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 32 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 -1957 Sep 24. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0460 Mar 10. The total duration of Saros series 32 is 1496.50 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1957 Sep 24 05:12:58 TD Last Eclipse = -0460 Mar 10 15:30:30 TD Duration of Saros 32 = 1496.50 Years
Saros 32 is composed of 84 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 32 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 84 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 40 | 47.6% |
| Annular | A | 2 | 2.4% |
| Total | T | 39 | 46.4% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 3.6% |
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 32 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 32 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 84 eclipses in Saros 32: 19P 2A 3H 39T 21P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 32 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 32 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1614 Apr 17 | 01m04s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1596 Apr 27 | 00m31s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1019 Apr 09 | 06m26s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1524 Jun 09 | 01m37s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1542 May 30 | 01m09s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1578 May 08 | 00m03s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0821 Aug 06 | - | 0.89440 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1957 Sep 24 | - | 0.00614 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 32. 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 32.
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
00103 -45 -1957 Sep 24 05:12:58 45415 -48933 Pb -1.5660 0.0061 60.7S 147.1W 0
00146 -44 -1939 Oct 04 13:00:58 44982 -48710 P -1.5481 0.0367 60.5S 85.4E 0
00189 -43 -1921 Oct 15 20:56:53 44551 -48487 P -1.5362 0.0567 60.5S 44.0W 0
00233 -42 -1903 Oct 26 04:57:57 44122 -48264 P -1.5275 0.0711 60.7S 174.7W 0
00277 -41 -1885 Nov 06 13:03:01 43696 -48041 P -1.5214 0.0810 61.1S 53.6E 0
00323 -40 -1867 Nov 16 21:10:19 43271 -47818 P -1.5165 0.0884 61.6S 78.8W 0
00369 -39 -1849 Nov 28 05:19:01 42849 -47595 P -1.5121 0.0947 62.2S 148.2E 0
00415 -38 -1831 Dec 08 13:25:07 42428 -47372 P -1.5050 0.1053 63.0S 15.7E 0
00460 -37 -1813 Dec 19 21:29:10 42010 -47149 P -1.4956 0.1196 63.9S 116.5W 0
00506 -36 -1795 Dec 30 05:27:20 41594 -46926 P -1.4807 0.1432 64.9S 112.3E 0
00552 -35 -1776 Jan 10 13:21:28 41179 -46703 P -1.4616 0.1738 66.0S 18.2W 0
00597 -34 -1758 Jan 20 21:06:35 40767 -46480 P -1.4347 0.2181 67.1S 146.9W 0
00642 -33 -1740 Feb 01 04:46:24 40357 -46257 P -1.4026 0.2717 68.1S 85.2E 0
00688 -32 -1722 Feb 11 12:16:43 39949 -46034 P -1.3621 0.3405 69.1S 40.9W 0
00734 -31 -1704 Feb 22 19:40:22 39543 -45811 P -1.3152 0.4213 70.0S 165.9W 0
