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Solar eclipse of October 27, 1780

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Solar eclipse of October 27, 1780
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.8083
Magnitude1.0244
Maximum eclipse
Duration120 s (2 min 0 s)
Coordinates35°36′N 58°36′W / 35.6°N 58.6°W / 35.6; -58.6
Max. width of band138 km (86 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse17:18:27
References
Saros120 (48 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)8991

A total solar eclipse occurred on October 27, 1780. 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.

Observations

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During the American Revolutionary War, the first American solar eclipse expedition was organized and sent out from Harvard College in Massachusetts. A special immunity agreement was negotiated with the British to allow the scientists to work unharmed. The Harvard expedition, after all their efforts, missed the eclipse because they chose a site outside the path of totality. Modern analysis of this embarrassing incident for embryonic American science blames Samuel Williams for miscalculating the path of totality.[1]

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It is a part of solar Saros 120.

See also

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Notes

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References

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