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 51 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 -1105 Jun 13. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0193 Jul 31. The total duration of Saros series 51 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1105 Jun 13 02:00:33 TD
Last Eclipse = 0193 Jul 31 16:51:54 TD
Duration of Saros 51 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 51 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 51 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 18 | 24.7% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 39.7% |
| Total | T | 26 | 35.6% |
The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 51 occur in the order of 11N 19P 26T 10P 7N which corresponds to:
11 Penumbral
19 Partial
26 Total
10 Partial
7 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 51 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0456 Jul 06 Duration = 01h39m47s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0113 Jan 29 Duration = 00h21m45s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0582 Apr 22 Duration = 03h09m33s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0907 Oct 09 Duration = 00h41m33s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0925 Sep 29 Duration = 04h35m09s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1105 Jun 13 Duration = 00h21m31s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 51 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0095 Feb 08 Magnitude = 0.9798
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0907 Oct 09 Magnitude = 0.0312
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 51 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 -36 -1105 Jun 13 02:00:33 27229 -38399 Nb t- -1.5694 0.0050 -1.0479 21.5 - -
02 -35 -1087 Jun 23 08:32:46 26894 -38176 N t- -1.4856 0.1580 -0.8937 119.5 - -
03 -34 -1069 Jul 04 15:11:30 26561 -37953 N t- -1.4061 0.3036 -0.7474 163.0 - -
04 -33 -1051 Jul 14 21:57:25 26230 -37730 N t- -1.3312 0.4408 -0.6097 193.4 - -
05 -32 -1033 Jul 26 04:52:29 25901 -37507 N t- -1.2622 0.5673 -0.4831 216.1 - -
06 -31 -1015 Aug 05 11:56:21 25574 -37284 N t- -1.1992 0.6829 -0.3676 233.8 - -
07 -30 -0997 Aug 16 19:11:41 25250 -37061 N t- -1.1443 0.7839 -0.2669 247.3 - -
08 -29 -0979 Aug 27 02:37:29 24927 -36838 N h- -1.0969 0.8710 -0.1802 257.7 - -
09 -28 -0961 Sep 07 10:13:45 24607 -36615 N h- -1.0571 0.9443 -0.1072 265.5 - -
10 -27 -0943 Sep 17 18:00:29 24288 -36392 Nx h- -1.0247 1.0037 -0.0479 271.2 - -
11 -26 -0925 Sep 29 01:57:48 23972 -36169 Nx a- -0.9999 1.0493 -0.0023 275.1 - -
12 -25 -0907 Oct 09 10:04:01 23658 -35946 P a- -0.9817 1.0823 0.0312 277.6 41.5 -
13 -24 -0889 Oct 20 18:17:41 23345 -35723 P a- -0.9688 1.1057 0.0554 279.0 55.0 -
14 -23 -0871 Oct 31 02:38:05 23035 -35500 P a- -0.9606 1.1200 0.0712 279.4 62.0 -
15 -22 -0853 Nov 11 11:04:10 22727 -35277 P a- -0.9561 1.1271 0.0803 279.1 65.6 -
16 -21 -0835 Nov 21 19:32:32 22421 -35054 P a- -0.9528 1.1318 0.0877 278.5 68.2 -
17 -20 -0817 Dec 03 04:02:50 22117 -34831 P a- -0.9504 1.1346 0.0937 277.8 70.3 -
18 -19 -0799 Dec 13 12:31:58 21815 -34608 P a- -0.9461 1.1405 0.1036 277.2 73.6 -
19 -18 -0781 Dec 24 21:00:21 21516 -34385 P a- -0.9406 1.1484 0.1160 276.8 77.5 -
20 -17 -0762 Jan 04 05:23:14 21218 -34162 P a- -0.9295 1.1661 0.1388 277.2 84.2 -
21 -16 -0744 Jan 15 13:43:15 20922 -33939 P a- -0.9152 1.1895 0.1678 278.0 92.0 -
22 -15 -0726 Jan 25 21:55:49 20629 -33716 P a- -0.8938 1.2259 0.2100 279.9 102.0 -
23 -14 -0708 Feb 06 06:02:45 20337 -33493 P a- -0.8670 1.2719 0.2622 282.3 112.7 -
24 -13 -0690 Feb 16 14:00:54 20048 -33270 P a- -0.8321 1.3328 0.3295 285.7 124.8 -
25 -12 -0672 Feb 27 21:53:30 19760 -33047 P a- -0.7917 1.4038 0.4067 289.5 136.6 -
26 -11 -0654 Mar 10 05:38:03 19475 -32824 P a- -0.7435 1.4890 0.4982 293.9 148.7 -
27 -10 -0636 Mar 20 13:15:57 19192 -32601 P a- -0.6890 1.5860 0.6012 298.4 160.3 -
