Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 36

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 36

Solar eclipses of Saros 36 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 -1859 Jun 23. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0561 Aug 11. The total duration of Saros series 36 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1859 Jun 23   14:36:03 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -0561 Aug 11   23:14:48 TD

                      Duration of Saros  36  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 36 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 36
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PartialP 29 39.7%
AnnularA 23 31.5%
TotalT 18 24.7%
Hybrid[3]H 3 4.1%

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 36 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 36
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 44100.0%
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 73 eclipses in Saros 36: 22P 18T 3H 23A 7P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 36 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 36
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0885 Jan 2903m50s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -1084 Oct 0100m09s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -1300 May 2506m00s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -1156 Aug 1902m09s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1138 Aug 3001m32s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1102 Sep 2100m23s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1480 Feb 06 - 0.95466
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1859 Jun 23 - 0.01806

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 36

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 36. 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 36.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 36

                         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

00342 -38 -1859 Jun 23  14:36:03  43093 -47724   Pb  -1.5239  0.0181  67.0S 142.0E   0             
00388 -37 -1841 Jul 04  22:03:49  42671 -47501   P   -1.4564  0.1461  66.0S  17.6E   0             
00434 -36 -1823 Jul 15  05:38:07  42252 -47278   P   -1.3935  0.2659  65.0S 108.1W   0             
00480 -35 -1805 Jul 26  13:20:27  41834 -47055   P   -1.3363  0.3747  64.1S 124.7E   0             
00527 -34 -1787 Aug 05  21:11:03  41419 -46832   P   -1.2853  0.4718  63.2S   4.3W   0             
00572 -33 -1769 Aug 17  05:11:34  41005 -46609   P   -1.2420  0.5539  62.4S 135.5W   0             
00617 -32 -1751 Aug 27  13:20:51  40594 -46386   P   -1.2053  0.6232  61.8S  91.3E   0             
00662 -31 -1733 Sep 07  21:38:26  40185 -46163   P   -1.1752  0.6800  61.2S  43.7W   0             
00709 -30 -1715 Sep 18  06:04:44  39778 -45940   P   -1.1521  0.7235  60.8S 179.2E   0             
00753 -29 -1697 Sep 29  14:39:00  39373 -45717   P   -1.1353  0.7547  60.6S  40.3E   0             

00797 -28 -1679 Oct 09  23:19:31  38970 -45494   P   -1.1237  0.7763  60.6S 100.2W   0             
00838 -27 -1661 Oct 21  08:05:55  38569 -45271   P   -1.1170  0.7887  60.7S 117.9E   0             
00879 -26 -1643 Oct 31  16:56:07  38170 -45048   P   -1.1135  0.7952  61.0S  25.0W   0             
00920 -25 -1625 Nov 12  01:49:44  37773 -44825   P   -1.1128  0.7965  61.4S 168.9W   0             
00961 -24 -1607 Nov 22  10:42:35  37378 -44602   P   -1.1117  0.7986  62.1S  47.2E   0             
01002 -23 -1589 Dec 03  19:36:25  36986 -44379   P   -1.1114  0.7994  62.8S  97.0W   0             
01043 -22 -1571 Dec 14  04:26:39  36595 -44156   P   -1.1088  0.8046  63.7S 119.3E   0             
01084 -21 -1553 Dec 25  13:14:00  36207 -43933   P   -1.1037  0.8148  64.7S  23.9W   0             
01124 -20 -1534 Jan 04  21:54:23  35820 -43710   P   -1.0931  0.8353  65.7S 165.8W   0             
01164 -19 -1516 Jan 16  06:30:12  35436 -43487   P   -1.0790  0.8627  66.8S  53.0E   0             

01204 -18 -1498 Jan 26  14:57:28  35053 -43264   P   -1.0584  0.9028  67.8S  86.5W   0             
01244 -17 -1480 Feb 06  23:17:12  34673 -43041   P   -1.0317  0.9547  68.8S 135.3E   0             
01284 -16 -1462 Feb 17  07:27:51  34295 -42818   T-  -0.9981  1.0200  69.7S   1.2W   0             
01325 -15 -1444 Feb 28  15:30:44  33919 -42595   T   -0.9581  1.0513  75.5S 169.1E  16  614  02m48s
01366 -14 -1426 Mar 10  23:24:56  33545 -42372   T   -0.9114  1.0557  68.4S  17.4E  24  451  03m20s
01407 -13 -1408 Mar 21  07:11:08  33173 -42149   T   -0.8586  1.0592  59.5S 115.4W  30  379  03m51s
01448 -12 -1390 Apr 01  14:50:14  32803 -41926   T   -0.8002  1.0619  50.4S 119.2E  37  337  04m22s
01489 -11 -1372 Apr 11  22:23:02  32436 -41703   T   -0.7369  1.0637  41.4S   2.2W  42  306  04m52s
01531 -10 -1354 Apr 23  05:49:30  32070 -41480   T   -0.6687  1.0648  32.5S 120.7W  48  283  05m19s
01573 -09 -1336 May 03  13:12:26  31706 -41257   T   -0.5980  1.0649  24.0S 122.7E  53  263  05m41s

