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

ascending 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 between Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29, 1911, 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 1.0562. A

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 1.4 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 April 30, 1911, at 9:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. Totality was visible from southeastern tip of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

and the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, southern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and the western

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Observations

A team of

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys located in Riverview, New South Wales, Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove Rive ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

made observations in

Vavaʻu Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island (ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Administrative divisions of Tonga, Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, ...

Islands, Tonga. Members of Stonyhurst College departed from

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

, England by ship on February 3 and arrived in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on March 16. The team later departed from Sydney on March 25 and arrived in Vavaʻu on April 2. All the instruments were shipped ashore on April 5. The weather was clear for the next few days, but heavy rain showers fell almost every day starting from April 10. The southeast wind starting on April 26 brought thick and large

cirrus cloud Cirrus ( cloud classification symbol: Ci) is a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds typically appear delicate and wispy with white strands. In the Earth's atmosphere, cirrus are usually formed when warm, dry air rises, causing ...

s. On April 28, one day before the eclipse, there were many clouds, which lasted until the morning of April 29. On April 29, the eclipse day, the sky cleared before the first contact (beginning of the partial phase). Afterwards, some

cumulus cloud Cumulus clouds are clouds that have flat cloud base, bases and are often described as puffy, cotton-like, or fluffy in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin , meaning "heap" or "pile". Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, generally less ...

s passed through at first, and the weather remained relatively good. During the totality, weather conditions were good in Neiafu, but some areas about away were affected by

cirrostratus cloud Cirrostratus () is a high-altitude, very thin, and generally uniform stratiform genus-type of cloud. It is composed of ice crystals, which are particles of frozen water. Cirrostratus is difficult to see and can produce halos. These optical ...

s, and the sun was not visible until 90 seconds before the third contact (end of the total phase). During the eclipse, there was almost no sound on the island except the chirping of

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets and more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 886 ...

, because the government told the local people to keep quiet and not to light fires to avoid creating smoke and disturbing the observations. The team shipped the instruments back on May 2, and the team members departed the island on May 4. They first arrived in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, capital of the

Colony of Fiji The Colony of Fiji was a Crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. London declined its first opportunity to annex Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to cede the islands, s ...

on May 6, and departed again on May 11 and arrived in Sydney on May 17. The British in charge boarded the ship with the instruments leaving Sydney on June 10 and arriving in Tilbury on July 23.

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 1911

* A total solar eclipse on April 28. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 13. * An annular solar eclipse on October 22. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 6.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1907 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 14, 1915

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of March 17, 1904 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, March 17, 1904, with a magnitude of 0.9367. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image ...

* 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 ...

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 22, 1902 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of May 3, 1920

Tritos

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Monday, May 28, 1900, with a magnitude of 1.0249. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of March 28, 1922 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 28, 1922, with a magnitude of 0.9381. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image o ...

Solar Saros 127

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of April 16, 1893 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, ascending node of orbit on Sunday, April 16, 1893, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 1.0556. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally o ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of May 9, 1929

Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 17, 1882 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of April 7, 1940 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, April 7, 1940, with a magnitude of 0.9394. 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 June 26, 1824 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998

Solar eclipses of 1910–1913

Saros 127

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

NASA graphics

Report on the total solar eclipse of 1911, April 28

Island, South Pacific {{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Eclipse Of April 28, 1911 1911 04 28 1911 in science 1911 04 28 April 1911

Observations

Eclipse details

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1911

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 127

Inex

Triad

Solar eclipses of 1910–1913

Saros 127

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

See also

Notes

References