Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 12

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 12

Solar eclipses of Saros 12 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 -2662 Aug 20. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1129 Feb 25. The total duration of Saros series 12 is 1532.56 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -2662 Aug 20   02:49:08 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -1129 Feb 25   08:00:19 TD

                      Duration of Saros  12  =  1532.56 Years

Saros 12 is composed of 86 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 12
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 86100.0%
PartialP 45 52.3%
AnnularA 30 34.9%
TotalT 8 9.3%
Hybrid[3]H 3 3.5%

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 12 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 12
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 41100.0%
Central (two limits) 41100.0%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 86 eclipses in Saros 12: 23P 8T 3H 30A 22P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 12 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 12
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -1760 Feb 1205m54s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -2049 Aug 2300m32s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -2193 May 2803m32s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -2121 Jul 1102m11s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -2103 Jul 2101m32s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -2067 Aug 1200m08s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -2265 Apr 15 - 0.99493
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1129 Feb 25 - 0.01767

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 12

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 12. 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 12.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 12

                         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

----- -51 -2662 Aug 20  02:49:08  63969 -57654   Pb  -1.5022  0.0581  62.6S   0.8W   0             
----- -50 -2644 Aug 30  11:08:22  63455 -57431   P   -1.4745  0.1121  61.9S 137.0W   0             
----- -49 -2626 Sep 10  19:36:49  62943 -57208   P   -1.4542  0.1516  61.4S  84.8E   0             
----- -48 -2608 Sep 21  04:12:30  62433 -56985   P   -1.4396  0.1799  60.9S  55.1W   0             
----- -47 -2590 Oct 02  12:54:21  61926 -56762   P   -1.4301  0.1986  60.7S 163.6E   0             
----- -46 -2572 Oct 12  21:42:08  61420 -56539   P   -1.4256  0.2076  60.6S  20.8E   0             
----- -45 -2554 Oct 24  06:33:55  60916 -56316   P   -1.4248  0.2096  60.7S 122.9W   0             
----- -44 -2536 Nov 03  15:27:52  60415 -56093   P   -1.4258  0.2079  60.9S  92.7E   0             
----- -43 -2518 Nov 15  00:21:55  59915 -55870   P   -1.4274  0.2049  61.3S  51.7W   0             
----- -42 -2500 Nov 25  09:15:04  59418 -55647   P   -1.4287  0.2023  61.9S 164.0E   0             

----- -41 -2482 Dec 06  18:05:29  58923 -55424   P   -1.4284  0.2028  62.6S  20.1E   0             
----- -40 -2464 Dec 17  02:50:46  58430 -55201   P   -1.4247  0.2094  63.4S 122.7W   0             
----- -39 -2446 Dec 28  11:30:43  57939 -54978   P   -1.4172  0.2231  64.3S  95.6E   0             
----- -38 -2427 Jan 07  20:03:24  57450 -54755   P   -1.4046  0.2464  65.3S  44.7W   0             
----- -37 -2409 Jan 19  04:28:05  56963 -54532   P   -1.3859  0.2811  66.4S 176.6E   0             
----- -36 -2391 Jan 29  12:43:51  56478 -54309   P   -1.3607  0.3285  67.4S  39.7E   0             
----- -35 -2373 Feb 09  20:51:14  55995 -54086   P   -1.3293  0.3878  68.4S  95.6W   0             
----- -34 -2355 Feb 20  04:49:55  55514 -53863   P   -1.2916  0.4592  69.3S 130.7E   0             
----- -33 -2337 Mar 03  12:38:56  55035 -53640   P   -1.2463  0.5452  70.1S   1.1W   0             
----- -32 -2319 Mar 13  20:20:16  54559 -53417   P   -1.1954  0.6421  70.8S 131.5W   0             

