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 9 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 -2568 Feb 06. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1252 Apr 04. The total duration of Saros series 9 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2568 Feb 06 01:13:11 TD
Last Eclipse = -1252 Apr 04 18:59:23 TD
Duration of Saros 9 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 9 is composed of 74 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 9 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 31 | 41.9% |
| Annular | A | 32 | 43.2% |
| Total | T | 8 | 10.8% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.1% |
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 9 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 9 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 95.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 74 eclipses in Saros 9: 9P 8T 3H 32A 22P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 9 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 9 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1685 Jul 20 | 07m48s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2208 Sep 09 | 00m31s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -2370 Jun 04 | 02m32s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -2280 Jul 28 | 01m29s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -2262 Aug 08 | 01m04s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -2226 Aug 30 | 00m03s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1631 Aug 21 | - | 0.90991 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -2568 Feb 06 | - | 0.00814 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 9. 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 9.
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
----- -39 -2568 Feb 06 01:13:11 61327 -56498 Pb 1.5283 0.0081 63.3N 23.3E 0
----- -38 -2550 Feb 16 09:15:34 60824 -56275 P 1.4914 0.0778 62.5N 108.8W 0
----- -37 -2532 Feb 27 17:08:15 60323 -56052 P 1.4471 0.1619 61.8N 121.7E 0
----- -36 -2514 Mar 10 00:53:27 59824 -55829 P 1.3974 0.2569 61.3N 5.7W 0
----- -35 -2496 Mar 20 08:30:24 59327 -55606 P 1.3414 0.3641 60.9N 130.9W 0
----- -34 -2478 Mar 31 16:01:26 58832 -55383 P 1.2809 0.4800 60.7N 105.5E 0
----- -33 -2460 Apr 10 23:24:59 58339 -55160 P 1.2148 0.6066 60.6N 16.2W 0
----- -32 -2442 Apr 22 06:45:00 57848 -54937 P 1.1462 0.7378 60.6N 137.1W 0
----- -31 -2424 May 02 14:00:42 57360 -54714 P 1.0748 0.8737 60.8N 103.2E 0
----- -30 -2406 May 13 21:14:28 56873 -54491 T+ 1.0023 1.0109 61.2N 16.2W 0
----- -29 -2388 May 24 04:26:57 56389 -54268 T 0.9291 1.0434 66.7N 86.5W 21 394 02m28s
----- -28 -2370 Jun 04 11:40:31 55906 -54045 T 0.8575 1.0420 67.6N 178.5W 31 273 02m32s
----- -27 -2352 Jun 14 18:56:03 55426 -53822 T 0.7882 1.0390 67.7N 86.0E 38 213 02m28s
----- -26 -2334 Jun 26 02:13:42 54948 -53599 T 0.7212 1.0351 66.6N 11.4W 44 171 02m20s
----- -25 -2316 Jul 06 09:36:18 54471 -53376 T 0.6593 1.0303 64.4N 112.2W 48 137 02m07s
----- -24 -2298 Jul 17 17:03:38 53997 -53153 T 0.6022 1.0250 61.1N 143.1E 53 107 01m51s
----- -23 -2280 Jul 28 00:38:03 53525 -52930 T 0.5518 1.0191 56.9N 33.9E 56 79 01m29s
----- -22 -2262 Aug 08 08:17:56 53055 -52707 H 0.5068 1.0130 52.1N 78.9W 59 52 01m04s
----- -21 -2244 Aug 18 16:06:40 52587 -52484 H 0.4702 1.0068 47.0N 164.4E 62 27 00m35s
----- -20 -2226 Aug 30 00:01:51 52121 -52261 H 0.4400 1.0005 41.7N 44.9E 64 2 00m03s
----- -19 -2208 Sep 09 08:04:53 51657 -52038 A 0.4173 0.9944 36.4N 77.5W 65 22 00m31s
----- -18 -2190 Sep 20 16:14:00 51196 -51815 A 0.4006 0.9885 31.1N 158.0E 66 44 01m07s
----- -17 -2172 Oct 01 00:30:28 50736 -51592 A 0.3907 0.9831 26.0N 31.4E 67 65 01m42s
----- -16 -2154 Oct 12 08:51:14 50278 -51369 A 0.3855 0.9781 21.2N 96.6W 67 84 02m18s
----- -15 -2136 Oct 22 17:15:52 49823 -51146 A 0.3842 0.9736 16.7N 134.3E 67 102 02m52s
----- -14 -2118 Nov 03 01:42:31 49369 -50923 A 0.3854 0.9698 12.6N 4.7E 67 117 03m24s
