Hybrid Solar Eclipses with Durations Exceeding 01m 00s

-2999 to -2000 ( 3000 BCE to 2001 BCE )

Introduction

Eclipses of the Sun can only occur during the New Moon phase. It is then possible for the Moon's penumbral, umbral or antumbral shadows to sweep across Earth's surface thereby producing an eclipse. Not all New Moons result in a solar eclipse because the Moon's orbit is tilted about 5 degrees to Earth's about the Sun. Consequently, the Moon's shadows miss Earth at most New Moon's. Nevertheless, there are 2 to 5 solar eclipses every calendar year. There are four types of solar eclipses: partial, annular, total and hybrid[1]. For more information, see Basic Solar Eclipse Geometry.


Solar Eclipses: -2999 to -2000 ( 3000 BCE to 2001 BCE)

During the 10 century period -2999 to -2000 ( 3000 BCE to 2001 BCE[2]), Earth experienced 2362 solar eclipses. The following table shows the number of eclipses of each type over this period.

Solar Eclipses: -2999 - -2000
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 2362100.0%
PartialP 841 35.6%
AnnularA 806 34.1%
TotalT 646 27.3%
HybridH 69 2.9%

Annular and total eclipses can be further classified as either: 1) Central (two limits), 2) Central (one limit) or 3) Non-Central (one limit). The statistical distribution of these classes during the 21st century BCE appears in the following three tables (no Hybrids are included since all are central with two limits).

Annular and Total Eclipses
Classification Number Percent
All 1452100.0%
Central (two limits) 1409 97.0%
Central (one limit) 22 1.5%
Non-Central (one limit) 21 1.4%
Annular Eclipses
Classification Number Percent
All Annular Eclipses 806100.0%
Central (two limits) 774 96.0%
Central (one limit) 17 2.1%
Non-Central (one limit) 15 1.9%
Total Eclipses
Classification Number Percent
All Total Eclipses 646100.0%
Central (two limits) 635 98.3%
Central (one limit) 5 0.8%
Non-Central (one limit) 6 0.9%

Long Hybrid Solar Eclipses

The longest central[3] solar eclipses of this period are:

          Longest Total   Solar Eclipse:   -2230 May 17      Duration = 07m21s
          Longest Annular Solar Eclipse:   -2000 Dec 16      Duration = 11m36s
          Longest Hybrid  Solar Eclipse:   -2954 Oct 06      Duration = 01m42s

Long Hybrid Solar Eclipses are relatively rare. The following catalog lists concise details and local circumstances for all Hybrid Solar Eclipses with durations exceeding 01m 00s. The Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipses contains a detailed description and explanation of each item listed in the catalog. For eclipses from -1999 to +3000, the Catalog Number in the first column serves as a link to a global map of Earth showing the geographic visibility of each eclipse. The date and time of the eclipse are given at the instant of greatest eclipse[4] in Terrestrial Dynamical Time. The Saros Number in the sixth column links to a table listing all eclipses in the Saros series. The Key to Solar Eclipse Maps explains the features plotted on each map.

The data presented here are based in part on the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.



Catalog of Long Hybrid Solar Eclipses: -2999 to -2000


                      TD of
Catalog  Calendar   Greatest          Luna Saros Ecl.           Ecl.                Sun Sun  Path Central
Number     Date      Eclipse     ΔT    Num  Num  Type  Gamma    Mag.   Lat.   Long. Alt Azm Width   Dur.
                                  s                                      °      °    °    °   km

----- -2990 Mar 22  17:26:33  71379 -61716  -28   H    0.1473  1.0095   1.2S 142.8W  82 164   33  01m01s
----- -2990 Sep 14  21:06:11  71365 -61710  -23   H   -0.1675  1.0160   3.5N 159.6E  80  15   55  01m38s
----- -2972 Sep 25  05:35:09  70830 -61487  -23   H   -0.1768  1.0164   1.1S  29.3E  80  17   57  01m39s
----- -2954 Oct 06  14:12:24  70298 -61264  -23   H2  -0.1798  1.0172   5.6S 103.0W  80  18   60  01m42s
----- -2925 Sep 17  03:42:45  69448 -60906  -22   H    0.1852  1.0160  21.5N  60.0E  79 208   56  01m25s
----- -2888 Apr 02  11:06:43  68382 -60454  -17   H    0.3216  1.0118  11.6N  68.3W  71 150   43  01m07s
----- -2766 Aug 30  06:07:36  64870 -58940  -19   H   -0.3642  1.0143   3.7S   4.5W  69  11   53  01m31s
----- -2729 Mar 16  15:01:44  63840 -58488  -14   H   -0.2306  1.0141  23.8S 131.3W  77 343   50  01m24s
----- -2607 Aug 12  08:54:35  60449 -56974  -16   H    0.5154  1.0129  50.6N  47.5W  59 205   52  01m01s
----- -2570 Feb 26  18:40:24  59454 -56522  -11   H    0.1279  1.0151   9.5S 149.7E  83 157   52  01m29s

----- -2448 Jul 25  12:08:53  56183 -55008  -13   H   -0.6537  1.0112  17.4S 128.0W  49 359   51  01m12s
----- -2421 Aug 26  05:18:48  55472 -54673    6   H   -0.6532  1.0112  20.4S  42.7W  49  22   50  01m04s
----- -2411 Feb 08  21:57:28  55225 -54556   -8   H    0.0037  1.0154  20.4S  85.6E  90 163   53  01m35s
----- -2262 Aug 08  08:17:56  51389 -52707    9   H    0.5068  1.0130  52.1N  85.8W  59 188   52  01m04s
----- -2252 Jan 23  00:53:41  51151 -52590   -5   H   -0.1481  1.0152  31.7S  25.5E  81 347   53  01m26s
----- -2112 Dec 24  19:00:15  47670 -50847   -2   H    0.3125  1.0096   5.4S  97.8E  72 191   35  01m01s
----- -2103 Jul 21  11:42:44  47462 -50741   12   H   -0.3919  1.0140   0.8N 162.4W  67   9   52  01m32s
----- -2093 Jan 05  03:24:24  47234 -50624   -2   H    0.3247  1.0150   5.1S  30.3W  71 186   54  01m36s


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Footnotes

[1] Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. (See: Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses)

[2] The terms BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions )

[3] Central solar eclipses are eclipses in which the central axis of the Moon's shadow strikes the Earth's surface. All partial (penumbral) eclipses are non-central eclipses since the shadow axis misses Earth. However, umbral eclipses (total, annular and hybrid) may be either central (usually) or non-central (rarely).

[4] Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to the Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is virtually identical to the instants of greatest magnitude and greatest duration. However, for annular eclipses, the instant of greatest duration may occur at either the time of greatest eclipse or near the sunrise and sunset points of the eclipse path.


Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Dan McGlaun for extracting the individual eclipse maps from the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 for use in this catalog.

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 Solar 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)"


Eclipse Links

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Ten Millennium Catalog of Long Solar Eclipses

Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series

World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Paths

2007 May 11