| Total eclipse | |
 An artist's depiction of the total solar eclipse, observed fromCaroline Atoll, Caroline Islands. | |
 Map | |
| Gamma | −0.425 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 1.0634 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 358 s (5 min 58 s) |
| Coordinates | 8°06′S144°36′W / 8.1°S 144.6°W /-8.1; -144.6 |
| Max. width of band | 229 km (142 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 21:53:49 |
| References | |
| Saros | 136 (30 of 71) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 9241 |
← November 10, 1882 October 30, 1883 → | |
A totalsolar eclipse occurred at the Moon'sdescending node of orbit between Sunday, May 6, and Monday, May 7, 1883, with amagnitude of 1.0634. 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 1.1 days afterperigee (on May 5, 1883, at 20:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[1]
The path of totality was visible from parts of the SouthPacific Ocean. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of easternAustralia,Oceania,Hawaii,Central America, and westernSouth America.
An expedition of American astronomers traveled fromPeru toCaroline Island aboard theUSS Hartford to observe the totalsolar eclipse. A French expedition also observed the eclipse from Caroline, and theUnited States Navy mapped the atoll.[2]Johann Palisa, a member of the expedition, discovered an asteroid later that year which he namedCarolina "in remembrance of his visit to [the] island".[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 | 1883 May 6 at 19:21:10.1 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1883 May 6 at 20:18:44.5 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1883 May 6 at 20:20:08.5 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1883 May 6 at 20:21:32.7 UTC |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1883 May 6 at 21:34:45.7 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1883 May 6 at 21:45:09.2 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1883 May 6 at 21:53:48.9 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1883 May 6 at 21:56:03.6 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1883 May 6 at 21:58:10.3 UTC |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1883 May 6 at 22:13:04.8 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1883 May 6 at 23:26:12.7 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1883 May 6 at 23:27:35.7 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1883 May 6 at 23:28:58.4 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1883 May 7 at 00:26:34.2 UTC |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.06341 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.13085 |
| Gamma | −0.42503 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 02h54m04.8s |
| Sun Declination | +16°37'58.2" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'50.7" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.7" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 02h54m25.5s |
| Moon Declination | +16°12'38.1" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'35.5" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'53.6" |
| ΔT | -5.6 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.
| April 22 Ascending node (full moon) | May 6 Descending node (new moon) |
|---|---|
| |
| Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 110 | Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 136 |
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 solar eclipses on January 11, 1880 (total), July 7, 1880 (annular), and December 31, 1880 (partial) occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on March 27, 1884 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1880 to 1884 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 111 | December 2, 1880 Partial | −1.5172 | 116 | May 27, 1881 Partial | 1.1345 | |
| 121 | November 21, 1881 Annular | −0.8931 | 126 | May 17, 1882 Total | 0.3269 | |
| 131 | November 10, 1882 Annular | −0.2056 | 136 | May 6, 1883 Total | −0.4250 | |
| 141 | October 30, 1883 Annular | 0.5030 | 146 | April 25, 1884 Partial | −1.1365 | |
| 151 | October 19, 1884 Partial | 1.1892 | ||||
This eclipse is a part ofSaros 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 oneexeligmos 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 onJune 20, 1955. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’sdescending node of orbit.[6]
| Series members 26–47 occur between 1801 and 2200: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 27 | 28 |
 March 24, 1811 |  April 3, 1829 |  April 15, 1847 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
 April 25, 1865 | May 6, 1883 |  May 18, 1901 |
| 32 | 33 | 34 |
 May 29, 1919 |  June 8, 1937 |  June 20, 1955 |
| 35 | 36 | 37 |
 June 30, 1973 |  July 11, 1991 |  July 22, 2009 |
| 38 | 39 | 40 |
 August 2, 2027 |  August 12, 2045 |  August 24, 2063 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 |
 September 3, 2081 |  September 14, 2099 |  September 26, 2117 |
| 44 | 45 | 46 |
 October 7, 2135 |  October 17, 2153 |  October 29, 2171 |
| 47 | ||
 November 8, 2189 | ||
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 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 | |
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 18, 2188 (part of Saros 164) and November 18, 2199 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.
| Series members between 1801 and 2134 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 December 10, 1806 (Saros 129) |  November 9, 1817 (Saros 130) |  October 9, 1828 (Saros 131) |  September 7, 1839 (Saros 132) |  August 7, 1850 (Saros 133) |
 July 8, 1861 (Saros 134) |  June 6, 1872 (Saros 135) | May 6, 1883 (Saros 136) |  April 6, 1894 (Saros 137) |  March 6, 1905 (Saros 138) |
 February 3, 1916 (Saros 139) |  January 3, 1927 (Saros 140) |  December 2, 1937 (Saros 141) |  November 1, 1948 (Saros 142) |  October 2, 1959 (Saros 143) |
 August 31, 1970 (Saros 144) |  July 31, 1981 (Saros 145) |  June 30, 1992 (Saros 146) |  May 31, 2003 (Saros 147) |  April 29, 2014 (Saros 148) |
 March 29, 2025 (Saros 149) |  February 27, 2036 (Saros 150) |  January 26, 2047 (Saros 151) |  December 26, 2057 (Saros 152) |  November 24, 2068 (Saros 153) |
 October 24, 2079 (Saros 154) |  September 23, 2090 (Saros 155) |  August 24, 2101 (Saros 156) |  July 23, 2112 (Saros 157) |  June 23, 2123 (Saros 158) |
 May 23, 2134 (Saros 159) | ||||
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 | ||
|---|---|---|
 June 16, 1825 (Saros 134) |  May 26, 1854 (Saros 135) | May 6, 1883 (Saros 136) |
 April 17, 1912 (Saros 137) |  March 27, 1941 (Saros 138) |  March 7, 1970 (Saros 139) |
 February 16, 1999 (Saros 140) |  January 26, 2028 (Saros 141) |  January 5, 2057 (Saros 142) |
 December 16, 2085 (Saros 143) |  November 27, 2114 (Saros 144) |  November 7, 2143 (Saros 145) |
 October 17, 2172 (Saros 146) | ||
.jpg)
