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 47 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -1275 Jul 31. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0258 Feb 05. The total duration of Saros series 47 is 1532.56 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1275 Jul 31 21:55:22 TD
Last Eclipse = 0258 Feb 05 22:50:15 TD
Duration of Saros 47 = 1532.56 Years
Saros 47 is composed of 86 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 47 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 86 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 46 | 53.5% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 16.3% |
| Total | T | 26 | 30.2% |
The 86 lunar eclipses in Saros 47 occur in the order of 24N 6P 26T 8P 22N which corresponds to:
24 Penumbral
6 Partial
26 Total
8 Partial
22 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 47 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0644 Aug 13 Duration = 01h45m34s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0283 Mar 18 Duration = 00h41m59s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0752 Jun 09 Duration = 03h26m46s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0139 Jun 12 Duration = 01h03m02s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0860 Apr 06 Duration = 04h51m01s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1275 Jul 31 Duration = 00h29m31s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 47 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0265 Mar 29 Magnitude = 0.9705
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0139 Jun 12 Magnitude = 0.0780
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 47 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 -35 -1275 Jul 31 21:55:22 30487 -40500 Nb t- -1.5592 0.0102 -1.0160 29.5 - -
02 -34 -1257 Aug 12 05:16:34 30132 -40277 N t- -1.5136 0.0972 -0.9356 91.0 - -
03 -33 -1239 Aug 22 12:44:33 29780 -40054 N t- -1.4739 0.1733 -0.8662 121.3 - -
04 -32 -1221 Sep 02 20:20:31 29429 -39831 N t- -1.4414 0.2364 -0.8099 141.5 - -
05 -31 -1203 Sep 13 04:04:06 29081 -39608 N t- -1.4155 0.2871 -0.7656 155.9 - -
06 -30 -1185 Sep 24 11:55:25 28735 -39385 N t- -1.3963 0.3256 -0.7333 166.1 - -
07 -29 -1167 Oct 04 19:52:51 28390 -39162 N t- -1.3827 0.3535 -0.7112 173.4 - -
08 -28 -1149 Oct 16 03:56:53 28048 -38939 N t- -1.3749 0.3703 -0.6996 177.9 - -
09 -27 -1131 Oct 26 12:05:06 27708 -38716 N t- -1.3712 0.3795 -0.6951 180.6 - -
10 -26 -1113 Nov 06 20:16:23 27370 -38493 N t- -1.3706 0.3827 -0.6958 181.9 - -
11 -25 -1095 Nov 17 04:29:23 27034 -38270 N t- -1.3717 0.3821 -0.6995 182.4 - -
12 -24 -1077 Nov 28 12:42:38 26701 -38047 N t- -1.3734 0.3803 -0.7038 182.5 - -
13 -23 -1059 Dec 08 20:53:19 26369 -37824 N t- -1.3737 0.3806 -0.7051 183.0 - -
14 -22 -1041 Dec 20 05:00:07 26039 -37601 N t- -1.3713 0.3855 -0.7012 184.6 - -
15 -21 -1023 Dec 30 13:01:34 25712 -37378 N t- -1.3650 0.3971 -0.6897 187.5 - -
