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 63 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 -0722 Nov 03. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0739 Mar 29. The total duration of Saros series 63 is 1460.44 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0722 Nov 03 05:33:53 TD
Last Eclipse = 0739 Mar 29 22:27:20 TD
Duration of Saros 63 = 1460.44 Years
Saros 63 is composed of 82 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 63 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 82 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 39 | 47.6% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 18.3% |
| Total | T | 28 | 34.1% |
The 82 lunar eclipses in Saros 63 occur in the order of 17N 7P 28T 8P 22N which corresponds to:
17 Penumbral
7 Partial
28 Total
8 Partial
22 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 63 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0054 Feb 11 Duration = 01h39m13s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0198 May 08 Duration = 00h47m31s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0307 Jul 09 Duration = 03h17m57s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0342 Aug 03 Duration = 00h59m33s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0433 Apr 25 Duration = 04h26m49s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0722 Nov 03 Duration = 00h24m44s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 63 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0307 Jul 09 Magnitude = 0.9864
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0342 Aug 03 Magnitude = 0.0762
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 63 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 -43 -0722 Nov 03 05:33:53 20551 -33657 N t- -1.5822 0.0062 -1.0958 24.7 - -
02 -42 -0704 Nov 13 13:35:34 20260 -33434 N t- -1.5756 0.0182 -1.0838 42.1 - -
03 -41 -0686 Nov 24 21:39:43 19972 -33211 N t- -1.5704 0.0274 -1.0737 51.6 - -
04 -40 -0668 Dec 05 05:44:41 19685 -32988 N t- -1.5652 0.0361 -1.0633 59.0 - -
05 -39 -0650 Dec 16 13:49:32 19400 -32765 N t- -1.5591 0.0460 -1.0508 66.5 - -
06 -38 -0632 Dec 26 21:50:06 19117 -32542 N t- -1.5490 0.0628 -1.0307 77.4 - -
07 -37 -0613 Jan 07 05:47:23 18837 -32319 N t- -1.5357 0.0852 -1.0043 89.7 - -
08 -36 -0595 Jan 17 13:37:39 18558 -32096 N t- -1.5161 0.1188 -0.9660 105.3 - -
09 -35 -0577 Jan 28 21:22:38 18282 -31873 N t- -1.4916 0.1611 -0.9186 121.7 - -
10 -34 -0559 Feb 08 04:57:58 18008 -31650 N t- -1.4586 0.2188 -0.8552 140.7 - -
11 -33 -0541 Feb 19 12:27:33 17735 -31427 N t- -1.4200 0.2867 -0.7814 159.4 - -
12 -32 -0523 Mar 01 19:47:32 17465 -31204 N t- -1.3729 0.3701 -0.6919 179.0 - -
13 -31 -0505 Mar 13 03:00:44 17197 -30981 N t- -1.3192 0.4655 -0.5904 198.2 - -
14 -30 -0487 Mar 23 10:05:34 16890 -30758 N t- -1.2577 0.5752 -0.4747 217.1 - -
