The periodicity and recurrence of lunar (and solar) eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). When two eclipses are separated by a period of one Saros, they share a very similar geometry. The two eclipses occur at the same node[1] with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 15 centuries and contains 70 or more lunar eclipses.
Lunar eclipses of Saros 34 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on -1615 May 13. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -0335 Jun 19. The total duration of Saros series 34 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1615 May 13 02:56:56 TD
Last Eclipse = -0335 Jun 19 08:09:37 TD
Duration of Saros 34 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 34 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 34 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 16 | 22.2% |
| Partial | P | 43 | 59.7% |
| Total | T | 13 | 18.1% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 34 occur in the order of 8N 23P 13T 20P 8N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
23 Partial
13 Total
20 Partial
8 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 34 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0948 Jun 17 Duration = 01h44m57s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -1056 Apr 13 Duration = 00h16m45s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0822 Sep 01 Duration = 03h23m31s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -1471 Aug 07 Duration = 01h02m54s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0461 Apr 05 Duration = 04h44m48s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0335 Jun 19 Duration = 00h27m40s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 34 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0822 Sep 01 Magnitude = 0.9275
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0479 Mar 25 Magnitude = 0.0735
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 34 are presented in the following catalog. For eclipses occurring between the years -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), the sequence number in the first column links to a eclipse geometry diagram and a map from Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.
TD of Phase
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Pen. Um. ---- Durations ----
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num Type QSE Gamma Mag. Mag. Pen. Par. Total
s m m m
01 -37 -1615 May 13 02:56:56 37565 -44708 N a- 1.4720 0.1273 -0.8140 94.3 - -
02 -36 -1597 May 24 10:19:10 37171 -44485 N a- 1.4020 0.2562 -0.6861 132.3 - -
03 -35 -1579 Jun 03 17:41:12 36780 -44262 N a- 1.3319 0.3858 -0.5583 160.7 - -
04 -34 -1561 Jun 15 01:05:21 36390 -44039 N a- 1.2636 0.5123 -0.4340 183.2 - -
05 -33 -1543 Jun 25 08:32:05 36003 -43816 N a- 1.1976 0.6349 -0.3145 202.0 - -
06 -32 -1525 Jul 06 16:02:15 35617 -43593 N a- 1.1347 0.7521 -0.2009 217.8 - -
07 -31 -1507 Jul 16 23:38:10 35234 -43370 N a- 1.0767 0.8607 -0.0965 231.0 - -
08 -30 -1489 Jul 28 07:19:43 34853 -43147 N a- 1.0234 0.9608 -0.0010 242.3 - -
09 -29 -1471 Aug 07 15:08:06 34474 -42924 P a- 0.9763 1.0497 0.0829 251.6 62.9 -
10 -28 -1453 Aug 18 23:03:28 34097 -42701 P a- 0.9355 1.1273 0.1552 259.4 85.4 -
11 -27 -1435 Aug 29 07:06:57 33722 -42478 P a- 0.9019 1.1916 0.2142 265.8 99.7 -
12 -26 -1417 Sep 09 15:17:38 33349 -42255 P a- 0.8747 1.2442 0.2614 270.9 109.6 -
