Solar eclipse of May 3, 1715
Total eclipse
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A total solar eclipse occurred on 3 May 1715. It was known as Halley's Eclipse, after Edmond Halley (1656–1742) who predicted this eclipse to within 4 minutes accuracy.
| Total eclipse | |
Observations from Cambridge, England, drawing of the corona around the eclipsed Sun. | |
 Map | |
| Gamma | 0.7112 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 1.0632 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 254 s (4 min 14 s) |
| Coordinates | 59.4°N 17.9°E |
| Max. width of band | 295 km (183 mi) |
| Times (UTC) | |
| Greatest eclipse | 9:36:30 |
| References | |
| Saros | 114 (60 of 72) |
| Catalog # (SE5000) | 8826 |
The wide (faint) shadow shows for the penumbra (partiality), and the smaller dark shadow shows for the umbra (totality).
Observation
Halley observed the eclipse from London which experienced 3 minutes 33 seconds of totality. He also drew a predictive map showing the path of totality across the Kingdom of Great Britain. The original map was about 20 miles off the observed eclipse path, mainly due to his use of inaccurate lunar ephemeris. After the eclipse, he corrected the eclipse path, and added the path and description of the 1724 total solar eclipse.[1]
Drawing upon lunar tables made by the first Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed, William Whiston produced a more technical predictive eclipse map around the same time as Halley. Both Halley's and Whiston's maps were published by John Senex in March 1715.[2][3]
Totality was observed in the Kingdom of Great Britain from Cornwall in the south-west to Lincolnshire and Norfolk in the east. It was also observed in Ireland, where large crowds turned out in Dublin to watch it: the weather in Dublin was exceptionally cold and wet, and the eminent judge Joseph Deane caught a fatal chill as a result,[4] although Elrington Ball more prosaically states that his death was probably due to gout.[5]
Great Britain did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752, so the date was at the time 22 April 1715.
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Related eclipses
It is a part of Solar Saros 114.