15 -29 -0469 Apr 03 17:05:26 16577 -30535 N t- -1.1910 0.6946 -0.3494 234.8 - -
16 -28 -0451 Apr 13 23:59:40 16272 -30312 N t- -1.1184 0.8251 -0.2132 251.5 - -
17 -27 -0433 Apr 25 06:49:35 15976 -30089 N t- -1.0409 0.9646 -0.0684 266.8 - -
18 -26 -0415 May 05 13:37:08 15688 -29866 P t- -0.9603 1.1100 0.0818 280.6 67.2 -
19 -25 -0397 May 16 20:23:42 15407 -29643 P t- -0.8778 1.2592 0.2355 292.7 111.2 -
20 -24 -0379 May 27 03:10:26 15133 -29420 P h- -0.7940 1.4109 0.3911 303.2 139.5 -
21 -23 -0361 Jun 07 09:58:28 14866 -29197 P h- -0.7101 1.5633 0.5469 312.1 160.5 -
22 -22 -0343 Jun 17 16:50:00 14605 -28974 P h- -0.6277 1.7129 0.6994 319.4 176.5 -
23 -21 -0325 Jun 28 23:46:26 14350 -28751 P h- -0.5486 1.8569 0.8457 325.1 188.6 -
24 -20 -0307 Jul 09 06:47:43 14101 -28528 P a- -0.4725 1.9957 0.9864 329.6 198.0 -
25 -19 -0289 Jul 20 13:56:49 13857 -28305 T a- -0.4018 2.1247 1.1168 332.9 204.8 51.9
26 -18 -0271 Jul 30 21:13:33 13618 -28082 T a- -0.3365 2.2440 1.2370 335.2 209.8 70.9
27 -17 -0253 Aug 11 04:40:22 13385 -27859 T p- -0.2787 2.3497 1.3434 336.5 213.1 81.9
28 -16 -0235 Aug 21 12:14:55 13156 -27636 T- p- -0.2264 2.4456 1.4395 337.2 215.4 89.0
29 -15 -0217 Sep 01 20:00:56 12931 -27413 T- p- -0.1829 2.5253 1.5194 337.4 216.7 93.4
30 -14 -0199 Sep 12 03:55:36 12712 -27190 T- p- -0.1457 2.5935 1.5876 337.2 217.3 96.2
31 -13 -0181 Sep 23 12:01:18 12496 -26967 T- p- -0.1168 2.6466 1.6407 336.7 217.5 97.7
32 -12 -0163 Oct 03 20:14:56 12284 -26744 T- p- -0.0938 2.6888 1.6830 336.0 217.3 98.6
33 -11 -0145 Oct 15 04:38:38 12077 -26521 T- p- -0.0782 2.7172 1.7118 335.2 217.0 98.9
34 -10 -0127 Oct 25 13:09:00 11873 -26298 T- p- -0.0676 2.7363 1.7316 334.3 216.6 99.0
35 -09 -0109 Nov 05 21:45:46 11672 -26075 T- p- -0.0615 2.7469 1.7432 333.3 216.1 99.0
36 -08 -0091 Nov 16 06:26:52 11475 -25852 T- p- -0.0585 2.7518 1.7495 332.4 215.7 98.9
37 -07 -0073 Nov 27 15:11:43 11282 -25629 T- p- -0.0577 2.7522 1.7519 331.3 215.2 98.8
38 -06 -0055 Dec 07 23:57:04 11091 -25406 T- p- -0.0571 2.7521 1.7543 330.3 214.8 98.7
39 -05 -0037 Dec 19 08:41:57 10903 -25183 T- p- -0.0554 2.7536 1.7588 329.3 214.4 98.6
40 -04 -0019 Dec 29 17:24:40 10717 -24960 T- p- -0.0514 2.7592 1.7679 328.2 214.1 98.7
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
41 -03 0000 Jan 10 02:04:40 10534 -24737 T- p- -0.0445 2.7699 1.7825 327.2 213.8 98.8
42 -02 0018 Jan 20 10:38:27 10353 -24514 T- pp -0.0319 2.7909 1.8078 326.2 213.6 99.0
43 -01 0036 Jan 31 19:07:10 10174 -24291 T- pp -0.0146 2.8203 1.8418 325.2 213.4 99.2
44 00 0054 Feb 11 03:28:21 9997 -24068 T+ pp 0.0096 2.8272 1.8533 324.1 213.2 99.2
45 01 0072 Feb 22 11:43:32 9821 -23845 T+ pp 0.0393 2.7703 1.8012 323.0 212.8 98.9
46 02 0090 Mar 04 19:49:38 9647 -23622 T+ pp 0.0773 2.6982 1.7338 321.7 212.1 98.0
47 03 0108 Mar 15 03:50:07 9474 -23399 T+ pp 0.1205 2.6167 1.6568 320.2 211.1 96.2
