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.
Solar eclipses of Saros 1 all occur at the Moons 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 | - | 72 | 100.0% |
Partial | P | 16 | 22.2% |
Annular | A | 39 | 54.2% |
Total | T | 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 | 56 | 100.0% |
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 15 | 09m08s | - |
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2025 Oct 25 | 00m07s | - |
Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1754 Apr 05 | 03m59s | - |
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1917 Dec 29 | 01m31s | - |
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1935 Dec 18 | 01m11s | - |
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -2007 Nov 04 | 00m05s | - |
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1700 May 07 | - | 0.88738 |
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1592 Jul 11 | - | 0.09255 |
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.
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
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
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] 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.
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)"