01616 -08 -1318 May 14  20:31:36  31345 -41034   T   -0.5244  1.0641  15.8S   7.8E  58  245  05m55s
01660 -07 -1300 May 25  03:50:16  30985 -40811   T   -0.4509  1.0624   8.3S 106.3W  63  229  06m00s
01704 -06 -1282 Jun 05  11:06:36  30628 -40588   T   -0.3759  1.0598   1.2S 140.9E  68  212  05m54s
01749 -05 -1264 Jun 15  18:25:38  30272 -40365   T   -0.3036  1.0564   4.9N  28.3E  72  195  05m38s
01795 -04 -1246 Jun 27  01:45:21  29919 -40142   T   -0.2321  1.0522  10.2N  83.8W  77  178  05m13s
01840 -03 -1228 Jul 07  09:09:34  29568 -39919   T   -0.1653  1.0474  14.5N 163.7E  81  160  04m41s
01885 -02 -1210 Jul 18  16:36:28  29219 -39696   Tm  -0.1014  1.0419  17.6N  51.1E  84  141  04m04s
01930 -01 -1192 Jul 29  00:10:28  28872 -39473   T   -0.0440  1.0360  19.4N  62.7W  88  121  03m26s
01975  00 -1174 Aug 09  07:49:30  28527 -39250   T    0.0084  1.0297  20.1N 177.7W  89  101  02m47s
02022  01 -1156 Aug 19  15:35:41  28184 -39027   T    0.0541  1.0233  19.6N  65.5E  87   80  02m09s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 36

                         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

02068  02 -1138 Aug 30  23:28:43  27843 -38804   H3   0.0932  1.0168  18.0N  53.2W  85   58  01m32s
02113  03 -1120 Sep 10  07:29:50  27504 -38581   H    0.1245  1.0105  15.6N 174.3W  83   36  00m57s
02158  04 -1102 Sep 21  15:37:58  27168 -38358   H    0.1494  1.0042  12.5N  62.4E  81   15  00m23s
02201  05 -1084 Oct 01  23:51:56  26833 -38135   A    0.1687  0.9984   9.0N  62.6W  80    6  00m09s
02244  06 -1066 Oct 13  08:12:39  26500 -37912   A    0.1816  0.9929   5.2N 170.4E  80   25  00m41s
02287  07 -1048 Oct 23  16:38:03  26170 -37689   A    0.1898  0.9880   1.4N  42.2E  79   43  01m11s
02331  08 -1030 Nov 04  01:07:24  25841 -37466   A    0.1940  0.9836   2.4S  87.0W  79   59  01m40s
02374  09 -1012 Nov 14  09:38:15  25515 -37243   A    0.1962  0.9799   5.7S 143.6E  79   73  02m07s
02416  10 -0994 Nov 25  18:10:20  25191 -37020   A    0.1968  0.9767   8.6S  14.2E  79   84  02m32s
02456  11 -0976 Dec 06  02:40:40  24869 -36797   A    0.1981  0.9742  10.7S 114.6W  79   94  02m54s

02497  12 -0958 Dec 17  11:07:32  24549 -36574   A    0.2014  0.9723  11.8S 117.6E  78  101  03m14s
02538  13 -0940 Dec 27  19:29:39  24231 -36351   A    0.2080  0.9709  11.9S   8.9W  78  107  03m29s
02578  14 -0921 Jan 08  03:45:32  23915 -36128   A    0.2185  0.9699  10.9S 133.9W  77  111  03m40s
02618  15 -0903 Jan 18  11:52:49  23601 -35905   A    0.2356  0.9694   8.7S 103.0E  76  113  03m46s
02658  16 -0885 Jan 29  19:51:01  23289 -35682   A    0.2593  0.9691   5.3S  18.2W  75  115  03m50s
02699  17 -0867 Feb 09  03:39:24  22979 -35459   A    0.2902  0.9690   0.8S 137.5W  73  116  03m49s
02740  18 -0849 Feb 20  11:17:55  22671 -35236   A    0.3281  0.9689   4.6N 105.2E  71  118  03m46s
02780  19 -0831 Mar 02  18:44:13  22366 -35013   A    0.3752  0.9688  11.1N   9.7W  68  121  03m41s
02821  20 -0813 Mar 14  02:01:21  22062 -34790   A    0.4288  0.9684  18.2N 122.8W  64  125  03m36s
02862  21 -0795 Mar 24  09:07:14  21761 -34567   A    0.4910  0.9679  26.1N 126.5E  60  132  03m31s

02903  22 -0777 Apr 04  16:05:25  21461 -34344   A    0.5584  0.9669  34.6N  17.3E  56  143  03m25s
02944  23 -0759 Apr 14  22:53:03  21164 -34121   A    0.6336  0.9654  43.8N  89.9W  50  160  03m20s
02986  24 -0741 Apr 26  05:35:33  20869 -33898   A    0.7120  0.9634  53.5N 163.3E  44  188  03m16s
03030  25 -0723 May 06  12:10:17  20576 -33675   A    0.7960  0.9606  64.2N  56.1E  37  236  03m12s
03074  26 -0705 May 17  18:41:36  20284 -33452   A    0.8817  0.9569  75.6N  59.6W  28  336  03m08s
03118  27 -0687 May 28  01:08:50  19995 -33229   A    0.9697  0.9513  80.3N 112.4E  13  772  03m05s
03163  28 -0669 Jun 08  07:36:00  19708 -33006   P    1.0569  0.8693  67.7N  24.4W   0             
03208  29 -0651 Jun 18  14:02:56  19424 -32783   P    1.1432  0.7194  66.7N 133.3W   0             
03253  30 -0633 Jun 29  20:31:44  19141 -32560   P    1.2270  0.5745  65.7N 117.9E   0             
03299  31 -0615 Jul 10  03:04:02  18860 -32337   P    1.3070  0.4372  64.7N   8.7E   0             

03346  32 -0597 Jul 21  09:41:13  18581 -32114   P    1.3824  0.3088  63.8N 101.5W   0             
03393  33 -0579 Jul 31  16:24:28  18305 -31891   P    1.4518  0.1915  63.0N 147.1E   0             
03440  34 -0561 Aug 11  23:14:48  18030 -31668   Pe   1.5148  0.0861  62.3N  34.2E   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