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 26 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 -2004 Apr 08. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0724 May 17. The total duration of Saros series 26 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2004 Apr 08 20:14:58 TD
Last Eclipse = -0724 May 17 05:04:34 TD
Duration of Saros 26 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 26 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 26 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.4% |
| Annular | A | 10 | 13.9% |
| Total | T | 41 | 56.9% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 7 | 9.7% |
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 26 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 26 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 58 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 58 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 26: 6P 10A 7H 41T 8P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 26 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 26 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1896 Jun 12 | 01m29s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1734 Sep 18 | 00m03s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1355 May 03 | 06m53s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0868 Feb 20 | 00m53s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1608 Dec 02 | 00m59s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1716 Sep 28 | 00m01s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0850 Mar 03 | - | 0.93484 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0724 May 17 | - | 0.06275 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 26. 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 26.
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 -2004 Apr 08 20:14:58 46564 -49520 Pb -1.4845 0.1235 71.6S 160.4E 0
00032 -34 -1986 Apr 20 02:55:09 46126 -49297 P -1.4035 0.2645 71.5S 44.6E 0
00075 -33 -1968 Apr 30 09:34:02 45690 -49074 P -1.3203 0.4110 71.2S 70.6W 0
00118 -32 -1950 May 11 16:12:21 45255 -48851 P -1.2352 0.5621 70.6S 174.6E 0
00161 -31 -1932 May 21 22:52:55 44823 -48628 P -1.1505 0.7135 69.9S 59.9E 0
00204 -30 -1914 Jun 02 05:36:42 44393 -48405 P -1.0668 0.8639 69.0S 55.2W 0
00248 -29 -1896 Jun 12 12:24:24 43965 -48182 A -0.9851 0.9821 59.4S 174.8W 9 402 01m29s
00293 -28 -1878 Jun 23 19:18:52 43539 -47959 A -0.9074 0.9881 42.6S 71.0E 24 101 01m09s
00339 -27 -1860 Jul 04 02:20:00 43116 -47736 A -0.8339 0.9917 32.9S 40.2W 33 53 00m52s
00385 -26 -1842 Jul 15 09:30:31 42694 -47513 A -0.7668 0.9941 26.0S 152.4W 40 32 00m38s
00431 -25 -1824 Jul 25 16:48:41 42274 -47290 A -0.7049 0.9959 21.1S 94.4E 45 20 00m26s
00476 -24 -1806 Aug 06 00:18:42 41856 -47067 A -0.6514 0.9971 17.9S 21.3W 49 13 00m18s
00523 -23 -1788 Aug 16 07:57:40 41441 -46844 A -0.6041 0.9980 16.2S 138.8W 53 9 00m12s
00568 -22 -1770 Aug 27 15:48:22 41028 -46621 A -0.5657 0.9986 16.0S 100.9E 55 6 00m08s
00613 -21 -1752 Sep 06 23:48:10 40616 -46398 A -0.5338 0.9991 17.0S 21.6W 58 4 00m05s
00658 -20 -1734 Sep 18 07:59:14 40207 -46175 A -0.5105 0.9995 19.1S 146.9W 59 2 00m03s
00705 -19 -1716 Sep 28 16:18:00 39799 -45952 H -0.4927 1.0002 22.0S 85.8E 60 1 00m01s
00750 -18 -1698 Oct 10 00:44:55 39394 -45729 H -0.4809 1.0011 25.6S 43.4W 61 4 00m06s
00794 -17 -1680 Oct 20 09:17:56 38991 -45506 H -0.4736 1.0023 29.7S 174.1W 62 9 00m12s
00836 -16 -1662 Oct 31 17:56:59 38590 -45283 H -0.4710 1.0040 34.1S 54.1E 62 15 00m20s
00877 -15 -1644 Nov 11 02:38:09 38191 -45060 H -0.4694 1.0062 38.5S 77.6W 62 24 00m30s
00918 -14 -1626 Nov 22 11:21:31 37794 -44837 H -0.4691 1.0089 42.6S 150.9E 62 35 00m43s
00959 -13 -1608 Dec 02 20:03:58 37399 -44614 H -0.4676 1.0122 46.2S 20.8E 62 48 00m59s
01000 -12 -1590 Dec 14 04:45:51 37007 -44391 T -0.4650 1.0161 49.0S 108.1W 62 62 01m16s
01041 -11 -1572 Dec 24 13:22:36 36616 -44168 T -0.4577 1.0206 50.4S 125.5E 63 79 01m37s
01082 -10 -1553 Jan 04 21:56:12 36227 -43945 T -0.4474 1.0254 50.5S 0.3E 63 97 02m01s
