Nature Total Magnitude 1.0746 Max. width of band 255 km (158 mi) Start date June 24, 1778 | Gamma 0.3127 Duration 352 sec (5 m 52 s) Greatest eclipse 15:34:56 | |
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A total solar eclipse occurred on June 24, 1778. 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. The total eclipse was visible in a path across Mexico, southeastern United States, and ended across northern Africa.
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Observations
This was the first total solar eclipse recorded in the United States. The track passed from Lower California to New England. According to Thomas Jefferson, the eclipse was clouded out in Virginia. This solar eclipse which lasted four minutes over the middle Atlantic and New England States.
Related eclipses
This eclipse is a part of solar Saros 133.