Solar eclipse of August 19, 1887
Introduction A total solar eclipse occurred on 19 August 1887.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 Europe, Asia, and Japan.
Observations The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev ascended in a balloon near Moscow to observe this eclipse. The weather in Tver Governorate was cloudy and it was rain at morning, so Mendeleev forced to fly alone. He made some notes at 6:55, 20 minutes after the start, and made some observations of the solar corona. For this flight, the scientist was awarded the medal of the Academy of Aerostatic Meteorology.210px320pxPartiality at sunrise from Berlin, Germany200pxIlya Repin, “The Solar Eclipse of 1887” (“Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev on the aerostat”), 1887.Russian writer Anton Chekhov published the short story "From the Diary of a Hot-Tempered Man" six weeks before the eclipse passed through Russia. The story includes a major section about the frustrations of a man who is trying to make a great variety of observations during the short interval of totality. In the story the eclipse date is given as 7 August 1887, as per the Julian Calendar then in use in Russia.
Related eclipses === Solar 143===
Notes
References *  NASA graphic*  Googlemap*  NASA Besselian elements*  American Eclipse Expedition to Japan: The Total Solar Eclipse of 1887 "Preliminary Report of Prof. David P. Todd, Astronomer in Charge of the Expedition." Published by the Observatory Amherst, Mass., 1888* *  The total solar eclipse of August 19, 1887 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 48, p. 202*  Sketchs of Solar Corona August 19, 1887*  Solar eclipse of August 19, 1887 in Russia