Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 29

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 29

Solar eclipses of Saros 29 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 -1881 Mar 01. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0583 Apr 19. The total duration of Saros series 29 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1881 Mar 01   09:41:45 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -0583 Apr 19   02:23:20 TD

                      Duration of Saros  29  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 29 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 29
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PartialP 28 38.4%
AnnularA 3 4.1%
TotalT 28 38.4%
Hybrid[3]H 14 19.2%

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 29 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 29
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 45100.0%
Central (two limits) 45100.0%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 29: 7P 3A 14H 28T 21P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 29 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 29
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -1755 May 1500m51s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -1719 Jun 0500m06s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -1106 Jun 0907m04s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -1449 Nov 1501m53s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1467 Nov 0401m39s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1701 Jun 1700m11s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0944 Sep 14 - 0.99874
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -0583 Apr 19 - 0.04084

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 29

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 29. 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 29.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 29

                         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

00285 -36 -1881 Mar 01  09:41:45  43618 -48000   Pb   1.5127  0.0793  61.4N 157.8E   0             
00331 -35 -1863 Mar 11  16:45:13  43193 -47777   P    1.4511  0.1845  61.0N  41.3E   0             
00377 -34 -1845 Mar 22  23:43:44  42771 -47554   P    1.3838  0.3009  60.7N  73.8W   0             
00423 -33 -1827 Apr 02  06:34:52  42351 -47331   P    1.3094  0.4314  60.5N 172.9E   0             
00468 -32 -1809 Apr 13  13:24:19  41933 -47108   P    1.2320  0.5684  60.5N  60.1E   0             
00515 -31 -1791 Apr 23  20:09:41  41517 -46885   P    1.1501  0.7149  60.7N  51.7W   0             
00560 -30 -1773 May 05  02:55:56  41103 -46662   P    1.0674  0.8642  61.0N 163.7W   0             
00605 -29 -1755 May 15  09:40:36  40692 -46439   A    0.9819  0.9858  65.4N 105.4E  10  284  00m51s
00650 -28 -1737 May 26  16:29:39  40282 -46216   A    0.8985  0.9933  68.0N  33.4E  26   54  00m26s
00696 -27 -1719 Jun 05  23:20:36  39874 -45993   A    0.8156  0.9985  67.9N  50.6W  35    9  00m06s

00742 -26 -1701 Jun 17  06:16:54  39469 -45770   H    0.7360  1.0025  66.4N 140.2W  42   13  00m11s
00786 -25 -1683 Jun 27  13:18:34  39065 -45547   H    0.6596  1.0056  63.7N 125.6E  48   26  00m25s
00828 -24 -1665 Jul 08  20:28:30  38664 -45324   H    0.5893  1.0079  60.0N  25.9E  54   34  00m37s
00869 -23 -1647 Jul 19  03:46:15  38264 -45101   H    0.5243  1.0096  55.3N  78.7W  58   39  00m47s
00910 -22 -1629 Jul 30  11:12:58  37867 -44878   H    0.4660  1.0108  50.2N 172.1E  62   42  00m55s
00951 -21 -1611 Aug 09  18:49:44  37472 -44655   H    0.4152  1.0115  44.7N  58.6E  65   44  01m01s
00992 -20 -1593 Aug 21  02:36:50  37079 -44432   H    0.3723  1.0120  39.0N  58.7W  68   44  01m05s
01034 -19 -1575 Aug 31  10:33:31  36688 -44209   H    0.3364  1.0123  33.2N 179.3W  70   45  01m08s
01075 -18 -1557 Sep 11  18:40:22  36299 -43986   H    0.3083  1.0124  27.5N  57.0E  72   45  01m10s
01115 -17 -1539 Sep 22  02:56:41  35912 -43763   H    0.2873  1.0127  21.9N  69.4W  73   45  01m13s

01155 -16 -1521 Oct 03  11:22:04  35527 -43540   H    0.2732  1.0131  16.6N 161.7E  74   47  01m16s
01195 -15 -1503 Oct 13  19:53:42  35144 -43317   H    0.2637  1.0138  11.6N  31.2E  75   49  01m22s
01235 -14 -1485 Oct 25  04:32:54  34763 -43094   H    0.2597  1.0149   7.0N 101.0W  75   53  01m29s
01275 -13 -1467 Nov 04  13:16:02  34385 -42871   H2   0.2581  1.0164   2.9N 125.8E  75   58  01m39s
01315 -12 -1449 Nov 15  22:02:29  34008 -42648   T    0.2591  1.0185   0.8S   8.0W  75   65  01m53s
01356 -11 -1431 Nov 26  06:48:35  33634 -42425   T    0.2592  1.0210   3.9S 141.5W  75   74  02m09s
01397 -10 -1413 Dec 07  15:35:10  33261 -42202   T    0.2593  1.0242   6.3S  85.1E  75   85  02m29s
01438 -09 -1395 Dec 18  00:18:52  32891 -41979   T    0.2562  1.0278   8.2S  47.5W  75   97  02m50s
01480 -08 -1377 Dec 29  08:58:42  32523 -41756   T    0.2495  1.0320   9.4S 178.9W  76  112  03m13s
01522 -07 -1358 Jan 08  17:33:00  32157 -41533   T    0.2376  1.0365  10.1S  51.1E  76  126  03m36s