01122 -09 -1535 Jan 15 06:22:23 35841 -43722 T -0.4303 1.0308 49.0S 123.2W 64 115 02m27s
01162 -08 -1517 Jan 26 14:43:34 35456 -43499 T -0.4084 1.0364 46.0S 113.6E 66 134 02m56s
01202 -07 -1499 Feb 05 22:55:25 35074 -43276 T -0.3784 1.0421 41.7S 8.7W 68 152 03m28s
01242 -06 -1481 Feb 17 07:01:44 34694 -43053 T -0.3430 1.0480 36.3S 131.0W 70 170 04m01s
01282 -05 -1463 Feb 27 14:59:01 34315 -42830 T -0.2999 1.0537 30.1S 107.8E 72 186 04m35s
01323 -04 -1445 Mar 10 22:49:45 33939 -42607 T -0.2507 1.0593 23.2S 12.6W 75 201 05m10s
01364 -03 -1427 Mar 21 06:32:50 33565 -42384 T -0.1946 1.0643 15.9S 131.8W 79 214 05m41s
01405 -02 -1409 Apr 01 14:10:45 33193 -42161 T -0.1337 1.0690 8.2S 110.0E 82 227 06m09s
01446 -01 -1391 Apr 11 21:43:28 32823 -41938 T -0.0681 1.0729 0.3S 7.1W 86 237 06m31s
01487 00 -1373 Apr 23 05:11:28 32455 -41715 T 0.0018 1.0762 7.7N 123.0W 90 247 06m47s
01529 01 -1355 May 03 12:36:48 32089 -41492 Tm 0.0743 1.0785 15.7N 122.0E 86 254 06m53s
01571 02 -1337 May 14 20:00:27 31726 -41269 T 0.1487 1.0801 23.5N 8.0E 81 261 06m51s
01614 03 -1319 May 25 03:23:45 31364 -41046 T 0.2236 1.0807 31.0N 105.3W 77 267 06m41s
01658 04 -1301 Jun 05 10:47:32 31004 -40823 T 0.2982 1.0805 38.1N 142.3E 72 272 06m25s
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
01702 05 -1283 Jun 15 18:14:09 30647 -40600 T 0.3708 1.0793 44.5N 30.6E 68 276 06m03s
01747 06 -1265 Jun 27 01:44:15 30291 -40377 T 0.4405 1.0773 49.9N 80.2W 64 279 05m39s
01793 07 -1247 Jul 07 09:18:23 29938 -40154 T 0.5071 1.0744 54.3N 169.8E 59 281 05m14s
01838 08 -1229 Jul 18 16:58:10 29587 -39931 T 0.5689 1.0709 57.1N 60.1E 55 281 04m49s
01883 09 -1211 Jul 29 00:44:16 29238 -39708 T 0.6254 1.0668 58.4N 50.4W 51 280 04m25s
01928 10 -1193 Aug 09 08:37:50 28890 -39485 T 0.6756 1.0623 58.2N 163.2W 47 276 04m02s
01973 11 -1175 Aug 19 16:37:58 28545 -39262 T 0.7202 1.0574 56.9N 80.9E 44 271 03m41s
02020 12 -1157 Aug 31 00:46:43 28202 -39039 T 0.7576 1.0524 54.8N 39.1W 40 263 03m23s
02066 13 -1139 Sep 10 09:03:02 27861 -38816 T 0.7886 1.0474 52.3N 162.9W 38 253 03m05s
02111 14 -1121 Sep 21 17:27:06 27522 -38593 T 0.8129 1.0426 49.7N 69.8E 35 240 02m50s
02156 15 -1103 Oct 02 01:58:07 27186 -38370 T 0.8312 1.0379 47.2N 60.6W 33 224 02m36s
02199 16 -1085 Oct 13 10:35:33 26851 -38147 T 0.8441 1.0338 44.7N 166.4E 32 208 02m24s
02242 17 -1067 Oct 23 19:18:36 26518 -37924 T 0.8522 1.0301 42.3N 31.2E 31 190 02m13s
02285 18 -1049 Nov 04 04:04:27 26188 -37701 T 0.8579 1.0269 40.3N 105.0W 31 174 02m04s
02329 19 -1031 Nov 14 12:54:08 25859 -37478 T 0.8602 1.0243 38.4N 117.5E 30 159 01m57s
02372 20 -1013 Nov 25 21:44:04 25533 -37255 T 0.8617 1.0222 37.0N 20.1W 30 147 01m51s
02414 21 -0995 Dec 06 06:33:58 25208 -37032 T 0.8634 1.0207 36.2N 157.7W 30 139 01m47s
02454 22 -0977 Dec 17 15:19:54 24886 -36809 T 0.8680 1.0195 36.3N 65.8E 29 134 01m43s
02495 23 -0959 Dec 28 00:03:08 24566 -36586 T 0.8746 1.0187 37.1N 70.1W 29 132 01m39s
02536 24 -0940 Jan 08 08:39:54 24248 -36363 T 0.8860 1.0181 39.2N 155.4E 27 134 01m36s
02576 25 -0922 Jan 18 17:10:02 23932 -36140 T 0.9024 1.0176 42.5N 22.1E 25 141 01m31s
02616 26 -0904 Jan 30 01:31:29 23617 -35917 T 0.9253 1.0169 47.4N 110.0W 22 154 01m23s
02656 27 -0886 Feb 09 09:44:46 23306 -35694 T 0.9546 1.0157 54.2N 117.8E 17 185 01m13s
02697 28 -0868 Feb 20 17:48:07 22996 -35471 T 0.9914 1.0129 65.7N 21.5W 6 407 00m53s
02738 29 -0850 Mar 03 01:41:53 22688 -35248 P 1.0352 0.9348 71.1N 164.8W 0
02777 30 -0832 Mar 13 09:25:58 22382 -35025 P 1.0862 0.8403 71.5N 64.2E 0
02818 31 -0814 Mar 24 17:01:29 22078 -34802 P 1.1434 0.7344 71.8N 65.0W 0
02859 32 -0796 Apr 04 00:27:08 21777 -34579 P 1.2078 0.6151 71.7N 168.3E 0
02900 33 -0778 Apr 15 07:46:06 21477 -34356 P 1.2767 0.4878 71.5N 43.4E 0
02941 34 -0760 Apr 25 14:57:16 21180 -34133 P 1.3511 0.3506 71.0N 79.2W 0
02983 35 -0742 May 06 22:04:25 20885 -33910 P 1.4275 0.2104 70.4N 159.7E 0
03026 36 -0724 May 17 05:04:34 20591 -33687 Pe 1.5084 0.0628 69.5N 40.9E 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)"