48 04 0126 Mar 26 11:42:21 9301 -23176 T+ -p 0.1710 2.5218 1.5662 318.4 209.4 92.9
49 05 0144 Apr 05 19:28:30 9130 -22953 T+ -p 0.2270 2.4170 1.4653 316.1 207.0 87.7
50 06 0162 Apr 17 03:08:02 8958 -22730 T -p 0.2891 2.3014 1.3531 313.2 203.5 79.6
51 07 0180 Apr 27 10:43:18 8787 -22507 T -p 0.3549 2.1792 1.2339 309.7 198.9 67.4
52 08 0198 May 08 18:14:34 8617 -22284 T -a 0.4244 2.0505 1.1075 305.5 193.0 47.5
53 09 0216 May 19 01:42:04 8445 -22061 P -a 0.4971 1.9161 0.9749 300.4 185.4 -
54 10 0234 May 30 09:08:40 8274 -21838 P -a 0.5705 1.7809 0.8406 294.6 176.1 -
55 11 0252 Jun 09 16:34:22 8102 -21615 P -a 0.6446 1.6448 0.7050 287.9 164.9 -
56 12 0270 Jun 21 00:01:05 7930 -21392 P -a 0.7179 1.5104 0.5703 280.4 151.5 -
57 13 0288 Jul 01 07:28:44 7757 -21169 P -a 0.7903 1.3781 0.4369 272.1 135.4 -
58 14 0306 Jul 12 15:00:40 7583 -20946 P -a 0.8591 1.2526 0.3099 263.4 116.2 -
59 15 0324 Jul 22 22:36:23 7408 -20723 P -a 0.9244 1.1340 0.1890 254.2 92.3 -
60 16 0342 Aug 03 06:17:24 7232 -20500 P -a 0.9852 1.0238 0.0762 244.7 59.5 -
61 17 0360 Aug 13 14:04:29 7056 -20277 N -a 1.0409 0.9232 -0.0276 235.2 - -
62 18 0378 Aug 24 21:59:16 6879 -20054 N -a 1.0902 0.8346 -0.1199 226.1 - -
63 19 0396 Sep 04 06:01:12 6701 -19831 N -a 1.1333 0.7573 -0.2010 217.4 - -
64 20 0414 Sep 15 14:10:10 6523 -19608 N -a 1.1706 0.6910 -0.2714 209.5 - -
65 21 0432 Sep 25 22:27:10 6344 -19385 N -a 1.2010 0.6373 -0.3292 202.7 - -
66 22 0450 Oct 07 06:51:37 6166 -19162 N -a 1.2254 0.5946 -0.3760 197.1 - -
67 23 0468 Oct 17 15:22:37 5988 -18939 N -a 1.2442 0.5620 -0.4125 192.6 - -
68 24 0486 Oct 28 23:59:43 5811 -18716 N -a 1.2580 0.5388 -0.4396 189.5 - -
69 25 0504 Nov 08 08:41:40 5635 -18493 N -a 1.2677 0.5226 -0.4591 187.4 - -
70 26 0522 Nov 19 17:27:50 5458 -18270 N -a 1.2737 0.5132 -0.4716 186.3 - -
71 27 0540 Nov 30 02:14:49 5282 -18047 N -a 1.2789 0.5048 -0.4825 185.3 - -
72 28 0558 Dec 11 11:03:49 5108 -17824 N -a 1.2824 0.4995 -0.4899 184.9 - -
73 29 0576 Dec 21 19:50:46 4935 -17601 N -a 1.2876 0.4907 -0.5003 183.9 - -
74 30 0595 Jan 02 04:36:03 4763 -17378 N -a 1.2938 0.4799 -0.5122 182.5 - -
75 31 0613 Jan 12 13:15:27 4592 -17155 N -a 1.3047 0.4602 -0.5326 179.5 - -
76 32 0631 Jan 23 21:50:58 4423 -16932 N -a 1.3184 0.4352 -0.5579 175.4 - -
77 33 0649 Feb 03 06:18:35 4256 -16709 N -a 1.3386 0.3983 -0.5949 168.8 - -
78 34 0667 Feb 14 14:38:46 4090 -16486 N -a 1.3642 0.3512 -0.6419 159.6 - -
79 35 0685 Feb 24 22:49:22 3926 -16263 N -a 1.3972 0.2906 -0.7023 146.4 - -
80 36 0703 Mar 08 06:51:47 3764 -16040 N -a 1.4362 0.2190 -0.7738 128.3 - -
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
81 37 0721 Mar 18 14:44:16 3605 -15817 N -a 1.4826 0.1337 -0.8590 101.3 - -
82 38 0739 Mar 29 22:27:20 3448 -15594 Ne -a 1.5359 0.0360 -0.9569 53.2 - -
[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)"
