Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 1

Introduction

The periodicity and recurrence of 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 13 centuries and contains 70 or more eclipses. Every saros series begins with a number of partial eclipses near one of Earth's polar regions. The series will then produce several dozen central[2] eclipses before ending with a group of partial eclipses near the opposite pole. For more information, see Periodicity of Solar Eclipses.


Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 1

Solar eclipses of Saros 1 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -2872 Jun 04. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1592 Jul 11. The total duration of Saros series 1 is 1280.14 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -2872 Jun 04   00:25:53 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -1592 Jul 11   09:08:18 TD

                      Duration of Saros   1  =  1280.14 Years

Saros 1 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 1
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PartialP 16 22.2%
AnnularA 39 54.2%
TotalT 12 16.7%
Hybrid[3]H 5 6.9%

Umbral eclipses (annular, total and hybrid) 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 in Saros series 1 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 1
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 56100.0%
Central (two limits) 49 87.5%
Central (one limit) 5 8.9%
Non-Central (one limit) 2 3.6%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 1: 9P 39A 5H 12T 7P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 1 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 1
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -2548 Dec 1509m08s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -2025 Oct 2500m07s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -1754 Apr 0503m59s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -1917 Dec 2901m31s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1935 Dec 1801m11s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -2007 Nov 0400m05s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1700 May 07 - 0.88738
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1592 Jul 11 - 0.09255

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 1

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 1. A description or explanation of each parameter listed in the catalog can be found in Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.

Several fields in the catalog link to web pages or files containing additional information for each eclipse (for the years -1999 through +3000). The following gives a brief explanation of each link.


For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Animation of Saros 1.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 1

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

----- -34 -2872 Jun 04  00:25:53  70113 -60254   Pb   1.5057  0.0943  62.0N  23.8W   0             
----- -33 -2854 Jun 15  06:53:07  69575 -60031   P    1.4288  0.2278  62.7N 132.0W   0             
----- -32 -2836 Jun 25  13:23:43  69039 -59808   P    1.3545  0.3561  63.5N 118.8E   0             
----- -31 -2818 Jul 06  20:01:18  68506 -59585   P    1.2859  0.4735  64.4N   7.5E   0             
----- -30 -2800 Jul 17  02:45:26  67974 -59362   P    1.2228  0.5807  65.4N 105.8W   0             
----- -29 -2782 Jul 28  09:38:34  67444 -59139   P    1.1667  0.6751  66.4N 138.3E   0             
----- -28 -2764 Aug 07  16:39:37  66916 -58916   P    1.1171  0.7579  67.5N  20.0E   0             
----- -27 -2746 Aug 18  23:51:19  66391 -58693   P    1.0762  0.8254  68.5N 101.6W   0             
----- -26 -2728 Aug 29  07:11:38  65867 -58470   P    1.0423  0.8806  69.5N 134.1E   0             
----- -25 -2710 Sep 09  14:41:04  65346 -58247   A+   1.0160  0.9233  70.3N   6.8E   0             

----- -24 -2692 Sep 19  22:19:18  64826 -58024   An   0.9966  0.9073  71.9N 127.6W   2   -   06m11s
----- -23 -2674 Oct 01  06:05:22  64309 -57801   An   0.9832  0.9073  72.2N  73.4E  10   -   06m52s
----- -22 -2656 Oct 11  13:58:13  63793 -57578   An   0.9754  0.9063  69.0N  65.5W  12   -   07m25s
----- -21 -2638 Oct 22  21:54:48  63280 -57355   An   0.9702  0.9059  65.6N 160.8E  13   -   07m54s
----- -20 -2620 Nov 02  05:55:51  62769 -57132   An   0.9685  0.9059  62.7N  29.4E  14   -   08m18s
----- -19 -2602 Nov 13  13:57:33  62260 -56909   A    0.9666  0.9066  59.9N 101.2W  14 1437  08m39s
----- -18 -2584 Nov 23  21:59:00  61753 -56686   A    0.9642  0.9080  57.1N 128.8E  15 1365  08m54s
----- -17 -2566 Dec 05  05:56:49  61248 -56463   A    0.9584  0.9103  53.9N   0.0E  16 1228  09m05s
----- -16 -2548 Dec 15  13:51:19  60745 -56240   A    0.9494  0.9135  50.4N 127.2W  18 1070  09m08s
----- -15 -2530 Dec 26  21:39:37  60245 -56017   A    0.9347  0.9174  46.5N 107.8E  20  896  09m04s