00778 -30 -1686 Mar 05 02:54:52 39139 -45588 P -1.2597 0.5183 70.7S 70.8E 0
00821 -29 -1668 Mar 15 10:04:15 38737 -45365 P -1.1992 0.6254 71.3S 51.7W 0
00862 -28 -1650 Mar 26 17:06:50 38338 -45142 P -1.1319 0.7457 71.6S 172.9W 0
00903 -27 -1632 Apr 06 00:04:42 37940 -44919 P -1.0596 0.8763 71.7S 67.0E 0
00944 -26 -1614 Apr 17 06:58:45 37544 -44696 A -0.9828 0.9847 67.3S 77.0W 10 317 01m04s
00985 -25 -1596 Apr 27 13:51:25 37151 -44473 A -0.9034 0.9937 52.6S 151.4E 25 51 00m31s
01026 -24 -1578 May 08 20:43:09 36759 -44250 H -0.8219 1.0005 41.0S 36.9E 34 3 00m03s
01067 -23 -1560 May 19 03:35:10 36370 -44027 H -0.7395 1.0062 30.8S 73.9W 42 32 00m37s
01107 -22 -1542 May 30 10:30:04 35983 -43804 H -0.6579 1.0109 21.9S 176.3E 49 50 01m09s
01147 -21 -1524 Jun 09 17:28:51 35598 -43581 T -0.5781 1.0148 14.0S 66.8E 55 62 01m37s
01187 -20 -1506 Jun 21 00:32:06 35214 -43358 T -0.5007 1.0180 7.2S 42.9W 60 71 02m00s
01227 -19 -1488 Jul 01 07:42:06 34833 -43135 T -0.4278 1.0204 1.5S 153.4W 65 77 02m15s
01267 -18 -1470 Jul 12 14:59:27 34454 -42912 T -0.3600 1.0221 2.9N 95.0E 69 81 02m24s
01307 -17 -1452 Jul 22 22:25:55 34077 -42689 T -0.2987 1.0233 6.0N 18.4W 73 83 02m27s
01349 -16 -1434 Aug 03 05:59:35 33703 -42466 T -0.2425 1.0240 7.8N 133.1W 76 84 02m26s
01390 -15 -1416 Aug 13 13:44:07 33330 -42243 T -0.1945 1.0243 8.3N 109.6E 79 84 02m23s
01431 -14 -1398 Aug 24 21:37:16 32959 -42020 T -0.1528 1.0243 7.7N 9.8W 81 83 02m18s
01472 -13 -1380 Sep 04 05:41:07 32590 -41797 T -0.1195 1.0242 6.0N 132.1W 83 83 02m14s
01514 -12 -1362 Sep 15 13:53:07 32224 -41574 T -0.0924 1.0240 3.4N 103.5E 85 82 02m10s
01556 -11 -1344 Sep 25 22:15:23 31859 -41351 T -0.0731 1.0240 0.1N 23.8W 86 82 02m08s
01599 -10 -1326 Oct 07 06:45:01 31497 -41128 T -0.0592 1.0241 3.7S 153.0W 87 82 02m07s
01642 -09 -1308 Oct 17 15:21:35 31136 -40905 T -0.0506 1.0246 7.8S 76.0E 87 84 02m09s
01685 -08 -1290 Oct 29 00:03:50 30778 -40682 T -0.0460 1.0254 11.9S 56.4W 87 86 02m14s
01730 -07 -1272 Nov 08 08:50:37 30422 -40459 T -0.0451 1.0267 16.0S 170.4E 87 91 02m21s
01775 -06 -1254 Nov 19 17:39:29 30068 -40236 T -0.0450 1.0285 19.6S 37.0E 87 97 02m32s
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
01821 -05 -1236 Nov 30 02:28:34 29716 -40013 T -0.0448 1.0308 22.6S 96.0W 87 104 02m46s
01866 -04 -1218 Dec 11 11:17:09 29366 -39790 T -0.0436 1.0336 24.7S 131.6E 87 114 03m03s
01911 -03 -1200 Dec 21 20:03:15 29018 -39567 Tm -0.0403 1.0370 25.9S 0.1E 88 124 03m22s
01956 -02 -1181 Jan 02 04:44:26 28672 -39344 T -0.0323 1.0408 25.8S 130.1W 88 137 03m45s
02002 -01 -1163 Jan 12 13:20:23 28328 -39121 T -0.0199 1.0449 24.5S 100.9E 89 150 04m08s
02048 00 -1145 Jan 23 21:49:22 27986 -38898 T -0.0012 1.0493 21.9S 26.7W 90 164 04m33s
02094 01 -1127 Feb 03 06:11:50 27647 -38675 T 0.0231 1.0538 18.3S 153.3W 89 178 04m59s
02139 02 -1109 Feb 14 14:25:24 27309 -38452 T 0.0548 1.0583 13.5S 81.6E 87 192 05m23s
