Solar eclipse of January 1, 1889

36°42′N 137°36′W / 36.7°N 137.6°W / 36.7; -137.6Max. width of band175 km (109 mi)Times (UTC)Greatest eclipse21:16:50ReferencesSaros120 (54 of 71)Catalog # (SE5000)9255

A total solar eclipse occurred on January 1, 1889. 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. It was visible across western United States, and central Canada. Partiality was visible across the northern Pacific Ocean including Hawaii, and all of the United States.

Wovoka the Paiute prophet received visions during the solar eclipse of January 1889. These visions were framework for the Pan-Indian religious movement known as the Ghost Dance.^[1]

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 120, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 27, 933 AD. It contains annular eclipses from August 11, 1059 through April 26, 1492; hybrid eclipses from May 8, 1510 through June 8, 1564; and total eclipses from June 20, 1582 through March 30, 2033. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 7, 2195. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 11 at 6 minutes, 24 seconds on September 11, 1113, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 60 at 2 minutes, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.^[2]

Series members 50–71 occur between 1801 and 2195:
50	51	52
November 19, 1816	November 30, 1834	December 11, 1852
53	54	55
December 22, 1870	January 1, 1889	January 14, 1907
56	57	58
January 24, 1925	February 4, 1943	February 15, 1961
59	60	61
February 26, 1979	March 9, 1997	March 20, 2015
62	63	64
March 30, 2033	April 11, 2051	April 21, 2069
65	66	67
May 2, 2087	May 14, 2105	May 25, 2123
68	69	70
June 4, 2141	June 16, 2159	June 26, 2177
71
July 7, 2195

• NASA chart graphics
  • Googlemap
  • NASA Besselian elements
• Photo of Solar Corona January 1, 1889
• Eclipse of June 1, 1889. Contact print from the original glass negative. Lick Observatory Plate Archive, Mt. Hamilton. [January 1, 1889?!]
• C.E. Watkins photo / eclipse / lick observatory 1889?^{[permanent dead link]}, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Object Number: 88.XM.92.83