----- -31 -2301 Mar 25  03:53:15  54084 -53194   P   -1.1379  0.7514  71.2S  99.7E   0             
----- -30 -2283 Apr 04  11:20:33  53612 -52971   P   -1.0766  0.8679  71.5S  27.9W   0             
----- -29 -2265 Apr 15  18:40:04  53141 -52748   P   -1.0094  0.9949  71.5S 153.7W   0             
----- -28 -2247 Apr 26  01:56:37  52673 -52525   T   -0.9405  1.0412  59.2S  43.8E  19  410  02m49s
----- -27 -2229 May 07  09:08:09  52207 -52302   T   -0.8678  1.0416  47.4S  79.8W  29  279  03m14s
----- -26 -2211 May 17  16:18:37  51743 -52079   T   -0.7951  1.0403  37.4S 162.9E  37  221  03m28s
----- -25 -2193 May 28  23:26:42  51280 -51856   T   -0.7211  1.0379  28.3S  48.6E  44  183  03m32s
----- -24 -2175 Jun 08  06:36:24  50820 -51633   T   -0.6492  1.0345  20.4S  64.7W  49  153  03m27s
----- -23 -2157 Jun 19  13:47:07  50362 -51410   T   -0.5789  1.0303  13.4S 177.2W  55  126  03m10s
----- -22 -2139 Jun 29  21:00:53  49907 -51187   T   -0.5119  1.0254   7.5S  70.4E  59  100  02m45s

----- -21 -2121 Jul 11  04:18:53  49453 -50964   T   -0.4491  1.0199   2.7S  42.4W  63   76  02m11s
----- -20 -2103 Jul 21  11:42:44  49001 -50741   H   -0.3919  1.0140   0.8N 156.0W  67   52  01m32s
----- -19 -2085 Aug 01  19:12:55  48551 -50518   H   -0.3408  1.0078   3.1N  89.3E  70   28  00m51s
----- -18 -2067 Aug 12  02:49:55  48104 -50295   H   -0.2961  1.0013   4.1N  26.8W  73    5  00m08s
----- -17 -2049 Aug 23  10:34:20  47658 -50072   A   -0.2583  0.9949   3.8N 144.7W  75   19  00m32s
----- -16 -2031 Sep 02  18:26:36  47215 -49849   A   -0.2277  0.9885   2.4N  95.4E  77   42  01m11s
----- -15 -2013 Sep 14  02:25:27  46773 -49626   A   -0.2034  0.9824   0.1N  26.2W  78   64  01m48s
00012 -14 -1995 Sep 24  10:31:54  46334 -49403   A   -0.1863  0.9766   3.1S 150.0W  79   85  02m22s
00055 -13 -1977 Oct 05  18:43:53  45897 -49180   A   -0.1747  0.9713   6.9S  84.7E  80  104  02m53s
00097 -12 -1959 Oct 16  03:01:44  45462 -48957   A   -0.1688  0.9665  11.1S  42.0W  80  122  03m23s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 12

                         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

00140 -11 -1941 Oct 27  11:21:18  45028 -48734   A   -0.1649  0.9623  15.5S 169.1W  80  138  03m49s
00183 -10 -1923 Nov 06  19:44:18  44597 -48511   A   -0.1649  0.9588  19.8S  63.2E  80  152  04m14s
00227 -09 -1905 Nov 18  04:06:24  44168 -48288   A   -0.1653  0.9559  23.9S  63.9W  80  163  04m36s
00271 -08 -1887 Nov 28  12:27:35  43742 -48065   Am  -0.1654  0.9537  27.4S 169.8E  80  171  04m54s
00317 -07 -1869 Dec 09  20:43:48  43317 -47842   A   -0.1623  0.9521  30.1S  45.4E  80  178  05m11s
00364 -06 -1851 Dec 20  04:56:02  42894 -47619   A   -0.1566  0.9511  31.8S  77.5W  81  181  05m24s
00410 -05 -1833 Dec 31  13:00:55  42473 -47396   A   -0.1456  0.9506  32.3S 161.7E  81  183  05m35s
00455 -04 -1814 Jan 10  20:57:33  42055 -47173   A   -0.1287  0.9506  31.3S  43.0E  82  183  05m43s
00501 -03 -1796 Jan 22  04:44:37  41638 -46950   A   -0.1047  0.9509  29.0S  73.7W  84  181  05m49s
00547 -02 -1778 Feb 01  12:22:05  41224 -46727   A   -0.0733  0.9516  25.4S 171.3E  86  178  05m53s