16 -20 -1004 Jan 10 20:56:40 25386 -37155 N t- -1.3537 0.4176 -0.6688 192.3 - -
17 -19 -0986 Jan 21 04:42:12 25063 -36932 N t- -1.3352 0.4511 -0.6343 199.5 - -
18 -18 -0968 Feb 01 12:19:20 24741 -36709 N t- -1.3102 0.4962 -0.5879 208.7 - -
19 -17 -0950 Feb 11 19:45:36 24422 -36486 N t- -1.2768 0.5566 -0.5258 220.0 - -
20 -16 -0932 Feb 23 03:03:02 24105 -36263 N t- -1.2365 0.6297 -0.4508 232.7 - -
21 -15 -0914 Mar 05 10:08:06 23790 -36040 N t- -1.1864 0.7206 -0.3578 246.9 - -
22 -14 -0896 Mar 15 17:05:03 23477 -35817 N t- -1.1297 0.8236 -0.2528 261.5 - -
23 -13 -0878 Mar 26 23:50:59 23166 -35594 N t- -1.0645 0.9423 -0.1323 276.5 - -
24 -12 -0860 Apr 06 06:29:46 22857 -35371 Nx t- -0.9934 1.0718 -0.0010 291.0 - -
25 -11 -0842 Apr 17 12:59:55 22550 -35148 P t- -0.9152 1.2145 0.1432 305.2 91.7 -
26 -10 -0824 Apr 27 19:25:44 22245 -34925 P t- -0.8335 1.3638 0.2938 318.1 128.6 -
27 -09 -0806 May 09 01:46:42 21942 -34702 P t- -0.7477 1.5209 0.4518 329.9 155.7 -
28 -08 -0788 May 19 08:04:41 21642 -34479 P t- -0.6591 1.6832 0.6145 340.4 176.9 -
29 -07 -0770 May 30 14:21:44 21343 -34256 P t- -0.5696 1.8473 0.7788 349.4 193.7 -
30 -06 -0752 Jun 09 20:39:50 21047 -34033 P t- -0.4808 2.0104 0.9416 356.8 206.8 -
31 -05 -0734 Jun 21 03:00:35 20752 -33810 T t- -0.3935 2.1709 1.1016 362.7 216.8 51.3
32 -04 -0716 Jul 01 09:25:03 20460 -33587 T t- -0.3089 2.3266 1.2563 367.1 224.2 77.2
33 -03 -0698 Jul 12 15:55:53 20170 -33364 T- pp -0.2291 2.4737 1.4021 370.2 229.3 91.4
34 -02 -0680 Jul 22 22:34:06 19881 -33141 T- pp -0.1552 2.6101 1.5370 372.2 232.5 99.6
35 -01 -0662 Aug 03 05:19:48 19595 -32918 T- pp -0.0869 2.7361 1.6614 373.2 234.2 104.0
36 00 -0644 Aug 13 12:15:01 19311 -32695 T- pp -0.0260 2.8489 1.7722 373.4 234.6 105.6
37 01 -0626 Aug 24 19:20:01 19029 -32472 T+ pp 0.0274 2.8473 1.7689 373.1 234.2 105.3
38 02 -0608 Sep 04 02:36:09 18749 -32249 T+ pp 0.0718 2.7667 1.6864 372.4 233.2 103.9
39 03 -0590 Sep 15 10:00:53 18471 -32026 T+ pp 0.1096 2.6980 1.6162 371.4 232.0 101.7
40 04 -0572 Sep 25 17:37:16 18196 -31803 T+ pp 0.1383 2.6461 1.5629 370.3 230.6 99.5
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 05 -0554 Oct 07 01:22:13 17922 -31580 T+ pp 0.1606 2.6058 1.5217 369.2 229.4 97.4
42 06 -0536 Oct 17 09:16:58 17650 -31357 T+ pp 0.1754 2.5788 1.4943 368.1 228.3 95.8
43 07 -0518 Oct 28 17:17:19 17381 -31134 T+ pp 0.1860 2.5591 1.4748 367.1 227.4 94.5
44 08 -0500 Nov 08 01:25:12 17110 -30911 T+ pp 0.1913 2.5490 1.4656 366.0 226.6 93.8
45 09 -0482 Nov 19 09:36:17 16791 -30688 T+ pp 0.1946 2.5422 1.4603 364.9 226.0 93.3
46 10 -0464 Nov 29 17:50:24 16480 -30465 T+ pp 0.1963 2.5380 1.4584 363.7 225.5 93.0
47 11 -0446 Dec 11 02:04:39 16179 -30242 T+ pp 0.1986 2.5322 1.4556 362.4 224.9 92.7
48 12 -0428 Dec 21 10:18:49 15885 -30019 T+ pp 0.2020 2.5239 1.4512 360.9 224.3 92.3
49 13 -0409 Jan 01 18:29:02 15599 -29796 T+ pp 0.2093 2.5084 1.4402 359.3 223.5 91.4
50 14 -0391 Jan 12 02:35:16 15321 -29573 T+ pp 0.2207 2.4848 1.4218 357.3 222.5 90.0
