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 20 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 -2286 Jun 05. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1006 Jul 13. The total duration of Saros series 20 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2286 Jun 05 01:55:59 TD
Last Eclipse = -1006 Jul 13 10:26:39 TD
Duration of Saros 20 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 20 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 20 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.8% |
| Annular | A | 12 | 16.7% |
| Total | T | 43 | 59.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 2 | 2.8% |
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 20 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 20 | ||
| 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 20: 8P 12A 2H 43T 7P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 20 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 20 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2142 Aug 30 | 02m49s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1944 Dec 27 | 00m20s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1673 Jun 08 | 06m49s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1889 Jan 29 | 00m54s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1907 Jan 18 | 00m27s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1925 Jan 07 | 00m02s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1114 May 09 | - | 0.95792 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1006 Jul 13 | - | 0.10563 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 20. 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 20.
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
----- -35 -2286 Jun 05 01:55:59 53686 -53006 Pb -1.4860 0.1212 69.0S 39.0E 0
----- -34 -2268 Jun 15 08:34:46 53215 -52783 P -1.4045 0.2641 68.0S 74.4W 0
----- -33 -2250 Jun 26 15:20:11 52746 -52560 P -1.3266 0.4008 67.0S 171.1E 0
----- -32 -2232 Jul 06 22:14:06 52280 -52337 P -1.2545 0.5279 66.0S 55.0E 0
----- -31 -2214 Jul 18 05:16:05 51815 -52114 P -1.1876 0.6457 65.0S 62.7W 0
----- -30 -2196 Jul 28 12:29:22 51353 -51891 P -1.1286 0.7497 64.0S 177.1E 0
----- -29 -2178 Aug 08 19:52:29 50893 -51668 P -1.0763 0.8419 63.1S 54.9E 0
----- -28 -2160 Aug 19 03:26:23 50434 -51445 P -1.0319 0.9202 62.3S 69.8W 0
----- -27 -2142 Aug 30 11:10:36 49978 -51222 As -0.9947 0.9631 59.1S 170.0E 4 - 02m49s
----- -26 -2124 Sep 09 19:06:14 49524 -50999 A -0.9661 0.9659 52.8S 55.3E 14 476 02m42s
----- -25 -2106 Sep 21 03:11:14 49072 -50776 A -0.9439 0.9675 51.4S 68.7W 19 349 02m33s
----- -24 -2088 Oct 01 11:24:50 48622 -50553 A -0.9278 0.9688 51.9S 163.8E 21 295 02m23s
----- -23 -2070 Oct 12 19:46:23 48174 -50330 A -0.9173 0.9703 53.8S 33.3E 23 263 02m11s
----- -22 -2052 Oct 23 04:14:46 47728 -50107 A -0.9119 0.9721 56.6S 99.6W 24 240 01m59s
----- -21 -2034 Nov 03 12:46:47 47284 -49884 A -0.9084 0.9744 60.0S 126.2E 24 217 01m45s
----- -20 -2016 Nov 13 21:21:51 46842 -49661 A -0.9068 0.9771 63.8S 9.0W 25 193 01m30s
00004 -19 -1998 Nov 25 05:57:03 46403 -49438 A -0.9045 0.9806 67.8S 143.8W 25 162 01m14s
00047 -18 -1980 Dec 05 14:32:25 45965 -49215 A -0.9018 0.9845 72.0S 82.1E 25 127 00m58s
00090 -17 -1962 Dec 16 23:03:15 45530 -48992 A -0.8949 0.9893 76.3S 47.3W 26 85 00m39s
00133 -16 -1944 Dec 27 07:31:39 45096 -48769 A -0.8854 0.9946 80.4S 169.0W 27 41 00m20s
00176 -15 -1925 Jan 07 15:52:48 44665 -48546 H -0.8696 1.0006 83.1S 91.4E 29 4 00m02s
00220 -14 -1907 Jan 18 00:08:49 44236 -48323 H -0.8487 1.0071 81.7S 4.7E 32 47 00m27s
00264 -13 -1889 Jan 29 08:15:48 43808 -48100 T -0.8198 1.0140 76.7S 101.4W 35 85 00m54s
00309 -12 -1871 Feb 08 16:17:25 43383 -47877 T -0.7858 1.0210 70.3S 141.1E 38 117 01m24s
00356 -11 -1853 Feb 20 00:10:17 42960 -47654 T -0.7440 1.0282 63.0S 21.0E 42 143 01m57s
00402 -10 -1835 Mar 02 07:56:34 42539 -47431 T -0.6959 1.0353 55.3S 99.4W 46 165 02m34s