00592 -01 -1760 Feb 12  19:48:27  40811 -46504   A   -0.0336  0.9523  20.5S  58.2E  88  175  05m54s
00637  00 -1742 Feb 23  03:04:13  40401 -46281   A    0.0142  0.9531  14.6S  53.0W  89  171  05m53s
00683  01 -1724 Mar 05  10:09:29  39993 -46058   A    0.0698  0.9538   7.9S 162.3W  86  169  05m50s
00729  02 -1706 Mar 16  17:05:16  39587 -45835   A    0.1323  0.9544   0.5S  90.1E  82  168  05m44s
00773  03 -1688 Mar 26  23:50:07  39183 -45612   A    0.2032  0.9547   7.6N  15.2W  78  169  05m37s
00817  04 -1670 Apr 07  06:27:44  38780 -45389   A    0.2792  0.9546  16.1N 119.0W  74  172  05m29s
00858  05 -1652 Apr 17  12:57:24  38381 -45166   A    0.3613  0.9542  25.1N 138.9E  69  179  05m19s
00899  06 -1634 Apr 28  19:23:02  37983 -44943   A    0.4456  0.9533  34.3N  37.9E  63  190  05m08s
00940  07 -1616 May 09  01:42:23  37587 -44720   A    0.5345  0.9518  43.9N  61.5W  57  208  04m57s
00981  08 -1598 May 20  08:01:43  37193 -44497   A    0.6228  0.9498  53.6N 160.5W  51  235  04m46s

01022  09 -1580 May 30  14:19:02  36801 -44274   A    0.7124  0.9472  63.7N 101.5E  44  278  04m35s
01063  10 -1562 Jun 10  20:38:45  36412 -44051   A    0.7993  0.9440  74.1N   4.0E  37  347  04m26s
01103  11 -1544 Jun 21  02:59:53  36024 -43828   A    0.8846  0.9399  85.4N  89.2W  27  485  04m19s
01143  12 -1526 Jul 02  09:27:03  35639 -43605   A    0.9646  0.9346  80.3N  14.8W  15  971  04m11s
01183  13 -1508 Jul 12  15:59:43  35256 -43382   P    1.0399  0.8917  65.0N 113.2W   0             
01223  14 -1490 Jul 23  22:39:19  34874 -43159   P    1.1094  0.7729  64.0N 135.5E   0             
01263  15 -1472 Aug 03  05:27:42  34495 -42936   P    1.1715  0.6673  63.2N  22.3E   0             
01303  16 -1454 Aug 14  12:25:20  34118 -42713   P    1.2259  0.5752  62.4N  93.0W   0             
01345  17 -1436 Aug 24  19:33:14  33743 -42490   P    1.2719  0.4976  61.7N 149.5E   0             
01386  18 -1418 Sep 05  02:49:50  33370 -42267   P    1.3109  0.4323  61.2N  29.9E   0             

01427  19 -1400 Sep 15  10:17:19  32999 -42044   P    1.3414  0.3816  60.8N  92.3W   0             
01468  20 -1382 Sep 26  17:53:21  32630 -41821   P    1.3651  0.3422  60.6N 143.5E   0             
01510  21 -1364 Oct 07  01:38:20  32263 -41598   P    1.3816  0.3149  60.6N  17.1E   0             
01552  22 -1346 Oct 18  09:30:13  31898 -41375   P    1.3929  0.2963  60.7N 111.0W   0             
01595  23 -1328 Oct 28  17:29:06  31536 -41152   P    1.3987  0.2867  61.0N 119.1E   0             
01638  24 -1310 Nov 09  01:31:57  31175 -40929   P    1.4018  0.2815  61.4N  11.9W   0             
01681  25 -1292 Nov 19  09:37:28  30817 -40706   P    1.4032  0.2788  62.0N 143.7W   0             
01726  26 -1274 Nov 30  17:43:47  30460 -40483   P    1.4043  0.2764  62.8N  84.2E   0             
01770  27 -1256 Dec 11  01:50:04  30106 -40260   P    1.4054  0.2739  63.7N  48.3W   0             
01816  28 -1238 Dec 22  09:52:16  29754 -40037   P    1.4105  0.2645  64.6N 180.0E   0             


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 12

                         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

01861  29 -1219 Jan 01  17:50:57  29403 -39814   P    1.4187  0.2496  65.7N  48.8E   0             
01905  30 -1201 Jan 13  01:42:58  29055 -39591   P    1.4327  0.2247  66.7N  81.3W   0             
01950  31 -1183 Jan 23  09:30:09  28709 -39368   P    1.4509  0.1921  67.8N 149.4E   0             
01996  32 -1165 Feb 03  17:07:22  28365 -39145   P    1.4773  0.1451  68.8N  22.1E   0             
02042  33 -1147 Feb 14  00:38:45  28023 -38922   P    1.5086  0.0890  69.7N 104.4W   0             
02088  34 -1129 Feb 25  08:00:19  27683 -38699   Pe   1.5482  0.0177  70.4N 131.0E   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)"


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Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26