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.
During the 10 century period 0001 to 1000 ( 1 CE to 1000 CE[2]), Earth experienced 2351 solar eclipses. The following table shows the number of eclipses of each type over this period.
| Solar Eclipses: 0001 - 1000 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 2351 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 816 | 34.7% |
| Annular | A | 809 | 34.4% |
| Total | T | 652 | 27.7% |
| Hybrid | H | 74 | 3.1% |
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 10th century CE 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 | 1461 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 1420 | 97.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 19 | 1.3% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 22 | 1.5% |
| Annular Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Annular Eclipses | 809 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 777 | 96.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 15 | 1.9% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 17 | 2.1% |
| Total Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Total Eclipses | 652 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 643 | 98.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 4 | 0.6% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 5 | 0.8% |
The longest central[3] solar eclipses of this period are:
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 0363 Jun 27 Duration = 07m24s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0150 Dec 07 Duration = 12m23s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 0508 Sep 11 Duration = 01m45s
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.
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
04815 0017 Aug 10 14:07:44 10274 -24519 84 H -0.6750 1.0118 22.9S 4.9W 47 24 54 01m08s
04824 0020 Dec 03 13:49:49 10240 -24478 81 H 0.6453 1.0098 18.0N 15.5E 50 183 44 01m01s
04861 0035 Aug 21 21:43:50 10093 -24296 84 H2 -0.6201 1.0130 21.7S 120.2W 52 27 56 01m13s
04870 0038 Dec 14 22:33:40 10060 -24255 81 H 0.6427 1.0128 16.7N 118.1W 50 178 57 01m19s
04876 0041 Apr 19 07:54:46 10036 -24226 68 H 0.2062 1.0139 22.0N 99.2E 78 163 49 01m24s
04906 0053 Sep 01 05:29:38 9913 -24073 84 H2 -0.5723 1.0138 21.8S 122.2E 55 29 57 01m15s
04950 0071 Sep 12 13:25:34 9735 -23850 84 H2 -0.5324 1.0142 23.1S 2.1E 58 31 57 01m15s
04994 0089 Sep 22 21:31:16 9558 -23627 84 H2 -0.4994 1.0146 25.2S 120.3W 60 33 57 01m15s
05039 0107 Oct 04 05:45:26 9382 -23404 84 H2 -0.4727 1.0149 28.1S 115.2E 62 33 57 01m15s
05084 0125 Oct 14 14:08:53 9207 -23181 84 H2 -0.4532 1.0153 31.5S 11.4W 63 33 58 01m16s
05128 0143 Oct 25 22:40:07 9034 -22958 84 H2 -0.4397 1.0158 35.1S 139.5W 64 32 60 01m18s
05237 0190 Oct 16 20:54:58 8584 -22377 85 H3 0.4293 1.0152 15.6N 93.9W 64 197 57 01m30s
05258 0200 Apr 01 11:59:38 8494 -22260 71 H -0.3166 1.0139 11.8S 45.4E 71 331 50 01m17s
05278 0208 Oct 27 05:23:55 8413 -22154 85 H 0.4189 1.0103 11.2N 136.7E 65 194 39 01m03s
05593 0349 Sep 28 23:41:03 7086 -20411 88 H3 -0.2467 1.0163 15.0S 155.2W 76 30 57 01m27s
05614 0359 Mar 15 15:44:41 6997 -20294 74 H 0.4444 1.0126 23.2N 33.1W 63 161 48 01m13s
05960 0508 Sep 11 02:53:05 5576 -18445 91 H3 0.0826 1.0173 8.6N 160.3E 85 198 59 01m45s
06004 0526 Sep 22 10:50:19 5401 -18222 91 H 0.0476 1.0111 2.3N 38.8E 87 198 38 01m08s
06406 0685 Sep 04 14:09:25 3922 -16256 94 H 0.1074 1.0116 11.6N 13.7W 84 209 40 01m04s
06774 0844 Aug 17 17:52:11 2627 -14290 97 H -0.2475 1.0117 1.8S 80.3W 76 14 42 01m15s
06855 0881 Mar 04 03:08:22 2336 -13838 102 H2 -0.3624 1.0167 25.1S 152.5E 69 341 61 01m35s
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.
[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.
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)"