13 -25 -1399 Sep 19 23:35:02 32978 -42032 P a- 0.8536 1.2856 0.2974 275.1 116.6 -
14 -24 -1381 Oct 01 07:59:35 32609 -41809 P a- 0.8391 1.3150 0.3216 278.3 121.1 -
15 -23 -1363 Oct 11 16:30:26 32243 -41586 P a- 0.8306 1.3329 0.3347 280.7 123.6 -
16 -22 -1345 Oct 23 01:05:56 31878 -41363 P a- 0.8263 1.3430 0.3404 282.4 124.8 -
17 -21 -1327 Nov 02 09:44:53 31515 -41140 P a- 0.8257 1.3463 0.3396 283.7 125.0 -
18 -20 -1309 Nov 13 18:25:56 31155 -40917 P a- 0.8273 1.3449 0.3349 284.6 124.6 -
19 -19 -1291 Nov 24 03:07:55 30797 -40694 P a- 0.8304 1.3407 0.3278 285.2 123.7 -
20 -18 -1273 Dec 05 11:47:27 30440 -40471 P a- 0.8324 1.3383 0.3231 286.0 123.2 -
21 -17 -1255 Dec 15 20:24:55 30086 -40248 P a- 0.8333 1.3375 0.3205 286.9 123.1 -
22 -16 -1237 Dec 27 04:56:29 29734 -40025 P a- 0.8302 1.3437 0.3255 288.3 124.4 -
23 -15 -1218 Jan 06 13:22:52 29384 -39802 P a- 0.8237 1.3562 0.3371 290.1 126.7 -
24 -14 -1200 Jan 17 21:39:45 29036 -39579 P a- 0.8102 1.3811 0.3616 292.9 131.2 -
25 -13 -1182 Jan 28 05:49:26 28690 -39356 P a- 0.7918 1.4151 0.3953 296.3 136.9 -
26 -12 -1164 Feb 08 13:48:11 28346 -39133 P a- 0.7657 1.4631 0.4432 300.5 144.3 -
27 -11 -1146 Feb 18 21:37:17 28004 -38910 P h- 0.7324 1.5242 0.5043 305.6 153.0 -
28 -10 -1128 Mar 01 05:15:00 27664 -38687 P h- 0.6906 1.6009 0.5808 311.3 162.8 -
29 -09 -1110 Mar 12 12:43:31 27327 -38464 P t- 0.6423 1.6896 0.6692 317.5 172.8 -
30 -08 -1092 Mar 22 20:01:47 26991 -38241 P t- 0.5866 1.7922 0.7713 324.0 183.0 -
31 -07 -1074 Apr 03 03:10:32 26657 -38018 P t- 0.5240 1.9074 0.8856 330.5 192.9 -
32 -06 -1056 Apr 13 10:10:51 26326 -37795 T t- 0.4553 2.0342 1.0111 336.9 202.1 16.7
33 -05 -1038 Apr 24 17:04:12 25997 -37572 T t- 0.3815 2.1705 1.1456 342.9 210.4 58.4
34 -04 -1020 May 04 23:51:22 25669 -37349 T pp 0.3035 2.3147 1.2876 348.3 217.4 78.5
35 -03 -1002 May 16 06:33:51 25344 -37126 T+ pp 0.2225 2.4648 1.4350 352.9 223.1 91.6
36 -02 -0984 May 26 13:13:32 25021 -36903 T+ pp 0.1399 2.6179 1.5850 356.6 227.2 99.8
37 -01 -0966 Jun 06 19:52:04 24700 -36680 T+ pp 0.0570 2.7718 1.7352 359.3 229.6 104.2
38 00 -0948 Jun 17 02:29:39 24381 -36457 T- pp -0.0258 2.8312 1.7905 361.1 230.5 105.0
39 01 -0930 Jun 28 09:09:30 24064 -36234 T- pp -0.1060 2.6864 1.6410 361.9 229.8 102.3
40 02 -0912 Jul 08 15:51:29 23749 -36011 T- pp -0.1836 2.5465 1.4962 361.8 227.7 96.3
TD of Phase
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Pen. Um. ---- Durations ----
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num Type QSE Gamma Mag. Mag. Pen. Par. Total
s m m m
41 03 -0894 Jul 19 22:39:10 23436 -35788 T- -p -0.2557 2.4168 1.3612 361.0 224.3 86.9
42 04 -0876 Jul 30 05:30:24 23125 -35565 T -t -0.3240 2.2942 1.2332 359.6 219.9 73.3
43 05 -0858 Aug 10 12:30:19 22817 -35342 T -t -0.3846 2.1859 1.1192 357.8 214.8 54.5
44 06 -0840 Aug 20 19:36:08 22510 -35119 T -t -0.4397 2.0876 1.0153 355.7 209.1 20.2
45 07 -0822 Sep 01 02:51:34 22206 -34896 P -t -0.4861 2.0053 0.9275 353.7 203.5 -
46 08 -0804 Sep 11 10:13:52 21903 -34673 P -t -0.5262 1.9344 0.8511 351.8 198.0 -
47 09 -0786 Sep 22 17:46:08 21603 -34450 P -t -0.5577 1.8791 0.7908 350.3 193.2 -
48 10 -0768 Oct 03 01:25:14 21304 -34227 P -t -0.5833 1.8345 0.7415 349.0 189.0 -
49 11 -0750 Oct 14 09:11:50 21008 -34004 P -t -0.6025 1.8014 0.7044 348.1 185.6 -
50 12 -0732 Oct 24 17:04:20 20714 -33781 P -t -0.6164 1.7775 0.6771 347.6 183.0 -
