Solar Eclipse Of August 21, 1914
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A total
solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
occurred at the Moon's
descending node An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes. Planes of reference Common planes of referenc ...
of orbit on Friday, August 21, 1914, with a
magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...
of 1.0328. A
solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
occurs when the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
passes between
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
and the
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
, 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 The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular separation (in units of angle) describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the '' visual ...
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 2.7 days before
perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
(on August 24, 1914, at 6:30 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. The totality of this eclipse was visible from northern
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and northeastern part of
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and northern
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and
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). A partial eclipse was visible for parts of northeast
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, and the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. It was the first of four total solar eclipses that would be seen from
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
during the next 40 years. This total solar eclipse occurred in the same calendar date as
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, but at the opposite node. Several astronomers were setting up to observe the eclipse, in part as an attempt to confirm
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
's theory of
general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...
. However, due to the onset of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
as well as cloud cover, these experiments were unsuccessful.


Observations

A number of observatories sent expeditions to Russia to observe the eclipse including those from Argentina, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and the United States. The expeditions led by
Charles Dillon Perrine Charles Dillon Perrine (July 28, 1867June 21, 1951) was an American astronomer at the Lick Observatory in California (1893-1909) who moved to Cordoba, Argentina to accept the position of Director of the Argentine National Observatory (1909-1936 ...
of the
Argentine National Observatory The Argentine National Observatory, today the Astronomical Observatory of CĂłrdoba, was founded on 24 October 1871, by Argentine president Domingo F. Sarmiento and the North American astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould. History Its creation was th ...
, Erwin Finlay-Freundlich of the Berlin-Babelsberg Observatory, Germany, and William W. Campbell of the
Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The ...
, California, included in their programs the second attempt to verify the
general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...
theory of
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
. (Perrine had made the first attempt at the 1912 solar eclipse in Brazil.) However,
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
broke out and Freundlich and his equipment were interned in Russia, unable to carry out the necessary measurements. C. D. Perrine and W. W. Campbell, from neutral countries, Argentina and the United States, were permitted to continue with their plans, but clouds obscured the eclipse. Perrine was able to obtain one photograph of the eclipse but the thin cloud cover was enough to obscure star locations necessary to test Einstein's theory.


Eclipse details

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.


Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an
eclipse season An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...
, 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 A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
.


Related eclipses


Eclipses in 1914

* An annular solar eclipse on February 25. * A partial lunar eclipse on March 12. * A total solar eclipse on August 21. * A partial lunar eclipse on September 4.


Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 2, 1910 * Followed by:
Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, descending node of orbit between Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9, 1918, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 1.0292. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and th ...


Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1907 * Followed by:
Solar eclipse of October 1, 1921 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Saturday, October 1, 1921, with a magnitude of 1.0293. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of ...


Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of August 15, 1905 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of August 26, 1923


Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 21, 1903 * Followed by:
Solar eclipse of July 20, 1925 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, ascending node of orbit between Monday, July 20 and Tuesday, July 21, 1925, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 0.9436. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and ...


Solar Saros 124

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 9, 1896 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 31, 1932


Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 8, 1885 * Followed by:
Solar eclipse of August 1, 1943 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, August 1, 1943, with a magnitude of 0.9409. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of ...


Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 20, 1827 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001


Solar eclipses of 1913–1917


Saros 124


Metonic series


Tritos series


Inex series


References


Solar eclipse of August 21, 1914 in Russia (Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of August 21, 1914 1914 08 21 1914 in science 1914 08 21 August 1914