A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, April 16, 1874, with a magnitude of 1.0569. 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 16 hours after perigee (on April 15, 1874, at 22:45 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[1]
The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day southern Namibia, South Africa, and Lesotho. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of southern South America, Antarctica, Southern Africa, and Central Africa.
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.[2]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1874 April 16 at 11:48:36.3 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1874 April 16 at 13:02:40.7 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1874 April 16 at 13:04:57.8 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1874 April 16 at 13:07:19.0 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1874 April 16 at 13:17:18.5 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1874 April 16 at 13:52:28.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1874 April 16 at 14:00:52.7 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1874 April 16 at 14:01:57.1 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1874 April 16 at 14:54:54.7 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1874 April 16 at 14:57:14.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1874 April 16 at 14:59:30.9 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1874 April 16 at 16:13:28.2 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.05692 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.11707 | |
| Gamma | −0.83637 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 01h37m54.7s | |
| Sun Declination | +10°11'33.9" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'55.5" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 01h39m28.1s | |
| Moon Declination | +09°25'57.8" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'40.8" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°01'12.9" | |
| ΔT | -2.8 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. 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.
The partial solar eclipse on August 9, 1877 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1874 to 1877 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 117 | April 16, 1874 Total | −0.8364 | 122 | October 10, 1874 Annular | 0.9889 | |
| 127 | April 6, 1875 Total | −0.1292 | 132 | September 29, 1875 Annular | 0.2427 | |
| 137 | March 25, 1876 Annular | 0.6142 | 142 | September 17, 1876 Total | −0.5054 | |
| 147 | March 15, 1877 Partial | 1.3924 | 152 | September 7, 1877 Partial | −1.1985 | |
