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 4 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -2731 May 06. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1451 Jun 13. The total duration of Saros series 4 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2731 May 06 21:27:10 TD
Last Eclipse = -1451 Jun 13 06:19:54 TD
Duration of Saros 4 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 4 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 4 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.8% |
| Annular | A | 29 | 40.3% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.3% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 17 | 23.6% |
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 4 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 4 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 98.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 4: 7P 29A 17H 11T 8P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 4 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 4 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2533 Sep 02 | 08m58s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2100 May 19 | 00m17s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1631 Feb 25 | 03m54s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1776 Nov 30 | 01m24s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1794 Nov 19 | 01m05s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -2082 May 30 | 00m02s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1577 Mar 30 | - | 0.99984 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1451 Jun 13 | - | 0.06666 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 4. 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 4.
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 -2731 May 06 21:27:10 65963 -58511 Pb -1.5158 0.0756 71.0S 164.6W 0
----- -33 -2713 May 18 03:46:02 65441 -58288 P -1.4334 0.2186 70.5S 85.2E 0
----- -32 -2695 May 28 10:03:43 64921 -58065 P -1.3498 0.3631 69.8S 24.2W 0
----- -31 -2677 Jun 08 16:25:05 64404 -57842 P -1.2689 0.5023 68.9S 134.0W 0
----- -30 -2659 Jun 18 22:49:33 63888 -57619 P -1.1901 0.6370 68.0S 116.0E 0
----- -29 -2641 Jun 30 05:19:08 63374 -57396 P -1.1151 0.7645 67.0S 5.3E 0
----- -28 -2623 Jul 10 11:55:49 62863 -57173 P -1.0454 0.8819 65.9S 106.7W 0
----- -27 -2605 Jul 21 18:40:40 62353 -56950 As -0.9820 0.9268 55.2S 144.9E 10 - 07m13s
----- -26 -2587 Aug 01 01:34:39 61846 -56727 A -0.9257 0.9264 43.5S 37.7E 22 732 08m05s
----- -25 -2569 Aug 12 08:37:06 61341 -56504 A -0.8759 0.9247 37.5S 71.9W 29 580 08m36s
----- -24 -2551 Aug 22 15:50:29 60838 -56281 A -0.8346 0.9226 34.3S 175.8E 33 518 08m53s
----- -23 -2533 Sep 02 23:12:57 60336 -56058 A -0.8002 0.9205 33.0S 61.4E 37 487 08m58s
----- -22 -2515 Sep 13 06:45:12 59837 -55835 A -0.7738 0.9186 33.2S 55.5W 39 471 08m56s
----- -21 -2497 Sep 24 14:25:38 59340 -55612 A -0.7538 0.9170 34.7S 174.5W 41 464 08m48s
----- -20 -2479 Oct 04 22:14:47 58845 -55389 A -0.7408 0.9157 37.3S 64.3E 42 462 08m36s
----- -19 -2461 Oct 16 06:09:29 58352 -55166 A -0.7317 0.9151 40.6S 58.3W 43 461 08m21s
----- -18 -2443 Oct 26 14:08:48 57862 -54943 A -0.7261 0.9150 44.5S 178.1E 43 459 08m04s
----- -17 -2425 Nov 06 22:10:57 57373 -54720 A -0.7224 0.9156 48.7S 54.2E 43 455 07m46s
----- -16 -2407 Nov 17 06:15:07 56886 -54497 A -0.7204 0.9168 53.2S 69.5W 44 449 07m26s
----- -15 -2389 Nov 28 14:17:14 56402 -54274 A -0.7159 0.9189 57.4S 168.8E 44 437 07m05s
----- -14 -2371 Dec 08 22:17:26 55919 -54051 A -0.7094 0.9216 61.2S 49.5E 45 419 06m45s
----- -13 -2353 Dec 20 06:12:28 55439 -53828 A -0.6981 0.9251 64.1S 65.7W 45 394 06m24s
----- -12 -2335 Dec 30 14:03:41 54960 -53605 A -0.6829 0.9292 65.7S 177.1W 47 364 06m04s
----- -11 -2316 Jan 10 21:45:48 54484 -53382 A -0.6598 0.9340 65.2S 75.2E 48 329 05m44s
----- -10 -2298 Jan 21 05:22:17 54010 -53159 A -0.6315 0.9392 62.8S 32.2W 51 292 05m24s
----- -09 -2280 Feb 01 12:48:48 53538 -52936 A -0.5943 0.9448 58.4S 139.8W 53 254 05m03s