----- -14 -2511 Jan 06  05:20:55  59746 -55794   A    0.9138  0.9219  42.3N  14.4W  24  732  08m50s
----- -13 -2493 Jan 17  12:53:57  59249 -55571   A    0.8854  0.9271  38.1N 133.5W  27  590  08m25s
----- -12 -2475 Jan 27  20:18:48  58755 -55348   A    0.8497  0.9326  34.2N 110.3E  32  473  07m50s
----- -11 -2457 Feb 08  03:34:25  58262 -55125   A    0.8059  0.9385  30.7N   2.7W  36  379  07m06s
----- -10 -2439 Feb 18  10:41:42  57772 -54902   A    0.7542  0.9445  27.7N 112.9W  41  304  06m18s
----- -09 -2421 Mar 01  17:40:58  57283 -54679   A    0.6952  0.9507  25.3N 139.7E  46  245  05m28s
----- -08 -2403 Mar 12  00:34:02  56797 -54456   A    0.6297  0.9566  23.6N  34.4E  51  198  04m39s
----- -07 -2385 Mar 23  07:19:14  56313 -54233   A    0.5570  0.9625  22.4N  68.4W  56  160  03m55s
----- -06 -2367 Apr 02  14:01:06  55831 -54010   A    0.4803  0.9679  21.7N 170.0W  61  129  03m16s
----- -05 -2349 Apr 13  20:38:03  55351 -53787   A    0.3987  0.9731  21.4N  90.1E  66  104  02m41s

----- -04 -2331 Apr 24  03:15:01  54873 -53564   A    0.3155  0.9778  21.2N   9.6W  71   83  02m13s
----- -03 -2313 May 05  09:49:04  54397 -53341   A    0.2289  0.9820  21.0N 108.3W  77   66  01m48s
----- -02 -2295 May 15  16:26:49  53923 -53118   A    0.1442  0.9855  20.5N 152.1E  82   52  01m28s
----- -01 -2277 May 26  23:05:36  53451 -52895   A    0.0595  0.9885  19.6N  52.2E  86   40  01m11s
-----  00 -2259 Jun 06  05:50:05  52982 -52672   A   -0.0214  0.9910  18.2N  49.2W  89   32  00m58s
-----  01 -2241 Jun 17  12:38:40  52514 -52449   A   -0.1001  0.9928  16.1N 152.0W  84   25  00m48s
-----  02 -2223 Jun 27  19:35:53  52048 -52226   Am  -0.1724  0.9942  13.5N 102.7E  80   21  00m40s
-----  03 -2205 Jul 09  02:40:02  51585 -52003   A   -0.2398  0.9950  10.2N   4.9W  76   18  00m35s
-----  04 -2187 Jul 19  09:53:32  51124 -51780   A   -0.3003  0.9954   6.4N 115.4W  73   17  00m32s
-----  05 -2169 Jul 30  17:16:29  50664 -51557   A   -0.3537  0.9956   2.1N 131.2E  69   17  00m31s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 1

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

-----  06 -2151 Aug 10  00:50:30  50207 -51334   A   -0.3986  0.9955   2.4S  14.7E  66   17  00m31s
-----  07 -2133 Aug 21  08:34:47  49752 -51111   A   -0.4361  0.9954   7.1S 104.8W  64   18  00m31s
-----  08 -2115 Aug 31  16:29:36  49299 -50888   A   -0.4657  0.9952  11.9S 132.8E  62   19  00m31s
-----  09 -2097 Sep 12  00:34:41  48847 -50665   A   -0.4877  0.9953  16.7S   7.8E  61   19  00m30s
-----  10 -2079 Sep 22  08:49:23  48399 -50442   A   -0.5025  0.9955  21.6S 119.6W  60   18  00m27s
-----  11 -2061 Oct 03  17:11:53  47952 -50219   A   -0.5118  0.9962  26.3S 111.3E  59   15  00m22s
-----  12 -2043 Oct 14  01:42:19  47507 -49996   A   -0.5154  0.9972  31.0S  19.4W  59   11  00m16s
-----  13 -2025 Oct 25  10:18:03  47064 -49773   A   -0.5156  0.9988  35.6S 151.0W  59    5  00m07s
-----  14 -2007 Nov 04  18:58:18  46623 -49550   H   -0.5126  1.0009  39.9S  77.1E  59    4  00m05s
00026  15 -1989 Nov 16  03:39:33  46185 -49327   H   -0.5096  1.0036  44.0S  54.1W  59   14  00m18s