28 -09 -0618 Mar 31 20:47:27 18911 -32378 P a- -0.6285 1.6941 0.7149 303.0 171.1 -
29 -08 -0600 Apr 11 04:14:20 18632 -32155 P a- -0.5634 1.8109 0.8371 307.4 180.9 -
30 -07 -0582 Apr 22 11:36:24 18355 -31932 P a- -0.4934 1.9369 0.9678 311.4 189.5 -
31 -06 -0564 May 02 18:55:07 18080 -31709 T a- -0.4198 2.0698 1.1050 314.9 197.0 47.9
32 -05 -0546 May 14 02:12:20 17807 -31486 T a- -0.3442 2.2069 1.2457 317.8 203.0 69.9
33 -04 -0528 May 24 09:29:11 17536 -31263 T- p- -0.2677 2.3457 1.3875 319.9 207.6 83.4
34 -03 -0510 Jun 04 16:46:12 17268 -31040 T- p- -0.1907 2.4858 1.5299 321.3 210.9 92.2
35 -02 -0492 Jun 15 00:05:46 16974 -30817 T- p- -0.1151 2.6237 1.6695 322.0 212.9 97.4
36 -01 -0474 Jun 26 07:28:35 16659 -30594 T- pp -0.0417 2.7578 1.8046 321.9 213.6 99.8
37 00 -0456 Jul 06 14:56:35 16352 -30371 T+ pp 0.0278 2.7830 1.8303 321.3 213.3 99.8
38 01 -0438 Jul 17 22:28:37 16054 -30148 T+ pp 0.0946 2.6607 1.7077 320.2 212.0 97.8
39 02 -0420 Jul 28 06:08:44 15764 -29925 T+ -p 0.1547 2.5507 1.5970 318.7 210.1 94.3
40 03 -0402 Aug 08 13:54:55 15481 -29702 T+ -p 0.2101 2.4497 1.4949 317.0 207.7 89.3
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 04 -0384 Aug 18 21:50:18 15205 -29479 T+ -p 0.2581 2.3624 1.4060 315.2 205.0 83.6
42 05 -0366 Aug 30 05:52:34 14936 -29256 T -p 0.3006 2.2854 1.3271 313.4 202.3 77.0
43 06 -0348 Sep 09 14:04:56 14673 -29033 T -p 0.3347 2.2237 1.2634 311.8 199.7 70.6
44 07 -0330 Sep 20 22:24:32 14417 -28810 T -p 0.3630 2.1730 1.2105 310.4 197.3 64.1
45 08 -0312 Oct 01 06:52:17 14166 -28587 T -p 0.3845 2.1345 1.1700 309.2 195.4 58.3
46 09 -0294 Oct 12 15:27:02 13921 -28364 T -p 0.4004 2.1064 1.1398 308.4 193.8 53.3
47 10 -0276 Oct 23 00:08:53 13681 -28141 T -p 0.4107 2.0884 1.1200 307.9 192.8 49.7
48 11 -0258 Nov 03 08:55:38 13446 -27918 T -p 0.4168 2.0780 1.1081 307.6 192.1 47.3
49 12 -0240 Nov 13 17:45:53 13216 -27695 T -p 0.4202 2.0722 1.1012 307.5 191.7 45.8
50 13 -0222 Nov 25 02:38:57 12990 -27472 T -p 0.4214 2.0703 1.0987 307.5 191.6 45.3
51 14 -0204 Dec 05 11:33:13 12769 -27249 T -p 0.4221 2.0692 1.0974 307.6 191.6 45.0
52 15 -0186 Dec 16 20:26:04 12553 -27026 T -p 0.4239 2.0658 1.0942 307.6 191.5 44.3
53 16 -0168 Dec 27 05:16:35 12340 -26803 T -p 0.4278 2.0583 1.0873 307.4 191.3 42.8
54 17 -0149 Jan 07 14:02:52 12131 -26580 T -a 0.4354 2.0439 1.0739 307.1 190.7 39.6
55 18 -0131 Jan 17 22:44:32 11926 -26357 T -a 0.4468 2.0223 1.0537 306.5 189.8 34.0
56 19 -0113 Jan 29 07:18:26 11725 -26134 T -a 0.4647 1.9887 1.0215 305.6 188.2 21.8
57 20 -0095 Feb 08 15:45:57 11527 -25911 P -a 0.4879 1.9452 0.9798 304.2 185.9 -
58 21 -0077 Feb 20 00:04:33 11332 -25688 P -a 0.5184 1.8886 0.9247 302.3 182.7 -
59 22 -0059 Mar 02 08:15:01 11141 -25465 P -a 0.5553 1.8199 0.8577 299.7 178.3 -
60 23 -0041 Mar 13 16:16:04 10952 -25242 P -a 0.5999 1.7374 0.7765 296.4 172.3 -
61 24 -0023 Mar 24 00:09:25 10766 -25019 P -a 0.6505 1.6440 0.6843 292.1 164.5 -
62 25 -0005 Apr 04 07:54:39 10582 -24796 P -a 0.7076 1.5390 0.5799 286.8 154.3 -
63 26 0013 Apr 14 15:31:46 10401 -24573 P -a 0.7709 1.4226 0.4638 280.2 140.8 -
64 27 0031 Apr 25 23:02:48 10221 -24350 P -a 0.8386 1.2986 0.3395 272.2 123.0 -
65 28 0049 May 06 06:27:57 10044 -24127 P -a 0.9106 1.1669 0.2070 262.6 98.1 -
66 29 0067 May 17 13:49:02 9868 -23904 P -a 0.9854 1.0303 0.0690 251.2 57.9 -
67 30 0085 May 27 21:05:37 9693 -23681 N -a 1.0632 0.8886 -0.0748 237.6 - -
68 31 0103 Jun 08 04:21:27 9519 -23458 N -a 1.1408 0.7476 -0.2185 221.8 - -
69 32 0121 Jun 18 11:35:45 9347 -23235 N -a 1.2185 0.6066 -0.3628 203.4 - -
70 33 0139 Jun 29 18:51:03 9175 -23012 N -a 1.2945 0.4692 -0.5041 182.0 - -
71 34 0157 Jul 10 02:07:35 9004 -22789 N -a 1.3687 0.3354 -0.6425 156.5 - -
72 35 0175 Jul 21 09:27:54 8833 -22566 N -a 1.4385 0.2097 -0.7732 125.7 - -
73 36 0193 Jul 31 16:51:54 8662 -22343 N -a 1.5044 0.0916 -0.8968 84.3 - -
[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)"
