A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, April 16, 1893, with a magnitude of 1.0556. 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 1.3 days before perigee (on April 17, 1893, at 21:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[1]
The path of totality was visible from parts of the modern-day countries of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, southern Algeria, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for parts of South America, Africa, and Southern Europe.
According to Edward S. Holden, John Martin Schaeberle discovered a comet like object on the plates of the eclipse from Chile. The comet was 0.8 Moon diameters from the Moon.[2]
Schaeberle observed the eclipse and made drawings of the Corona:
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.[3]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1893 April 16 at 11:57:24.1 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1893 April 16 at 12:52:48.9 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 1893 April 16 at 12:53:50.7 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1893 April 16 at 12:54:52.6 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 1893 April 16 at 13:51:45.5 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1893 April 16 at 14:26:54.0 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1893 April 16 at 14:34:21.8 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1893 April 16 at 14:36:11.0 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 1893 April 16 at 14:42:16.8 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 1893 April 16 at 15:20:49.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1893 April 16 at 16:17:33.4 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 1893 April 16 at 16:18:36.8 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1893 April 16 at 16:19:40.1 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1893 April 16 at 17:14:58.4 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.05562 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.11434 | |
| Gamma | −0.17634 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 01h39m29.7s | |
| Sun Declination | +10°20'33.9" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'55.5" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 01h39m49.3s | |
| Moon Declination | +10°11'02.4" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'32.0" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 1°00'40.6" | |
| ΔT | -6.4 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.
| April 30 Descending node (full moon) | ||
| Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 127 | Penumbral lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 139 |
The partial solar eclipse on August 20, 1895 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
| Solar eclipse series sets from 1892 to 1895 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||||
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
| 117 | April 26, 1892 Total | −0.8870 | 122 | October 20, 1892 Partial | 1.0286 | |
| 127 | April 16, 1893 Total | −0.1764 | 132 | October 9, 1893 Annular | 0.2866 | |
| 137 | April 6, 1894 Hybrid | 0.5740 | 142 | September 29, 1894 Total | −0.4573 | |
| 147 | March 26, 1895 Partial | 1.3565 | 152 | September 18, 1895 Partial | −1.1469 | |