----- -13 -2100 Nov 13 10:11:00 48918 -50700 A 0.3886 0.9666 8.9N 125.2W 67 130 03m54s
----- -12 -2082 Nov 24 18:36:57 48469 -50477 A 0.3904 0.9641 5.7N 105.5E 67 141 04m20s
----- -11 -2064 Dec 05 03:00:37 48022 -50254 A 0.3911 0.9622 2.9N 23.2W 67 149 04m42s
----- -10 -2046 Dec 16 11:18:26 47576 -50031 A 0.3875 0.9609 0.6N 150.2W 67 154 04m57s
----- -09 -2028 Dec 26 19:31:19 47133 -49808 A 0.3806 0.9601 1.1S 84.0E 68 157 05m06s
----- -08 -2009 Jan 07 03:34:03 46692 -49585 A 0.3658 0.9598 2.6S 39.0W 69 157 05m08s
00020 -07 -1991 Jan 17 11:29:42 46253 -49362 A 0.3460 0.9599 3.5S 160.1W 70 155 05m03s
00063 -06 -1973 Jan 28 19:13:23 45817 -49139 A 0.3168 0.9602 4.2S 82.0E 72 152 04m54s
00106 -05 -1955 Feb 08 02:47:50 45382 -48916 A 0.2811 0.9608 4.4S 33.4W 74 148 04m41s
00149 -04 -1937 Feb 19 10:09:18 44949 -48693 A 0.2352 0.9613 4.4S 145.3W 76 144 04m29s
00192 -03 -1919 Mar 01 17:22:05 44518 -48470 A 0.1830 0.9619 4.1S 105.2E 79 140 04m17s
00236 -02 -1901 Mar 13 00:23:10 44090 -48247 Am 0.1217 0.9623 3.6S 1.2W 83 137 04m09s
00280 -01 -1883 Mar 23 07:14:53 43663 -48024 A 0.0534 0.9625 3.0S 105.1W 87 136 04m04s
00326 00 -1865 Apr 03 13:57:33 43239 -47801 A -0.0214 0.9623 2.6S 153.4E 89 137 04m04s
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
00372 01 -1847 Apr 13 20:33:27 42817 -47578 A -0.1011 0.9617 2.3S 53.7E 84 139 04m09s
00418 02 -1829 Apr 25 03:02:58 42396 -47355 A -0.1855 0.9607 2.5S 44.3W 79 145 04m21s
00463 03 -1811 May 05 09:27:26 41978 -47132 A -0.2735 0.9592 3.4S 141.1W 74 153 04m39s
00510 04 -1793 May 16 15:49:33 41562 -46909 A -0.3627 0.9571 5.0S 122.5E 69 166 05m03s
00556 05 -1775 May 26 22:10:28 41148 -46686 A -0.4519 0.9546 7.5S 26.2E 63 184 05m34s
00601 06 -1757 Jun 07 04:31:26 40736 -46463 A -0.5404 0.9515 11.0S 70.7W 57 208 06m08s
00646 07 -1739 Jun 17 10:54:45 40326 -46240 A -0.6264 0.9480 15.5S 168.7W 51 243 06m43s
00692 08 -1721 Jun 28 17:22:09 39918 -46017 A -0.7083 0.9440 21.1S 91.6E 45 291 07m15s
00738 09 -1703 Jul 08 23:54:56 39512 -45794 A -0.7850 0.9397 27.8S 10.3W 38 361 07m38s
00782 10 -1685 Jul 20 06:33:02 39108 -45571 A -0.8568 0.9349 35.8S 114.7W 31 473 07m48s
00824 11 -1667 Jul 30 13:19:42 38707 -45348 A -0.9208 0.9297 45.2S 137.0E 23 682 07m44s
00865 12 -1649 Aug 10 20:14:27 38307 -45125 As -0.9777 0.9237 57.8S 22.8E 11 - 07m21s
00906 13 -1631 Aug 21 03:19:08 37910 -44902 P -1.0262 0.9099 69.6S 104.2W 0
00947 14 -1613 Sep 01 10:32:31 37514 -44679 P -1.0673 0.8396 70.4S 133.1E 0
00988 15 -1595 Sep 11 17:56:44 37121 -44456 P -1.0994 0.7850 71.1S 7.1E 0
01030 16 -1577 Sep 23 01:29:44 36730 -44233 P -1.1243 0.7428 71.6S 121.6W 0
01071 17 -1559 Oct 03 09:11:03 36340 -44010 P -1.1425 0.7121 71.8S 107.2E 0
01111 18 -1541 Oct 14 17:00:21 35953 -43787 P -1.1543 0.6921 71.7S 26.0W 0
01151 19 -1523 Oct 25 00:55:50 35568 -43564 P -1.1616 0.6799 71.4S 160.6W 0
01191 20 -1505 Nov 05 08:56:27 35185 -43341 P -1.1646 0.6749 70.8S 63.9E 0
01231 21 -1487 Nov 15 16:58:34 34804 -43118 P -1.1669 0.6713 70.1S 71.4W 0
01271 22 -1469 Nov 27 01:03:08 34425 -42895 P -1.1673 0.6708 69.1S 153.4E 0
01311 23 -1451 Dec 07 09:06:01 34049 -42672 P -1.1698 0.6671 68.1S 19.2E 0
01352 24 -1433 Dec 18 17:06:34 33674 -42449 P -1.1742 0.6603 67.0S 113.7W 0
01393 25 -1415 Dec 29 01:01:31 33301 -42226 P -1.1836 0.6452 65.9S 115.4E 0
01434 26 -1396 Jan 09 08:51:43 32931 -42003 P -1.1971 0.6232 64.9S 13.9W 0
01475 27 -1378 Jan 19 16:34:35 32562 -41780 P -1.2170 0.5903 63.9S 141.0W 0
01517 28 -1360 Jan 31 00:09:43 32196 -41557 P -1.2435 0.5457 63.0S 94.3E 0
01559 29 -1342 Feb 10 07:36:39 31832 -41334 P -1.2772 0.4885 62.3S 28.2W 0
01602 30 -1324 Feb 21 14:55:41 31469 -41111 P -1.3176 0.4192 61.7S 148.4W 0
01645 31 -1306 Mar 03 22:06:21 31109 -40888 P -1.3651 0.3367 61.2S 93.5E 0
01688 32 -1288 Mar 14 05:09:51 30751 -40665 P -1.4191 0.2421 60.9S 22.6W 0
01733 33 -1270 Mar 25 12:06:54 30395 -40442 P -1.4786 0.1367 60.7S 137.1W 0
01778 34 -1252 Apr 04 18:59:23 30041 -40219 Pe -1.5425 0.0226 60.7S 109.6E 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)"
