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 on Monday, September 21, 1903, 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 1.0316. 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 2.1 days after

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 September 19, 1904, at 2:00 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. The path of totality crossed

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

and the south

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of

Southeast Africa Southeast Africa, or Southeastern Africa, is an African region that is intermediate between East Africa and Southern Africa. It comprises the countries Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanza ...

Southern Australia Southern Australia is generally considered to consist of the states and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), Tasmania and South Australia. The part of Western Australia south of ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

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 1903

* An annular solar eclipse on March 29. * A partial lunar eclipse on April 12. * A total solar eclipse on September 21. * A partial lunar eclipse on October 6.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 3, 1899 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 10, 1907

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of August 9, 1896 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, descending node of orbit on Sunday, August 9, 1896, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 1.0392. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally o ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of November 2, 1910 A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Tuesday, November 1 and Wednesday, November 2, 1910, with a magnitude of 0.8515. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally ...

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 15, 1894 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of September 26, 1912

Tritos

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of October 20, 1892 Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of August 21, 1914 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, August 21, 1914, with a magnitude of 1.0328. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of t ...

Solar Saros 123

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of September 8, 1885 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, September 8, 1885, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 1.0332. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totall ...

* 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 ...

Inex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of October 10, 1874 Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of August 31, 1932 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1, 1932, with a magnitude of 1.0257. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby tota ...

Triad

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of November 19, 1816 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, November 19, 1816, with a magnitude of 1.0233. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image o ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990

Solar eclipses of 1902–1906

Saros 123

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

Notes

References

{{Solar eclipses 1903 09 21 1903 in science 1903 09 21 September 1903