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 155 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 2212 Mar 18. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 3510 May 17. The total duration of Saros series 155 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2212 Mar 18 09:06:46 TD
Last Eclipse = 3510 May 17 08:51:32 TD
Duration of Saros 155 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 155 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 155 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 29 | 39.7% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 21.9% |
| Total | T | 28 | 38.4% |
The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 155 occur in the order of 9N 8P 28T 8P 20N which corresponds to:
9 Penumbral
8 Partial
28 Total
8 Partial
20 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 155 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 2879 Apr 27 Duration = 01h38m51s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 3005 Jul 13 Duration = 00h30m31s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2500 Sep 09 Duration = 03h08m32s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2374 Jun 25 Duration = 00h26m54s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 3167 Oct 20 Duration = 04h02m21s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 2212 Mar 18 Duration = 00h55m28s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 155 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2500 Sep 09 Magnitude = 0.9628
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2374 Jun 25 Magnitude = 0.0140
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 155 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 2212 Mar 18 09:06:46 471 2624 N a- -1.5477 0.0361 -0.9998 55.5 - -
02 -36 2230 Mar 29 16:58:24 518 2847 N a- -1.5105 0.1012 -0.9285 91.9 - -
03 -35 2248 Apr 09 00:42:30 566 3070 N a- -1.4664 0.1790 -0.8443 120.9 - -
04 -34 2266 Apr 20 08:20:18 616 3293 N a- -1.4163 0.2677 -0.7494 145.9 - -
05 -33 2284 Apr 30 15:51:43 669 3516 N a- -1.3601 0.3677 -0.6431 168.7 - -
06 -32 2302 May 12 23:17:54 723 3739 N a- -1.2986 0.4776 -0.5273 189.4 - -
07 -31 2320 May 23 06:38:12 780 3962 N a- -1.2312 0.5984 -0.4008 208.6 - -
08 -30 2338 Jun 03 13:55:27 838 4185 N a- -1.1602 0.7259 -0.2680 225.8 - -
09 -29 2356 Jun 13 21:09:23 899 4408 N a- -1.0858 0.8601 -0.1291 241.4 - -
10 -28 2374 Jun 25 04:21:36 962 4631 P a- -1.0090 0.9989 0.0140 255.3 26.9 -
11 -27 2392 Jul 05 11:33:11 1026 4854 P a- -0.9306 1.1410 0.1598 267.6 88.7 -
12 -26 2410 Jul 16 18:45:58 1093 5077 P a- -0.8523 1.2829 0.3050 278.2 119.7 -
13 -25 2428 Jul 27 02:01:20 1162 5300 P a- -0.7754 1.4228 0.4474 287.2 141.5 -
14 -24 2446 Aug 07 09:19:05 1233 5523 P a- -0.6995 1.5609 0.5875 294.9 158.2 -
15 -23 2464 Aug 17 16:42:26 1306 5746 P a- -0.6277 1.6921 0.7201 301.2 170.9 -
16 -22 2482 Aug 29 00:10:16 1382 5969 P a- -0.5588 1.8179 0.8468 306.3 180.9 -
17 -21 2500 Sep 09 07:45:59 1459 6192 P a- -0.4957 1.9335 0.9628 310.3 188.5 -
18 -20 2518 Sep 20 15:27:28 1538 6415 T a- -0.4370 2.0413 1.0707 313.4 194.4 39.5
19 -19 2536 Sep 30 23:18:44 1620 6638 T a- -0.3856 2.1357 1.1647 315.6 198.7 58.5
20 -18 2554 Oct 12 07:17:08 1703 6861 T p- -0.3398 2.2201 1.2485 317.3 201.9 69.7
21 -17 2572 Oct 22 15:24:53 1789 7084 T p- -0.3012 2.2913 1.3190 318.4 204.1 76.9
22 -16 2590 Nov 02 23:40:12 1876 7307 T- p- -0.2685 2.3518 1.3786 319.1 205.7 81.9
23 -15 2608 Nov 14 08:04:33 1966 7530 T- p- -0.2426 2.3997 1.4256 319.5 206.7 85.1
24 -14 2626 Nov 25 16:35:27 2058 7753 T- p- -0.2223 2.4374 1.4626 319.7 207.3 87.3
25 -13 2644 Dec 06 01:12:54 2151 7976 T- p- -0.2069 2.4659 1.4906 319.7 207.6 88.8
26 -12 2662 Dec 17 09:55:29 2247 8199 T- p- -0.1956 2.4867 1.5111 319.6 207.8 89.8