00447 -09 -1817 Mar 13 15:35:24 42120 -47208 T -0.6407 1.0421 47.2S 141.1E 50 183 03m14s
00493 -08 -1799 Mar 23 23:09:16 41703 -46985 T -0.5805 1.0485 38.9S 22.6E 54 197 03m55s
00540 -07 -1781 Apr 04 06:37:38 41289 -46762 T -0.5149 1.0545 30.4S 94.7W 59 209 04m36s
00585 -06 -1763 Apr 14 14:01:43 40876 -46539 T -0.4451 1.0598 21.9S 149.1E 63 218 05m15s
00630 -05 -1745 Apr 25 21:23:14 40465 -46316 T -0.3724 1.0644 13.6S 33.8E 68 226 05m50s
00676 -04 -1727 May 06 04:43:17 40057 -46093 T -0.2975 1.0681 5.4S 80.7W 73 232 06m18s
00723 -03 -1709 May 17 12:02:25 39650 -45870 T -0.2214 1.0711 2.5N 165.4E 77 237 06m38s
00767 -02 -1691 May 27 19:22:45 39246 -45647 T -0.1459 1.0731 9.8N 51.8E 82 240 06m48s
00811 -01 -1673 Jun 08 02:45:01 38843 -45424 T -0.0714 1.0742 16.6N 61.6W 86 241 06m49s
00851 00 -1655 Jun 18 10:11:15 38443 -45201 T 0.0000 1.0745 22.6N 175.0W 90 242 06m41s
00892 01 -1637 Jun 29 17:40:22 38045 -44978 Tm 0.0694 1.0740 27.7N 71.7E 86 241 06m27s
00933 02 -1619 Jul 10 01:16:28 37649 -44755 T 0.1332 1.0727 31.7N 42.4W 82 238 06m08s
00974 03 -1601 Jul 21 08:58:04 37255 -44532 T 0.1927 1.0707 34.4N 157.1W 79 235 05m47s
01015 04 -1583 Jul 31 16:48:13 36863 -44309 T 0.2452 1.0683 35.7N 86.4E 76 230 05m26s
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
01056 05 -1565 Aug 12 00:44:52 36473 -44086 T 0.2924 1.0653 35.8N 31.7W 73 223 05m05s
01097 06 -1547 Aug 22 08:51:29 36085 -43863 T 0.3316 1.0622 34.6N 152.7W 70 216 04m46s
01137 07 -1529 Sep 02 17:05:29 35699 -43640 T 0.3648 1.0588 32.5N 83.8E 68 207 04m29s
01177 08 -1511 Sep 13 01:28:05 35316 -43417 T 0.3910 1.0555 29.6N 42.6W 67 198 04m15s
01217 09 -1493 Sep 24 09:58:07 34934 -43194 T 0.4111 1.0522 26.2N 171.5W 66 188 04m03s
01257 10 -1475 Oct 04 18:35:57 34554 -42971 T 0.4246 1.0492 22.4N 57.0E 65 179 03m53s
01297 11 -1457 Oct 16 03:19:31 34177 -42748 T 0.4335 1.0465 18.6N 76.3W 64 170 03m46s
01338 12 -1439 Oct 26 12:07:11 33801 -42525 T 0.4389 1.0443 14.8N 149.2E 64 163 03m41s
01379 13 -1421 Nov 06 20:58:56 33428 -42302 T 0.4408 1.0425 11.2N 13.6E 64 157 03m39s
01420 14 -1403 Nov 17 05:52:19 33057 -42079 T 0.4410 1.0412 8.1N 122.4W 64 152 03m40s
01461 15 -1385 Nov 28 14:45:32 32688 -41856 T 0.4414 1.0404 5.5N 101.7E 64 150 03m43s
01503 16 -1367 Dec 08 23:36:35 32321 -41633 T 0.4432 1.0401 3.8N 33.5W 64 149 03m48s
01545 17 -1349 Dec 20 08:24:42 31955 -41410 T 0.4473 1.0402 2.9N 167.8W 63 150 03m54s
01588 18 -1331 Dec 30 17:08:09 31593 -41187 T 0.4551 1.0406 3.1N 59.0E 63 153 04m00s
01631 19 -1312 Jan 11 01:44:54 31232 -40964 T 0.4680 1.0413 4.4N 72.6W 62 156 04m06s
01675 20 -1294 Jan 21 10:14:58 30873 -40741 T 0.4862 1.0422 6.8N 157.2E 61 161 04m11s
01720 21 -1276 Feb 01 18:36:42 30516 -40518 T 0.5111 1.0430 10.3N 28.8E 59 167 04m13s
01764 22 -1258 Feb 12 02:49:50 30161 -40295 T 0.5430 1.0438 15.0N 98.0W 57 174 04m11s
01810 23 -1240 Feb 23 10:53:38 29809 -40072 T 0.5822 1.0442 20.6N 137.0E 54 181 04m06s
01855 24 -1222 Mar 05 18:48:58 29458 -39849 T 0.6280 1.0444 27.2N 13.5E 51 189 03m56s
01899 25 -1204 Mar 16 02:35:36 29110 -39626 T 0.6804 1.0439 34.6N 108.5W 47 198 03m41s
01944 26 -1186 Mar 27 10:13:06 28763 -39403 T 0.7399 1.0429 43.0N 130.6E 42 211 03m23s
01990 27 -1168 Apr 06 17:43:29 28419 -39180 T 0.8047 1.0409 52.2N 9.7E 36 229 02m59s
02036 28 -1150 Apr 18 01:06:16 28077 -38957 T 0.8751 1.0378 62.5N 113.9W 29 263 02m31s
02082 29 -1132 Apr 28 08:24:17 27736 -38734 T 0.9484 1.0331 72.9N 106.5E 18 360 01m58s
02127 30 -1114 May 09 15:35:44 27398 -38511 P 1.0262 0.9579 70.4N 75.9W 0
02171 31 -1096 May 19 22:45:34 27062 -38288 P 1.1043 0.8104 69.6N 162.6E 0
02214 32 -1078 May 31 05:51:56 26728 -38065 P 1.1844 0.6600 68.7N 42.7E 0
02257 33 -1060 Jun 10 12:58:45 26396 -37842 P 1.2630 0.5134 67.7N 76.9W 0
02300 34 -1042 Jun 21 20:05:00 26067 -37619 P 1.3408 0.3695 66.7N 164.3E 0
02344 35 -1024 Jul 02 03:14:33 25739 -37396 P 1.4149 0.2339 65.7N 45.0E 0
02386 36 -1006 Jul 13 10:26:39 25413 -37173 Pe 1.4859 0.1056 64.7N 74.5W 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)"