01564 -06 -1340 Jan 20  02:01:16  31792 -41310   T    0.2203  1.0414  10.3S  77.2W  77  142  03m58s
01607 -05 -1322 Jan 30  10:22:25  31430 -41087   T    0.1965  1.0465  10.0S 156.3E  79  158  04m19s
01651 -04 -1304 Feb 10  18:35:48  31070 -40864   T    0.1657  1.0518   9.2S  31.8E  81  174  04m38s
01694 -03 -1286 Feb 21  02:41:58  30712 -40641   T    0.1281  1.0569   8.2S  90.8W  83  189  04m56s
01739 -02 -1268 Mar 03  10:40:37  30357 -40418   T    0.0837  1.0619   6.9S 148.5E  85  204  05m13s
01784 -01 -1250 Mar 14  18:31:41  30003 -40195   T    0.0324  1.0665   5.5S  29.8E  88  217  05m29s
01829  00 -1232 Mar 25  02:16:17  29651 -39972   Tm  -0.0247  1.0707   4.2S  87.3W  89  230  05m45s
01874  01 -1214 Apr 05  09:54:42  29302 -39749   T   -0.0874  1.0743   3.0S 157.3E  85  242  06m00s
01919  02 -1196 Apr 15  17:28:48  28954 -39526   T   -0.1542  1.0772   2.2S  43.0E  81  252  06m16s
01964  03 -1178 Apr 27  00:57:21  28609 -39303   T   -0.2259  1.0793   2.0S  69.9W  77  262  06m31s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 29

                         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

02011  04 -1160 May 07  08:24:20  28265 -39080   T   -0.2990  1.0806   2.4S 177.5E  73  271  06m45s
02057  05 -1142 May 18  15:48:36  27924 -38857   T   -0.3742  1.0809   3.7S  65.4E  68  280  06m56s
02103  06 -1124 May 28  23:13:30  27585 -38634   T   -0.4490  1.0804   5.8S  47.1W  63  288  07m03s
02148  07 -1106 Jun 09  06:37:50  27247 -38411   T   -0.5241  1.0788   8.9S 159.9W  58  297  07m04s
02191  08 -1088 Jun 19  14:05:30  26912 -38188   T   -0.5964  1.0763  12.9S  85.9E  53  307  06m56s
02234  09 -1070 Jun 30  21:35:38  26579 -37965   T   -0.6661  1.0729  17.8S  29.6W  48  317  06m37s
02277  10 -1052 Jul 11  05:10:06  26248 -37742   T   -0.7320  1.0689  23.6S 146.9W  43  330  06m09s
02320  11 -1034 Jul 22  12:49:59  25919 -37519   T   -0.7932  1.0639  30.1S  93.5E  37  344  05m32s
02363  12 -1016 Aug 01  20:36:28  25593 -37296   T   -0.8486  1.0584  37.3S  28.8W  32  364  04m49s
02405  13 -0998 Aug 13  04:30:26  25268 -37073   T   -0.8975  1.0524  45.0S 154.4W  26  394  04m04s

02446  14 -0980 Aug 23  12:30:59  24945 -36850   T   -0.9406  1.0458  53.4S  75.9E  19  455  03m18s
02487  15 -0962 Sep 03  20:40:19  24624 -36627   T   -0.9762  1.0387  62.4S  61.4W  12  627  02m33s
02528  16 -0944 Sep 14  04:56:40  24306 -36404   P   -1.0056  0.9987  71.4S 138.9E   0             
02569  17 -0926 Sep 25  13:21:07  23989 -36181   P   -1.0283  0.9539  71.7S   2.6W   0             
02609  18 -0908 Oct 05  21:51:28  23675 -35958   P   -1.0457  0.9194  71.8S 145.8W   0             
02649  19 -0890 Oct 17  06:28:56  23363 -35735   P   -1.0571  0.8966  71.5S  69.4E   0             
02690  20 -0872 Oct 27  15:10:23  23052 -35512   P   -1.0647  0.8809  71.1S  76.2W   0             
02731  21 -0854 Nov 07  23:55:36  22744 -35289   P   -1.0690  0.8718  70.4S 137.9E   0             
02770  22 -0836 Nov 18  08:42:37  22438 -35066   P   -1.0716  0.8661  69.5S   7.9W   0             
02811  23 -0818 Nov 29  17:30:50  22134 -34843   P   -1.0730  0.8627  68.5S 153.4W   0             

02852  24 -0800 Dec 10  02:16:34  21832 -34620   P   -1.0761  0.8565  67.4S  62.5E   0             
02893  25 -0782 Dec 21  10:59:39  21532 -34397   P   -1.0810  0.8473  66.3S  80.4W   0             
02934  26 -0764 Dec 31  19:37:35  21234 -34174   P   -1.0898  0.8308  65.3S 138.5E   0             
02976  27 -0745 Jan 12  04:10:49  20939 -33951   P   -1.1024  0.8077  64.3S   1.0W   0             
03018  28 -0727 Jan 22  12:34:44  20645 -33728   P   -1.1222  0.7714  63.3S 137.8W   0             
03062  29 -0709 Feb 02  20:51:57  20353 -33505   P   -1.1471  0.7260  62.5S  87.4E   0             
03106  30 -0691 Feb 13  04:58:26  20064 -33282   P   -1.1803  0.6652  61.9S  44.5W   0             
03151  31 -0673 Feb 24  12:57:12  19776 -33059   P   -1.2192  0.5940  61.3S 174.3W   0             
03196  32 -0655 Mar 06  20:43:54  19491 -32836   P   -1.2674  0.5057  61.0S  59.0E   0             
03241  33 -0637 Mar 18  04:23:10  19208 -32613   P   -1.3210  0.4076  60.7S  65.7W   0             

03287  34 -0619 Mar 28  11:51:15  18927 -32390   P   -1.3825  0.2950  60.7S 172.4E   0             
03334  35 -0601 Apr 08  19:12:05  18647 -32167   P   -1.4489  0.1737  60.8S  52.3E   0             
03381  36 -0583 Apr 19  02:23:20  18370 -31944   Pe  -1.5219  0.0408  61.0S  65.4W   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)"


Return to:

Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26