27 -11 2680 Dec 27 18:43:05 2345 8422 T- p- -0.1879 2.5008 1.5253 319.4 207.9 90.4
28 -10 2699 Jan 08 03:32:27 2445 8645 T- p- -0.1816 2.5121 1.5371 319.2 207.9 90.8
29 -09 2717 Jan 19 12:23:43 2548 8868 T- p- -0.1768 2.5205 1.5464 318.9 207.9 91.2
30 -08 2735 Jan 30 21:13:45 2652 9091 T- p- -0.1706 2.5312 1.5584 318.6 208.0 91.7
31 -07 2753 Feb 10 06:03:22 2758 9314 T- p- -0.1639 2.5425 1.5715 318.4 208.1 92.2
32 -06 2771 Feb 21 14:47:55 2866 9537 T- p- -0.1527 2.5621 1.5931 318.2 208.4 93.1
33 -05 2789 Mar 03 23:29:51 2977 9760 T- p- -0.1391 2.5859 1.6193 318.1 208.8 94.1
34 -04 2807 Mar 15 08:04:45 3089 9983 T- p- -0.1195 2.6205 1.6566 318.1 209.3 95.3
35 -03 2825 Mar 25 16:34:39 3204 10206 T- p- -0.0956 2.6629 1.7017 318.1 209.9 96.5
36 -02 2843 Apr 06 00:55:44 3320 10429 T- pp -0.0642 2.7192 1.7608 318.2 210.5 97.7
37 -01 2861 Apr 16 09:11:05 3439 10652 T- pp -0.0280 2.7842 1.8286 318.2 210.9 98.6
38 00 2879 Apr 27 17:18:01 3560 10875 T+ pp 0.0154 2.8060 1.8529 318.0 211.1 98.8
39 01 2897 May 08 01:17:49 3683 11098 T+ pp 0.0647 2.7144 1.7636 317.6 210.8 98.1
40 02 2915 May 20 09:10:06 3808 11321 T+ -p 0.1200 2.6119 1.6631 317.0 210.0 96.0
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 2933 May 30 16:56:40 3935 11544 T+ -p 0.1800 2.5011 1.5539 315.8 208.4 92.1
42 04 2951 Jun 11 00:37:15 4064 11767 T+ -p 0.2448 2.3816 1.4354 314.1 205.7 85.7
43 05 2969 Jun 21 08:12:26 4195 11990 T -p 0.3140 2.2544 1.3088 311.8 201.9 75.6
44 06 2987 Jul 02 15:44:11 4328 12213 T -a 0.3856 2.1229 1.1772 308.7 196.8 59.8
45 07 3005 Jul 13 23:13:22 4463 12436 T -a 0.4589 1.9888 1.0424 304.8 190.2 30.5
46 08 3023 Jul 25 06:40:39 4601 12659 P -a 0.5335 1.8525 0.9049 300.1 181.9 -
47 09 3041 Aug 04 14:07:39 4740 12882 P -a 0.6081 1.7167 0.7672 294.7 171.7 -
48 10 3059 Aug 15 21:35:48 4882 13105 P -a 0.6812 1.5839 0.6318 288.4 159.5 -
49 11 3077 Aug 26 05:06:33 5025 13328 P -a 0.7515 1.4564 0.5012 281.6 145.3 -
50 12 3095 Sep 06 12:39:07 5171 13551 P -a 0.8199 1.3328 0.3739 274.1 128.2 -
51 13 3113 Sep 17 20:16:45 5318 13774 P -a 0.8834 1.2182 0.2553 266.3 108.0 -
52 14 3131 Sep 29 03:58:39 5468 13997 P -a 0.9430 1.1113 0.1438 258.2 82.5 -
53 15 3149 Oct 09 11:47:09 5620 14220 P -a 0.9965 1.0155 0.0432 250.2 45.9 -
54 16 3167 Oct 20 19:40:44 5774 14443 N -a 1.0452 0.9287 -0.0488 242.4 - -
55 17 3185 Oct 31 03:42:04 5930 14666 N -a 1.0870 0.8547 -0.1280 235.1 - -
56 18 3203 Nov 11 11:49:47 6088 14889 N -a 1.1230 0.7912 -0.1968 228.5 - -
57 19 3221 Nov 21 20:03:51 6248 15112 N -a 1.1534 0.7382 -0.2550 222.8 - -
58 20 3239 Dec 03 04:24:23 6410 15335 N -a 1.1780 0.6956 -0.3027 218.0 - -
59 21 3257 Dec 13 12:50:24 6575 15558 N -a 1.1978 0.6616 -0.3415 214.1 - -
60 22 3275 Dec 24 21:21:38 6741 15781 N -a 1.2128 0.6364 -0.3712 211.2 - -
61 23 3294 Jan 04 05:55:01 6909 16004 N -a 1.2258 0.6146 -0.3970 208.7 - -
62 24 3312 Jan 16 14:32:07 7080 16227 N -a 1.2353 0.5989 -0.4163 207.1 - -
63 25 3330 Jan 26 23:09:09 7253 16450 N -a 1.2449 0.5827 -0.4354 205.3 - -
64 26 3348 Feb 07 07:46:09 7427 16673 N -a 1.2540 0.5674 -0.4532 203.6 - -
65 27 3366 Feb 17 16:19:28 7604 16896 N -a 1.2656 0.5471 -0.4755 200.9 - -
66 28 3384 Feb 29 00:50:02 7783 17119 N -a 1.2790 0.5232 -0.5009 197.6 - -
67 29 3402 Mar 12 09:14:29 7964 17342 N -a 1.2970 0.4908 -0.5344 192.5 - -
68 30 3420 Mar 22 17:32:23 8147 17565 N -a 1.3197 0.4495 -0.5764 185.6 - -
69 31 3438 Apr 03 01:42:09 8332 17788 N -a 1.3483 0.3972 -0.6291 175.8 - -
70 32 3456 Apr 13 09:43:56 8519 18011 N -a 1.3824 0.3348 -0.6919 162.9 - -
71 33 3474 Apr 24 17:35:45 8708 18234 N -a 1.4238 0.2589 -0.7680 144.7 - -
72 34 3492 May 05 01:18:38 8899 18457 N -a 1.4717 0.1712 -0.8559 119.0 - -
73 35 3510 May 17 08:51:32 9092 18680 Ne -h 1.5264 0.0710 -0.9564 77.5 - -
[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)"
