A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 25, 1865, with a magnitude of 1.0584. 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. Occurring about 1.2 days after perigee (on April 24, 1865, at 9:50 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
The path of totality was visible from parts of modern-day Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Angola, Zambia, and extreme northwestern Mozambique. A partial solar eclipse was also visible for much of South America, Antarctica, and Africa.
The total eclipse was also witnessed by the passengers and crew of the SS Great Britain, passing the coastline of Brazil en route from Australia to England; they were able to observe stars in the daytime.
Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
The partial solar eclipses on June 27, 1862 and December 21, 1862 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set, and the partial solar eclipse on March 16, 1866 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.