00069  16 -1971 Nov 26  12:22:23  45748 -49104   H   -0.5060  1.0069  47.7S 175.3E  59   28  00m34s
00112  17 -1953 Dec 07  21:03:10  45314 -48881   H   -0.5050  1.0107  50.8S  46.4E  59   43  00m52s
00155  18 -1935 Dec 18  05:41:01  44881 -48658   H2  -0.5070  1.0150  53.2S  80.5W  59   60  01m11s
00199  19 -1917 Dec 29  14:13:35  44451 -48435   T   -0.5141  1.0197  54.8S 154.9E  59   79  01m31s
00243  20 -1898 Jan 08  22:40:58  44023 -48212   T   -0.5261  1.0248  55.5S  32.1E  58   99  01m53s
00288  21 -1880 Jan 20  07:01:48  43597 -47989   T   -0.5444  1.0301  55.3S  88.9W  57  121  02m13s
00334  22 -1862 Jan 30  15:14:50  43172 -47766   T   -0.5698  1.0355  54.4S 151.5E  55  145  02m34s
00380  23 -1844 Feb 10  23:20:42  42750 -47543   T   -0.6022  1.0408  52.9S  33.0E  53  170  02m53s
00426  24 -1826 Feb 21  07:18:40  42330 -47320   T   -0.6416  1.0459  51.3S  84.2W  50  198  03m11s
00471  25 -1808 Mar 03  15:09:43  41913 -47097   T   -0.6876  1.0506  49.8S 159.7E  46  229  03m28s

00518  26 -1790 Mar 14  22:53:21  41497 -46874   T   -0.7405  1.0548  48.7S  45.1E  42  266  03m42s
00563  27 -1772 Mar 25  06:31:35  41083 -46651   T   -0.7985  1.0583  48.3S  68.3W  37  313  03m53s
00608  28 -1754 Apr 05  14:04:42  40671 -46428   T   -0.8613  1.0607  49.1S 179.8W  30  385  03m59s
00653  29 -1736 Apr 15  21:32:48  40262 -46205   T   -0.9288  1.0617  52.0S  72.2E  21  538  03m57s
00699  30 -1718 Apr 27  04:58:09  39854 -45982   T-  -0.9988  1.0262  60.9S  13.9W   0             
00744  31 -1700 May 07  12:21:06  39449 -45759   P   -1.0709  0.8874  61.3S 135.2W   0             
00788  32 -1682 May 18  19:44:10  39045 -45536   P   -1.1432  0.7472  61.8S 103.4E   0             
00830  33 -1664 May 29  03:06:18  38644 -45313   P   -1.2163  0.6052  62.4S  18.0W   0             
00871  34 -1646 Jun 09  10:31:31  38245 -45090   P   -1.2869  0.4678  63.1S 140.3W   0             
00912  35 -1628 Jun 19  17:59:12  37848 -44867   P   -1.3552  0.3351  64.0S  96.5E   0             

00953  36 -1610 Jul 01  01:31:29  37452 -44644   P   -1.4198  0.2100  64.9S  28.1W   0             
00994  37 -1592 Jul 11  09:08:18  37059 -44421   Pe  -1.4808  0.0925  65.9S 154.2W   0             


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] 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]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).

[3]Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. For more information, see Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses .

[4]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is nearly equal 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

The information presented on this web page is based on data published in Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. The individual global maps appearing in links (both GIF an animation) were extracted from full page plates appearing in Five Millennium Canon by Dan McGlaun. The Besselian elements were provided by Jean Meeus. Fred Espenak assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all eclipse calculations.

Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)"


Return to:

Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26