A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, January 22, 1898. 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 1.8 days after perigee (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 the Royal Niger Company, Kamerun, Upper Ubanghi, British East Africa, Abyssinia, Italian Somaliland, Hindustan, Nepal, and the Chinese Empire. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for much of Africa, Europe, and Asia.
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]
| 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 |
| 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 |
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 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 | |