----- -08 -2262 Feb 11 20:08:54 53068 -52713 A -0.5510 0.9508 52.8S 111.4E 56 217 04m40s
----- -07 -2244 Feb 23 03:18:47 52600 -52490 A -0.4986 0.9568 46.0S 2.9E 60 181 04m16s
----- -06 -2226 Mar 05 10:23:28 52134 -52267 A -0.4410 0.9630 38.6S 105.9W 64 149 03m49s
----- -05 -2208 Mar 15 17:19:40 51670 -52044 A -0.3756 0.9690 30.6S 146.4E 68 120 03m19s
----- -04 -2190 Mar 27 00:10:56 51208 -51821 A -0.3053 0.9748 22.3S 39.4E 72 94 02m47s
----- -03 -2172 Apr 06 06:56:40 50748 -51598 A -0.2292 0.9803 13.8S 66.6W 77 72 02m14s
----- -02 -2154 Apr 17 13:40:40 50291 -51375 A -0.1507 0.9854 5.2S 172.3W 81 52 01m40s
----- -01 -2136 Apr 27 20:22:41 49835 -51152 A -0.0694 0.9900 3.5N 82.6E 86 35 01m09s
----- 00 -2118 May 09 03:04:27 49382 -50929 A 0.0130 0.9940 12.0N 22.1W 89 21 00m40s
----- 01 -2100 May 19 09:48:24 48930 -50706 A 0.0950 0.9974 20.2N 126.9W 84 9 00m17s
----- 02 -2082 May 30 16:35:25 48481 -50483 Hm 0.1758 1.0002 28.0N 128.3E 80 1 00m02s
----- 03 -2064 Jun 09 23:26:42 48034 -50260 H 0.2540 1.0025 35.3N 23.5E 75 9 00m15s
----- 04 -2046 Jun 21 06:23:52 47588 -50037 H 0.3283 1.0041 41.8N 81.5W 71 15 00m23s
----- 05 -2028 Jul 01 13:28:35 47145 -49814 H 0.3975 1.0051 47.2N 173.2E 66 19 00m28s
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 -2010 Jul 12 20:41:58 46704 -49591 H 0.4606 1.0057 51.4N 67.4E 62 22 00m29s
00019 07 -1992 Jul 23 04:03:17 46265 -49368 H 0.5182 1.0059 54.0N 39.0W 59 24 00m29s
00062 08 -1974 Aug 03 11:35:27 45828 -49145 H 0.5677 1.0057 55.0N 147.6W 55 24 00m27s
00105 09 -1956 Aug 13 19:17:10 45393 -48922 H 0.6100 1.0054 54.4N 100.8E 52 23 00m25s
00148 10 -1938 Aug 25 03:09:40 44961 -48699 H 0.6444 1.0050 52.6N 15.0W 50 22 00m23s
00191 11 -1920 Sep 04 11:10:54 44530 -48476 H 0.6724 1.0046 49.9N 134.7W 48 21 00m21s
00235 12 -1902 Sep 15 19:22:56 44101 -48253 H 0.6925 1.0044 46.6N 101.3E 46 21 00m20s
00279 13 -1884 Sep 26 03:43:13 43675 -48030 H 0.7067 1.0045 43.1N 26.0W 45 22 00m21s
00325 14 -1866 Oct 07 12:11:37 43250 -47807 H 0.7148 1.0050 39.4N 156.4W 44 24 00m24s
00371 15 -1848 Oct 17 20:46:35 42828 -47584 H 0.7184 1.0059 35.7N 71.0E 44 29 00m29s
00417 16 -1830 Oct 29 05:27:09 42408 -47361 H 0.7181 1.0074 32.1N 63.4W 44 36 00m38s
00462 17 -1812 Nov 08 14:11:00 41989 -47138 H 0.7160 1.0094 28.8N 161.2E 44 45 00m49s
00509 18 -1794 Nov 19 22:56:01 41573 -46915 H2 0.7137 1.0120 26.0N 25.7E 44 58 01m05s
00555 19 -1776 Nov 30 07:41:49 41159 -46692 T 0.7115 1.0151 23.7N 110.0W 44 73 01m24s
00600 20 -1758 Dec 11 16:25:49 40747 -46469 T 0.7109 1.0187 22.2N 114.8E 45 90 01m47s
00645 21 -1740 Dec 22 01:06:10 40337 -46246 T 0.7143 1.0228 21.7N 19.3W 44 110 02m11s
00691 22 -1721 Jan 02 09:41:25 39929 -46023 T 0.7224 1.0271 22.3N 152.2W 44 133 02m37s
00737 23 -1703 Jan 12 18:10:50 39523 -45800 T 0.7358 1.0318 23.9N 76.3E 42 158 03m01s
00781 24 -1685 Jan 24 02:33:47 39119 -45577 T 0.7549 1.0365 26.8N 54.0W 41 187 03m23s
00823 25 -1667 Feb 03 10:48:21 38718 -45354 T 0.7813 1.0412 30.8N 177.4E 38 221 03m40s
00864 26 -1649 Feb 14 18:55:44 38318 -45131 T 0.8141 1.0456 36.1N 49.8E 35 261 03m51s
00905 27 -1631 Feb 25 02:54:56 37920 -44908 T 0.8541 1.0495 42.8N 77.0W 31 315 03m54s
00946 28 -1613 Mar 08 10:47:14 37525 -44685 T 0.9003 1.0528 50.8N 155.7E 25 401 03m49s
00987 29 -1595 Mar 18 18:31:52 37132 -44462 T 0.9531 1.0547 60.8N 24.3E 17 607 03m33s
01028 30 -1577 Mar 30 02:11:02 36740 -44239 P 1.0109 0.9998 71.6N 140.3W 0
01069 31 -1559 Apr 09 09:44:40 36351 -44016 P 1.0736 0.8801 71.6N 90.7E 0
01109 32 -1541 Apr 20 17:13:51 35964 -43793 P 1.1403 0.7517 71.4N 37.0W 0
01149 33 -1523 May 01 00:40:11 35579 -43570 P 1.2096 0.6174 70.9N 163.8W 0
01189 34 -1505 May 12 08:04:36 35196 -43347 P 1.2809 0.4789 70.3N 70.4E 0
01229 35 -1487 May 22 15:29:11 34815 -43124 P 1.3520 0.3405 69.5N 54.9W 0
01269 36 -1469 Jun 02 22:52:59 34436 -42901 P 1.4237 0.2010 68.6N 179.4W 0
01309 37 -1451 Jun 13 06:19:54 34059 -42678 Pe 1.4929 0.0667 67.7N 55.8E 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)"