02182 03 -1091 Feb 24 22:32:15 26974 -38229 T 0.0926 1.0627 7.9S 42.4W 85 206 05m45s
02225 04 -1073 Mar 08 06:30:33 26640 -38006 T 0.1377 1.0668 1.5S 164.9W 82 220 06m03s
02268 05 -1055 Mar 18 14:21:47 26309 -37783 T 0.1890 1.0706 5.5N 74.0E 79 234 06m17s
02311 06 -1037 Mar 29 22:05:45 25980 -37560 T 0.2467 1.0737 12.9N 45.7W 76 246 06m25s
02356 07 -1019 Apr 09 05:44:22 25652 -37337 T 0.3091 1.0763 20.8N 164.2W 72 259 06m26s
02398 08 -1001 Apr 20 13:18:07 25327 -37114 T 0.3758 1.0780 28.9N 78.6E 68 272 06m20s
02439 09 -0983 Apr 30 20:47:10 25004 -36891 T 0.4466 1.0790 37.2N 37.3W 63 285 06m08s
02480 10 -0965 May 12 04:14:07 24683 -36668 T 0.5194 1.0789 45.6N 152.1W 58 298 05m49s
02521 11 -0947 May 22 11:39:03 24364 -36445 T 0.5940 1.0780 54.0N 94.4E 53 314 05m25s
02562 12 -0929 Jun 02 19:04:07 24048 -36222 T 0.6682 1.0760 62.4N 17.4W 48 332 04m58s
02602 13 -0911 Jun 13 02:28:32 23733 -35999 T 0.7427 1.0730 70.7N 125.6W 42 356 04m29s
02641 14 -0893 Jun 24 09:56:27 23420 -35776 T 0.8142 1.0689 78.3N 135.1E 35 391 03m59s
02682 15 -0875 Jul 04 17:26:33 23109 -35553 T 0.8836 1.0638 83.0N 70.1E 28 452 03m28s
02723 16 -0857 Jul 16 01:01:26 22801 -35330 T 0.9487 1.0572 78.3N 14.1E 18 615 02m55s
02763 17 -0839 Jul 26 08:40:54 22494 -35107 T+ 1.0095 1.0002 63.5N 73.2W 0
02803 18 -0821 Aug 06 16:27:42 22190 -34884 P 1.0639 0.8944 62.7N 159.5E 0
02844 19 -0803 Aug 17 00:20:48 21888 -34661 P 1.1127 0.7997 62.0N 30.8E 0
02885 20 -0785 Aug 28 08:20:47 21587 -34438 P 1.1557 0.7171 61.5N 99.4W 0
02926 21 -0767 Sep 07 16:28:36 21289 -34215 P 1.1919 0.6479 61.0N 128.6E 0
02968 22 -0749 Sep 19 00:44:21 20993 -33992 P 1.2213 0.5921 60.8N 5.4W 0
03010 23 -0731 Sep 29 09:07:08 20699 -33769 P 1.2448 0.5479 60.7N 140.9W 0
03054 24 -0713 Oct 10 17:36:39 20407 -33546 P 1.2624 0.5150 60.7N 81.8E 0
03098 25 -0695 Oct 21 02:12:00 20117 -33323 P 1.2752 0.4913 61.0N 56.9W 0
03143 26 -0677 Nov 01 10:52:30 19829 -33100 P 1.2834 0.4762 61.4N 163.0E 0
03188 27 -0659 Nov 11 19:34:53 19543 -32877 P 1.2898 0.4646 61.9N 22.3E 0
03233 28 -0641 Nov 23 04:20:11 19260 -32654 P 1.2934 0.4580 62.6N 119.3W 0
03279 29 -0623 Dec 03 13:04:26 18978 -32431 P 1.2971 0.4513 63.5N 99.2E 0
03325 30 -0605 Dec 14 21:47:46 18699 -32208 P 1.3013 0.4437 64.4N 42.4W 0
03372 31 -0587 Dec 25 06:25:44 18421 -31985 P 1.3093 0.4291 65.4N 177.0E 0
03420 32 -0568 Jan 05 15:00:23 18146 -31762 P 1.3194 0.4109 66.5N 36.8E 0
03466 33 -0550 Jan 15 23:27:20 17872 -31539 P 1.3348 0.3829 67.6N 102.0W 0
03511 34 -0532 Jan 27 07:46:52 17601 -31316 P 1.3558 0.3448 68.6N 120.5E 0
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
03556 35 -0514 Feb 06 15:56:48 17332 -31093 P 1.3837 0.2942 69.6N 15.2W 0
03601 36 -0496 Feb 17 23:58:10 17052 -30870 P 1.4180 0.2319 70.4N 149.4W 0
03646 37 -0478 Feb 28 07:49:20 16734 -30647 P 1.4597 0.1563 71.1N 78.2E 0
03690 38 -0460 Mar 10 15:30:30 16425 -30424 Pe 1.5085 0.0679 71.5N 52.1W 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)"
