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 117 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 1094 Apr 03. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 2356 May 15. The total duration of Saros series 117 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1094 Apr 03 17:48:02 TD
Last Eclipse = 2356 May 15 12:14:44 TD
Duration of Saros 117 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 117 is composed of 71 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 117 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 31 | 43.7% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 22.5% |
| Total | T | 24 | 33.8% |
The 71 lunar eclipses in Saros 117 occur in the order of 8N 9P 24T 7P 23N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
9 Partial
24 Total
7 Partial
23 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 117 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1707 Apr 17 Duration = 01h45m43s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1815 Jun 21 Duration = 00h14m43s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1382 Sep 23 Duration = 03h29m38s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1238 Jun 29 Duration = 00h50m43s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1220 Jun 17 Duration = 04h29m32s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1094 Apr 03 Duration = 01h00m06s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 117 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1382 Sep 23 Magnitude = 0.9977
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1238 Jun 29 Magnitude = 0.0442
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 117 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 -34 1094 Apr 03 17:48:02 1103 -11203 Nb t- -1.5448 0.0414 -0.9944 60.1 - -
02 -33 1112 Apr 14 01:00:10 1030 -10980 N t- -1.4900 0.1421 -0.8941 110.7 - -
03 -32 1130 Apr 25 08:04:26 960 -10757 N t- -1.4296 0.2535 -0.7835 146.8 - -
04 -31 1148 May 05 14:59:11 895 -10534 N t- -1.3620 0.3779 -0.6601 177.8 - -
05 -30 1166 May 16 21:48:48 833 -10311 N t- -1.2909 0.5092 -0.5302 204.5 - -
06 -29 1184 May 27 04:31:35 776 -10088 N t- -1.2148 0.6497 -0.3916 228.7 - -
07 -28 1202 Jun 07 11:11:59 722 -9865 N t- -1.1369 0.7939 -0.2497 250.1 - -
08 -27 1220 Jun 17 17:47:16 672 -9642 N t- -1.0553 0.9449 -0.1015 269.5 - -
09 -26 1238 Jun 29 00:23:45 625 -9419 P t- -0.9751 1.0937 0.0442 286.4 50.7 -
10 -25 1256 Jul 09 06:59:02 581 -9196 P t- -0.8945 1.2434 0.1902 301.5 103.3 -
11 -24 1274 Jul 20 13:37:14 540 -8973 P t- -0.8167 1.3882 0.3311 314.5 133.8 -
12 -23 1292 Jul 30 20:17:43 501 -8750 P t- -0.7409 1.5294 0.4680 325.8 156.1 -
13 -22 1310 Aug 11 03:04:21 466 -8527 P t- -0.6706 1.6608 0.5948 335.3 172.8 -
14 -21 1328 Aug 21 09:56:15 432 -8304 P t- -0.6050 1.7834 0.7127 343.3 185.8 -
15 -20 1346 Sep 01 16:54:27 400 -8081 P t- -0.5451 1.8959 0.8204 350.0 195.9 -
16 -19 1364 Sep 12 00:00:44 371 -7858 P t- -0.4920 1.9957 0.9153 355.4 203.7 -
17 -18 1382 Sep 23 07:15:12 343 -7635 P t- -0.4458 2.0828 0.9977 359.9 209.6 -
18 -17 1400 Oct 03 14:38:36 317 -7412 T t- -0.4071 2.1561 1.0665 363.4 214.1 41.7
19 -16 1418 Oct 14 22:09:21 292 -7189 T t- -0.3746 2.2179 1.1241 366.2 217.5 56.0
20 -15 1436 Oct 25 05:49:24 268 -6966 T p- -0.3498 2.2654 1.1678 368.4 219.8 64.1
21 -14 1454 Nov 05 13:35:42 246 -6743 T p- -0.3300 2.3033 1.2025 370.0 221.6 69.6
22 -13 1472 Nov 15 21:28:20 225 -6520 T p- -0.3154 2.3313 1.2280 371.2 222.8 73.2
23 -12 1490 Nov 27 05:25:13 205 -6297 T p- -0.3042 2.3528 1.2476 372.1 223.7 75.7
24 -11 1508 Dec 07 13:26:13 187 -6074 T p- -0.2962 2.3681 1.2618 372.7 224.3 77.4
