| Total eclipse | |
 Map | |
| Gamma | 0.5079 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 1.0244 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 141 s (2 min 21 s) |
| Coordinates | 9°30′N63°36′E / 9.5°N 63.6°E /9.5; 63.6 |
| Max. width of band | 96 km (60 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 7:19:12 |
| References | |
| Saros | 139 (23 of 71) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9275 |
← July 29, 1897 July 18, 1898 → | |
A totalsolar eclipse occurred at the Moon'sascending node of orbit on Saturday, January 22, 1898. Asolar eclipse occurs when theMoon passes betweenEarth and theSun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon'sapparent 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 1.8 days afterperigee (on January 20, 1898, at 12:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[1]
The path of totality was visible from parts of theRoyal Niger Company,Kamerun,Upper Ubanghi,British East Africa,Abyssinia,Italian Somaliland,Hindustan,Nepal, and theChinese Empire. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for much ofAfrica,Europe, andAsia.
 1.5 second exposure |  9 second exposure |  |
 Wide view of streamers with the planetVenus | ||
 Sketch | ||
There were two organised expeditions to India to observe this eclipse. One was from theBritish Astronomical Association and the other was led byK D Naegamvala of the Maharaja Taihtasingji Observatory.[2][3]
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.[4]
| Event | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1898 January 22 at 04:45:48.1 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1898 January 22 at 05:48:14.1 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1898 January 22 at 05:48:33.2 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1898 January 22 at 05:48:52.2 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1898 January 22 at 07:14:10.5 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1898 January 22 at 07:19:11.8 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1898 January 22 at 07:24:30.5 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1898 January 22 at 07:37:20.4 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1898 January 22 at 08:49:22.0 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1898 January 22 at 08:49:39.2 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1898 January 22 at 08:49:56.3 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1898 January 22 at 09:52:32.1 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.02440 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.04940 |
| Gamma | 0.50791 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 20h18m29.6s |
| Sun Declination | -19°38'50.6" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'14.8" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 20h17m48.1s |
| Moon Declination | -19°09'57.2" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'24.3" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'12.5" |
| ΔT | -4.9 s |
This eclipse is part of aneclipse 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 afortnight.
| January 8 Descending node (full moon) | January 22 Ascending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
| |
| Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 113 | Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 139 |
This eclipse is a member of asemester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternatingnodes of the Moon's orbit.[5]
The partial solar eclipses on March 26, 1895 and September 18, 1895 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on December 13, 1898 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1895 to 1899 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 114 | August 20, 1895 Partial | 1.3911 | 119 | February 13, 1896 Annular | −0.9220 | |
| 124 | August 9, 1896 Total | 0.6964 | 129 | February 1, 1897 Annular | −0.1903 | |
| 134 | July 29, 1897 Annular | −0.0640 | 139 | January 22, 1898 Total | 0.5079 | |
| 144 | July 18, 1898 Annular | −0.8546 | 149 | January 11, 1899 Partial | 1.1558 | |
This eclipse is a part ofSaros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses from August 11, 1627 through December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through March 26, 2601. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is oneexeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 61 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds onJuly 16, 2186. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and AD 6000.[6] All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’sascending node of orbit.[7]
| Series members 18–39 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 19 | 20 |
 November 29, 1807 |  December 9, 1825 |  December 21, 1843 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 |
 December 31, 1861 |  January 11, 1880 | January 22, 1898 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 |
 February 3, 1916 |  February 14, 1934 |  February 25, 1952 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 |
 March 7, 1970 |  March 18, 1988 |  March 29, 2006 |
| 30 | 31 | 32 |
 April 8, 2024 |  April 20, 2042 |  April 30, 2060 |
| 33 | 34 | 35 |
 May 11, 2078 |  May 22, 2096 |  June 3, 2114 |
| 36 | 37 | 38 |
 June 13, 2132 |  June 25, 2150 |  July 5, 2168 |
| 39 | ||
 July 16, 2186 | ||
Themetonic 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.
| 25 eclipse events between April 5, 1837 and June 17, 1928 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5–6 | January 22–23 | November 10–11 | August 28–30 | June 17–18 |
| 107 | 109 | 111 | 113 | 115 |
 April 5, 1837 |  January 22, 1841 |  November 10, 1844 |  August 28, 1848 |  June 17, 1852 |
| 117 | 119 | 121 | 123 | 125 |
 April 5, 1856 |  January 23, 1860 |  November 11, 1863 |  August 29, 1867 |  June 18, 1871 |
| 127 | 129 | 131 | 133 | 135 |
 April 6, 1875 |  January 22, 1879 |  November 10, 1882 |  August 29, 1886 |  June 17, 1890 |
| 137 | 139 | 141 | 143 | 145 |
 April 6, 1894 | January 22, 1898 |  November 11, 1901 |  August 30, 1905 |  June 17, 1909 |
| 147 | 149 | 151 | 153 | 155 |
 April 6, 1913 |  January 23, 1917 |  November 10, 1920 |  August 30, 1924 |  June 17, 1928 |
This eclipse is a part of atritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with theanomalistic 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.
| Series members between 1801 and 2105 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 September 28, 1810 (Saros 131) |  August 27, 1821 (Saros 132) |  July 27, 1832 (Saros 133) |  June 27, 1843 (Saros 134) |  May 26, 1854 (Saros 135) |
 April 25, 1865 (Saros 136) |  March 25, 1876 (Saros 137) |  February 22, 1887 (Saros 138) | January 22, 1898 (Saros 139) |  December 23, 1908 (Saros 140) |
 November 22, 1919 (Saros 141) |  October 21, 1930 (Saros 142) |  September 21, 1941 (Saros 143) |  August 20, 1952 (Saros 144) |  July 20, 1963 (Saros 145) |
 June 20, 1974 (Saros 146) |  May 19, 1985 (Saros 147) |  April 17, 1996 (Saros 148) |  March 19, 2007 (Saros 149) |  February 15, 2018 (Saros 150) |
 January 14, 2029 (Saros 151) |  December 15, 2039 (Saros 152) |  November 14, 2050 (Saros 153) |  October 13, 2061 (Saros 154) |  September 12, 2072 (Saros 155) |
 August 13, 2083 (Saros 156) |  July 12, 2094 (Saros 157) |  June 12, 2105 (Saros 158) | ||
This eclipse is a part of the long periodinex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with theanomalistic 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
 March 24, 1811 (Saros 136) |  March 4, 1840 (Saros 137) |  February 11, 1869 (Saros 138) |
January 22, 1898 (Saros 139) |  January 3, 1927 (Saros 140) |  December 14, 1955 (Saros 141) |
 November 22, 1984 (Saros 142) |  November 3, 2013 (Saros 143) |  October 14, 2042 (Saros 144) |
 September 23, 2071 (Saros 145) |  September 4, 2100 (Saros 146) |  August 15, 2129 (Saros 147) |
 July 25, 2158 (Saros 148) |  July 6, 2187 (Saros 149) | |
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