51 13 -0714 Nov 05 01:02:41 20422 -33558 P -t -0.6249 1.7633 0.6602 347.4 181.4 -
52 14 -0696 Nov 15 09:03:27 20132 -33335 P -t -0.6315 1.7521 0.6471 347.2 180.1 -
53 15 -0678 Nov 26 17:05:54 19844 -33112 P -t -0.6365 1.7435 0.6375 347.1 179.2 -
54 16 -0660 Dec 07 01:07:43 19558 -32889 P -t -0.6417 1.7340 0.6278 346.7 178.2 -
55 17 -0642 Dec 18 09:08:12 19274 -32666 P -t -0.6477 1.7226 0.6171 346.1 177.1 -
56 18 -0624 Dec 28 17:03:16 18993 -32443 P -t -0.6578 1.7035 0.5993 345.0 175.1 -
57 19 -0605 Jan 09 00:53:54 18713 -32220 P -t -0.6712 1.6779 0.5759 343.3 172.3 -
58 20 -0587 Jan 19 08:36:22 18435 -31997 P -t -0.6910 1.6401 0.5409 340.7 167.9 -
59 21 -0569 Jan 30 16:12:10 18160 -31774 P -t -0.7161 1.5923 0.4964 337.2 162.0 -
60 22 -0551 Feb 09 23:37:28 17886 -31551 P -t -0.7495 1.5291 0.4370 332.5 153.4 -
61 23 -0533 Feb 21 06:55:22 17615 -31328 P -t -0.7889 1.4548 0.3668 326.6 142.0 -
62 24 -0515 Mar 03 14:03:00 17346 -31105 P -t -0.8362 1.3658 0.2820 319.1 126.0 -
63 25 -0497 Mar 14 21:02:14 17068 -30882 P -t -0.8906 1.2637 0.1843 309.8 103.3 -
64 26 -0479 Mar 25 03:52:38 16750 -30659 P -t -0.9522 1.1486 0.0735 298.4 66.2 -
65 27 -0461 Apr 05 10:36:35 16441 -30436 Nx -t -1.0191 1.0236 -0.0472 284.8 - -
66 28 -0443 Apr 15 17:14:29 16140 -30213 N -t -1.0910 0.8898 -0.1771 268.6 - -
67 29 -0425 Apr 26 23:46:37 15847 -29990 N -t -1.1676 0.7473 -0.3157 249.1 - -
68 30 -0407 May 07 06:15:50 15563 -29767 N -t -1.2466 0.6006 -0.4591 225.9 - -
69 31 -0389 May 18 12:42:56 15285 -29544 N -t -1.3277 0.4503 -0.6063 197.9 - -
70 32 -0371 May 28 19:10:08 15014 -29321 N -t -1.4086 0.3005 -0.7535 163.4 - -
71 33 -0353 Jun 09 01:37:48 14749 -29098 N -t -1.4892 0.1515 -0.9003 117.3 - -
72 34 -0335 Jun 19 08:09:37 14491 -28875 Ne -t -1.5668 0.0083 -1.0417 27.7 - -
[1] The Moon's orbit is inclined about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. The points where the lunar orbit intersects the plane of Earth's orbit are known as the nodes. The Moon moves from south to north of Earth's orbit at the ascending node, and from north to south at the descending node.
[2]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when Moon passes closest to the axis of Earth's shadow.
The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates. The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions ). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..
The coordinates of the Sun used in these predictions are based on the VSOP87 theory [Bretagnon and Francou, 1988]. The Moon's coordinates are based on the ELP-2000/82 theory [Chapront-Touze and Chapront, 1983]. For more information, see: Solar and Lunar Ephemerides. The revised value used for the Moon's secular acceleration is n-dot = -25.858 arc-sec/cy*cy, as deduced from the Apollo lunar laser ranging experiment (Chapront, Chapront-Touze, and Francou, 2002).
The largest uncertainty in the eclipse predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is determined as follows:
A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -1999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.
The Besselian elements used in the predictions were kindly provided by Jean Meeus. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Some of the information presented on this web site is based on data originally published in Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)"