25 -10 1526 Dec 18 21:27:49 169 -5851 T p- -0.2887 2.3819 1.2754 373.1 224.9 79.0
26 -09 1544 Dec 29 05:29:10 154 -5628 T p- -0.2809 2.3961 1.2900 373.4 225.5 80.7
27 -08 1563 Jan 09 13:28:27 140 -5405 T- p- -0.2712 2.4131 1.3084 373.5 226.2 82.6
28 -07 1581 Jan 19 21:24:57 128 -5182 T- p- -0.2589 2.4347 1.3320 373.6 227.0 84.9
29 -06 1599 Feb 10 05:14:35 119 -4959 T- p- -0.2410 2.4661 1.3663 373.8 228.1 88.0
30 -05 1617 Feb 20 12:58:54 98 -4736 T- pp -0.2185 2.5056 1.4091 373.9 229.3 91.4
31 -04 1635 Mar 03 20:34:50 71 -4513 T- pp -0.1889 2.5580 1.4653 374.1 230.7 95.3
32 -03 1653 Mar 14 04:04:31 44 -4290 T- pp -0.1537 2.6205 1.5320 374.1 232.1 98.9
33 -02 1671 Mar 25 11:23:35 22 -4067 T- pp -0.1095 2.6993 1.6154 374.0 233.4 102.3
34 -01 1689 Apr 04 18:36:37 9 -3844 T- pp -0.0599 2.7881 1.7089 373.6 234.2 104.7
35 00 1707 Apr 17 01:39:36 9 -3621 T- pp -0.0018 2.8922 1.8178 372.7 234.4 105.7
36 01 1725 Apr 27 08:37:09 10 -3398 T+ pp 0.0615 2.7803 1.7107 371.3 233.7 104.8
37 02 1743 May 08 15:26:08 12 -3175 T+ pp 0.1323 2.6480 1.5829 369.0 231.8 101.1
38 03 1761 May 18 22:11:58 15 -2952 T+ pp 0.2063 2.5099 1.4493 365.9 228.5 94.1
39 04 1779 May 30 04:52:10 17 -2729 T pp 0.2853 2.3629 1.3064 361.7 223.4 82.1
40 05 1797 Jun 09 11:30:23 14 -2506 T -t 0.3666 2.2119 1.1592 356.4 216.5 62.2
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 06 1815 Jun 21 18:06:32 12 -2283 T -t 0.4498 2.0575 1.0081 349.9 207.4 14.7
42 07 1833 Jul 02 00:43:22 6 -2060 P -t 0.5329 1.9036 0.8572 342.3 196.1 -
43 08 1851 Jul 13 07:21:41 7 -1837 P -t 0.6154 1.7508 0.7069 333.6 182.3 -
44 09 1869 Jul 23 14:02:45 1 -1614 P -t 0.6961 1.6017 0.5599 323.8 165.8 -
45 10 1887 Aug 03 20:48:53 -6 -1391 P -t 0.7732 1.4595 0.4194 313.3 146.3 -
46 11 1905 Aug 15 03:40:59 5 -1168 P -t 0.8456 1.3259 0.2871 302.3 123.1 -
47 12 1923 Aug 26 10:39:52 23 -945 P -t 0.9133 1.2013 0.1634 290.8 94.2 -
48 13 1941 Sep 05 17:47:15 25 -722 P -t 0.9746 1.0884 0.0511 279.3 53.4 -
49 14 1959 Sep 17 01:03:37 33 -499 N -t 1.0296 0.9874 -0.0496 268.0 - -
50 15 1977 Sep 27 08:30:08 48 -276 N -t 1.0768 0.9007 -0.1361 257.5 - -
51 16 1995 Oct 08 16:05:12 61 -53 N -t 1.1179 0.8252 -0.2115 247.6 - -
52 17 2013 Oct 18 23:51:25 68 170 N -h 1.1508 0.7649 -0.2718 239.1 - -
53 18 2031 Oct 30 07:46:45 79 393 N -h 1.1773 0.7161 -0.3204 231.8 - -
54 19 2049 Nov 09 15:52:11 93 616 N -h 1.1964 0.6808 -0.3553 226.1 - -
55 20 2067 Nov 21 00:04:42 130 839 N -h 1.2106 0.6544 -0.3811 221.5 - -
56 21 2085 Dec 01 08:25:35 170 1062 N -a 1.2189 0.6387 -0.3957 218.5 - -
57 22 2103 Dec 13 16:51:37 212 1285 N -a 1.2239 0.6287 -0.4042 216.3 - -
58 23 2121 Dec 24 01:22:13 256 1508 N -a 1.2261 0.6238 -0.4071 214.8 - -
59 24 2140 Jan 04 09:55:16 302 1731 N -a 1.2270 0.6209 -0.4075 213.6 - -
60 25 2158 Jan 14 18:29:52 345 1954 N -a 1.2275 0.6184 -0.4068 212.5 - -
61 26 2176 Jan 26 03:03:39 385 2177 N -a 1.2292 0.6133 -0.4082 210.9 - -
62 27 2194 Feb 05 11:34:56 427 2400 N -a 1.2338 0.6027 -0.4146 208.5 - -
63 28 2212 Feb 17 20:03:16 471 2623 N -a 1.2415 0.5862 -0.4264 205.2 - -
64 29 2230 Feb 28 04:27:10 517 2846 N -a 1.2537 0.5612 -0.4463 200.5 - -
65 30 2248 Mar 10 12:44:45 566 3069 N -a 1.2717 0.5255 -0.4766 193.9 - -
66 31 2266 Mar 21 20:56:19 616 3292 N -a 1.2951 0.4799 -0.5167 185.4 - -
67 32 2284 Apr 01 05:01:09 668 3515 N -a 1.3247 0.4227 -0.5682 174.2 - -
68 33 2302 Apr 13 12:59:53 723 3738 N -a 1.3599 0.3552 -0.6300 160.1 - -
69 34 2320 Apr 23 20:50:31 779 3961 N -a 1.4021 0.2749 -0.7048 141.4 - -
70 35 2338 May 05 04:35:58 838 4184 N -a 1.4491 0.1860 -0.7884 116.8 - -
71 36 2356 May 15 12:14:44 899 4407 N -a 1.5017 0.0871 -0.8824 80.3 - -
[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)"
