Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900

In 1900 the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, then based in Washington, D.C., loaded several railroad cars with scientific equipment and headed to Wadesboro, North Carolina. Scientists had determined that this small town would be the best location in North America for viewing the total solar eclipse, and the Smithsonian Solar Eclipse Expedition hoped to capture photographic images of the solar corona during the event for further study.{{cite web |title=Wadesboro Prime for Viewing of 1900 Solar Eclipse |url=https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2014/05/28/wadesboro-prime-for-viewing-of-1900-solar-eclipse |website=This Day in North Carolina History |date=28 May 2016 |publisher=N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources |access-date=28 May 2019}} The team included Thomas Smillie, the mission's photographer. Smillie rigged cameras to seven telescopes and successfully made eight glass-plate negatives, ranging in size from eleven by fourteen inches to thirty by thirty inches. Smillie's work was considered an amazing photographic and scientific achievement.{{cite web |last1=Foresta |first1=Merry |title=Smillie and the 1900 Eclipse |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/smillie-and-1900-eclipse |website=Smithsonian Institution Archives}}

In addition to the team from the Smithsonian:

[s]cientific expeditions were mounted from some of the world’s preeminent astronomy programs including Princeton University, the University of Chicago, . . . and the British Astronomical Association. S. P. Langley and C. A. Young, two of the founders of modern astronomy, were also there.

According to Wadesboro's newspaper, the Anson Independent, the public came out in droves. Extra trains—including a special excursion train from Charlotte—brought out hundreds of people, and by the time the eclipse’s effects were beginning to be seen around 7:30 a.m., the streets were packed, and people were vying for better spots from rooftops and windows..

The same local newspaper described the total eclipse itself as lasting for less than a minute and a half, and recorded that though a large crowd was on hand, it was nearly silent during that entire time. The paper also mentioned that the drop in temperature from the shadow caused by the eclipse was quite significant.

The eclipse was filmed by Nevil Maskelyne in North Carolina.[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/30/captivating-bfi-shares-first-footage-of-a-solar-eclipse-from-1900-john-nevil-maskelyne "‘Captivating’ – BFI shares first footage of a solar eclipse from 1900"] (retrieved 30 May 2019) It was also observed from Mahelma in Algeria by John Evershed.{{Cite book|last=J. Evershed|url=https://archive.org/details/paper-doi-10_1098_rspl_1900_0041|title=Solar Eclipse of May 28, 1900. Preliminary Report of the Expedition to the South Limit of Totality to Obtain Photographs of the Flash Spectrum in High Solar Latitudes|date=1900-01-01|publisher=The Royal Society|language=English}}

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.{{cite web|title=Total Solar Eclipse of 1900 May 28|url=https://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEprime/1801-1900/SE1900May28Tprime.html|publisher=EclipseWise.com|access-date=25 August 2024}}

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{{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.

• A total solar eclipse on May 28.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on June 13.
• An annular solar eclipse on November 22.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on December 6.

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 9, 1896
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 17, 1904

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 16, 1893
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1907

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of May 23, 1891
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of June 4, 1909

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 28, 1889
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 28, 1911

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 17, 1882
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 18, 1871
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1929

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 27, 1813
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 29, 1987

{{Solar eclipse set 1898–1902}}

{{Solar Saros series 126}}

{{Solar Metonic series 1866–1953}}

{{Solar Tritos series 2009 July 22}}

{{Solar Inex series 2016 March 9}}

{{reflist}}

• {{commonscatinline}}
• [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/1801-1900/1900-05-28.gif NASA graphic]
• [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=19000528 Googlemap]
• [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEdata.php?Ecl=19000528 NASA Besselian elements]
• [http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/Solar_Corona_Shape_pg02.html Photos and sketches of the Solar Corona May 28, 1900]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100206221846/http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/1900.html The Total Solar Eclipse, 1900] Report of the expeditions organized by the British Astronomical Association to observe the total solar eclipse of 1900, May 28, A Publication of the British Astronomical Association, Chapter VII: "Elche" (Spain), by Mr. E. W. Johnson
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=FI0-AAAAYAAJ Total Eclipses of the Sun], By Mabel Loomis Todd, 1894, new and revised edition by David Peck Todd, 1900.
• Lewis E. Jewell et al. "Reports concerning the total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900 and of May 17, 1901”, Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory 4 (1906) app. 1, 94–97, 121–151, 203–215, 299–307 and pl. LXXII.
• [http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1900.php Russia expedition for solar eclipse of May 28, 1900] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808024916/http://www.eclipse-2008.ru/eclipse/1900.php |date=August 8, 2009 }}
• {{cite web|title=Print from Glass Plate Negative of eclipse, Wilkes County, Georgia, 1900 May 28|url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/vanga/id:wlk048|website=Vanishing Georgia, Georgia Archives|publisher=Digital Library of Georgia|access-date=5 April 2018}}

{{Solar eclipses}}

1900 05 28

Category:1900 in science

1900 05 28

Category:May 1900