:37:09.4 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1903 March 29 at 01:26:01.9 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1903 March 29 at 01:35:22.9 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1903 March 29 at 02:05:13.3 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1903 March 29 at 02:33:17.3 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1903 March 29 at 02:35:10.0 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1903 March 29 at 02:37:00.1 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1903 March 29 at 04:01:17.3 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 0.97669 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 0.95392 |
| Gamma | 0.84126 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 00h26m26.0s |
| Sun Declination | +02°51'27.8" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'01.0" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 00h25m28.1s |
| Moon Declination | +03°37'00.1" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'30.9" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°56'56.5" |
| ΔT | 1.5 s |
Eclipse season
editThis 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.
| March 29 Descending node (new moon) |
April 12 Ascending node (full moon) |
|---|---|
| |
|
| Annular solar eclipse Solar Saros 118 |
Partial lunar eclipse |
Related eclipses
editEclipses in 1903
edit- An annular solar eclipse on March 29.
- A partial lunar eclipse on April 12.
- A total solar eclipse on September 21.
- A partial lunar eclipse on October 6.
Metonic
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1899
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 1907
Tzolkinex
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 13, 1896
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1910
Half-Saros
edit- Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 21, 1894
- Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 1, 1912
Tritos
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 26, 1892
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 25, 1914
Solar Saros 118
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 16, 1885
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 1921
Inex
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 16, 1874
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 7, 1932
Triad
edit- Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 27, 1816
- Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 1990
Solar eclipses of 1902–1906
editThis 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.[6]
The partial solar eclipses on May 7, 1902 and October 31, 1902 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on July 21, 1906 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1902 to 1906 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 108 | April 8, 1902 Partial |
1.5024 | 113 | October 1, 1902 | ||
| 118 | March 29, 1903 Annular |
0.8413 | 123 | September 21, 1903 Total |
−0.8967 | |
| 128 | March 17, 1904 Annular |
0.1299 | 133 | September 9, 1904 Total |
−0.1625 | |
| 138 | March 6, 1905 Annular |
−0.5768 | 143
|
August 30, 1905 Total |
0.5708 | |
| 148 | February 23, 1906 Partial |
−1.2479 | 153 | August 20, 1906 Partial |
1.3731 | |
Saros 118
editThis eclipse is a part of Saros series 118, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 24, 803 AD. It contains total eclipses from August 19, 947 AD through October 25, 1650; hybrid eclipses on November 4, 1668 and November 15, 1686; and annular eclipses from November 27, 1704 through April 30, 1957. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on July 15, 2083. 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 34 at 6 minutes, 59 seconds on May 16, 1398, and the longest duration of annularity was produced by member 59 at 1 minutes, 58 seconds on February 23, 1849. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.[7]
| Series members 57–72 occur between 1801 and 2083: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 57 | 58 | 59 |
 February 1, 1813 |
 February 12, 1831 |
 February 23, 1849 |
| 60 | 61 | 62 |
 March 6, 1867 |
 March 16, 1885 |
March 29, 1903 |
| 63 | 64 | 65 |
 April 8, 1921 |
 April 19, 1939 |
 April 30, 1957 |
| 66 | 67 | 68 |
 May 11, 1975 |
 May 21, 1993 |
 June 1, 2011 |
| 69 | 70 | 71 |
 June 12, 2029 |
 June 23, 2047 |
 July 3, 2065 |
| 72 | ||
 July 15, 2083 | ||
Metonic series
editThe 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 March 27, 1884 and August 20, 1971 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 27–29 | January 14 | November 1–2 | August 20–21 | June 8 |
| 108 | 110 | 112 | 114 | 116 |
 March 27, 1884 |
 August 20, 1895 |
 June 8, 1899 | ||
| 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
| March 29, 1903 |
 January 14, 1907 |
 November 2, 1910 |
 August 21, 1914 |
 June 8, 1918 |
| 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
 March 28, 1922 |
 January 14, 1926 |
 November 1, 1929 |
 August 21, 1933 |
June 8, 1937 |
| 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
 March 27, 1941 |
 January 14, 1945 |
 November 1, 1948 |
 August 20, 1952 |
 June 8, 1956 |
| 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | |
 March 27, 1960 |
 January 14, 1964 |
 November 2, 1967 |
 August 20, 1971 | |
Tritos series
editThis 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 January 1, 1805 (Saros 109) |
 October 31, 1826 (Saros 111) |
 August 28, 1848 (Saros 113) | ||
 July 29, 1859 (Saros 114) |
 June 28, 1870 (Saros 115) |
 May 27, 1881 (Saros 116) |
 April 26, 1892 (Saros 117) |
March 29, 1903 (Saros 118) |
 February 25, 1914 (Saros 119) |
 January 24, 1925 (Saros 120) |
 December 25, 1935 (Saros 121) |
 November 23, 1946 (Saros 122) |
 October 23, 1957 (Saros 123) |
 September 22, 1968 (Saros 124) |
 August 22, 1979 (Saros 125) |
 July 22, 1990 (Saros 126) |
 June 21, 2001 (Saros 127) |
 May 20, 2012 (Saros 128) |
 April 20, 2023 (Saros 129) |
 March 20, 2034 (Saros 130) |
 February 16, 2045 (Saros 131) |
 January 16, 2056 (Saros 132) |
 December 17, 2066 (Saros 133) |
 November 15, 2077 (Saros 134) |
 October 14, 2088 (Saros 135) |
 September 14, 2099 (Saros 136) |
 August 15, 2110 (Saros 137) |
 July 14, 2121 (Saros 138) |
 June 13, 2132 (Saros 139) |
 May 14, 2143 (Saros 140) |
 April 12, 2154 (Saros 141) |
 March 12, 2165 (Saros 142) |
 February 10, 2176 (Saros 143) |
 January 9, 2187 (Saros 144) |
 December 9, 2197 (Saros 145) | |||
Inex series
editThis 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
 May 27, 1816 (Saros 115) |
 May 6, 1845 (Saros 116) |
 April 16, 1874 (Saros 117) |
| March 29, 1903 (Saros 118) |
 March 7, 1932 (Saros 119) |
 February 15, 1961 (Saros 120) |
 January 26, 1990 (Saros 121) |
 January 6, 2019 (Saros 122) |
 December 16, 2047 (Saros 123) |
 November 26, 2076 (Saros 124) |
 November 6, 2105 (Saros 125) |
 October 17, 2134 (Saros 126) |
 September 28, 2163 (Saros 127) |
 September 6, 2192 (Saros 128) |
|
Notes
edit- ^ "March 28–29, 1903 Annular Solar Eclipse". timeanddate. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "Eclipse of the sun yesterday". Daily Leader. Davenport, Iowa. 1903-03-29. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Annular Solar Eclipse". The Washington Times. Washington, District of Columbia. 1903-03-29. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-10-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "Total Solar Eclipse of 1903 Mar 29". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "NASA - Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 118". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov.
References
edit- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