51 15 -0373 Jan 23 10:35:49 15049 -29350 T+ pp 0.2376 2.4509 1.3935 355.1 221.1 87.8
52 16 -0355 Feb 02 18:30:51 14783 -29127 T+ -p 0.2602 2.4065 1.3551 352.6 219.4 84.6
53 17 -0337 Feb 14 02:17:04 14524 -28904 T -p 0.2907 2.3472 1.3023 349.6 216.9 79.5
54 18 -0319 Feb 24 09:57:04 14271 -28681 T -p 0.3270 2.2773 1.2389 346.2 213.8 72.1
55 19 -0301 Mar 07 17:28:37 14024 -28458 T -p 0.3711 2.1930 1.1612 342.1 209.7 60.7
56 20 -0283 Mar 18 00:54:28 13781 -28235 T -t 0.4208 2.0985 1.0732 337.3 204.5 42.0
57 21 -0265 Mar 29 08:11:43 13544 -28012 P -t 0.4786 1.9893 0.9705 331.6 197.6 -
58 22 -0247 Apr 08 15:25:25 13312 -27789 P -t 0.5402 1.8732 0.8605 325.1 189.2 -
59 23 -0229 Apr 19 22:32:56 13085 -27566 P -t 0.6075 1.7468 0.7398 317.5 178.6 -
60 24 -0211 Apr 30 05:38:18 12862 -27343 P -t 0.6775 1.6156 0.6140 308.8 165.5 -
61 25 -0193 May 11 12:40:18 12643 -27120 P -t 0.7513 1.4778 0.4810 298.9 149.1 -
62 26 -0175 May 21 19:43:03 12429 -26897 P -t 0.8252 1.3400 0.3476 287.9 128.9 -
63 27 -0157 Jun 02 02:45:49 12219 -26674 P -h 0.8998 1.2012 0.2124 275.6 102.4 -
64 28 -0139 Jun 12 09:50:18 12012 -26451 P -h 0.9739 1.0636 0.0780 262.2 63.0 -
65 29 -0121 Jun 23 16:58:25 11810 -26228 N -h 1.0455 0.9309 -0.0522 247.8 - -
66 30 -0103 Jul 04 00:11:02 11610 -26005 N -a 1.1140 0.8043 -0.1769 232.5 - -
67 31 -0085 Jul 15 07:29:49 11414 -25782 N -a 1.1783 0.6857 -0.2941 216.5 - -
68 32 -0067 Jul 25 14:54:32 11221 -25559 N -a 1.2382 0.5753 -0.4036 199.8 - -
69 33 -0049 Aug 05 22:28:04 11031 -25336 N -a 1.2916 0.4771 -0.5013 183.2 - -
70 34 -0031 Aug 16 06:09:23 10844 -25113 N -a 1.3391 0.3899 -0.5885 166.5 - -
71 35 -0013 Aug 27 13:59:32 10659 -24890 N -a 1.3801 0.3147 -0.6639 150.2 - -
72 36 0005 Sep 06 21:58:22 10477 -24667 N -a 1.4149 0.2513 -0.7279 134.7 - -
73 37 0023 Sep 18 06:07:14 10297 -24444 N -a 1.4424 0.2011 -0.7787 120.8 - -
74 38 0041 Sep 28 14:24:35 10118 -24221 N -a 1.4635 0.1626 -0.8178 108.8 - -
75 39 0059 Oct 09 22:50:07 9942 -23998 N -a 1.4790 0.1346 -0.8464 99.0 - -
76 40 0077 Oct 20 07:23:24 9766 -23775 N -a 1.4889 0.1164 -0.8649 92.0 - -
77 41 0095 Oct 31 16:04:01 9592 -23552 N -a 1.4941 0.1070 -0.8744 88.2 - -
78 42 0113 Nov 11 00:49:12 9420 -23329 N -a 1.4962 0.1030 -0.8781 86.3 - -
79 43 0131 Nov 22 09:38:19 9247 -23106 N -a 1.4959 0.1033 -0.8772 86.3 - -
80 44 0149 Dec 02 18:29:12 9076 -22883 N -a 1.4948 0.1046 -0.8747 86.7 - -
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
81 45 0167 Dec 14 03:21:33 8905 -22660 N -a 1.4933 0.1067 -0.8711 87.4 - -
82 46 0185 Dec 24 12:11:07 8734 -22437 N -a 1.4945 0.1033 -0.8724 85.9 - -
83 47 0204 Jan 04 20:59:22 8563 -22214 N -a 1.4974 0.0968 -0.8765 83.1 - -
84 48 0222 Jan 15 05:42:03 8392 -21991 N -a 1.5053 0.0810 -0.8894 76.0 - -
85 49 0240 Jan 26 14:20:22 8220 -21768 N -a 1.5168 0.0582 -0.9092 64.4 - -
86 50 0258 Feb 05 22:50:15 8048 -21545 Ne -a 1.5356 0.0220 -0.9420 39.7 - -
[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)"
