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 44 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 -1447 Apr 30. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0167 Jun 07. The total duration of Saros series 44 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1447 Apr 30 16:14:13 TD Last Eclipse = -0167 Jun 07 18:25:15 TD Duration of Saros 44 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 44 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 44 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.4% |
| Annular | A | 21 | 29.2% |
| Total | T | 35 | 48.6% |
| 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 44 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 44 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 58 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 57 | 98.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.7% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 44: 6P 21A 2H 35T 8P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 44 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 44 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1303 Jul 25 | 05m09s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0978 Feb 05 | 00m09s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0780 Jun 04 | 05m06s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0924 Mar 09 | 01m45s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0942 Feb 27 | 01m05s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0960 Feb 17 | 00m27s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0293 Mar 24 | - | 0.97511 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0167 Jun 07 | - | 0.04588 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 44. 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 44.
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
01319 -34 -1447 Apr 30 16:14:13 33978 -42630 Pb -1.5170 0.0757 71.0S 135.5E 0
01360 -33 -1429 May 11 22:34:56 33604 -42407 P -1.4306 0.2237 70.4S 25.6E 0
01401 -32 -1411 May 22 04:55:43 33231 -42184 P -1.3429 0.3744 69.6S 83.8W 0
01442 -31 -1393 Jun 02 11:18:15 32861 -41961 P -1.2553 0.5257 68.7S 167.0E 0
01483 -30 -1375 Jun 12 17:43:49 32493 -41738 P -1.1691 0.6748 67.7S 57.6E 0
01525 -29 -1357 Jun 24 00:13:59 32127 -41515 P -1.0855 0.8198 66.7S 52.5W 0
01567 -28 -1339 Jul 04 06:50:46 31763 -41292 A- -1.0061 0.9574 65.7S 163.7W 0
01610 -27 -1321 Jul 15 13:35:28 31401 -41069 A -0.9318 0.9509 44.6S 93.8E 21 498 05m04s
01654 -26 -1303 Jul 25 20:28:00 31042 -40846 A -0.8627 0.9530 35.8S 12.6W 30 337 05m09s
01697 -25 -1285 Aug 06 03:31:11 30684 -40623 A -0.8011 0.9540 30.5S 121.3W 37 276 05m06s
01742 -24 -1267 Aug 16 10:44:25 30328 -40400 A -0.7469 0.9546 27.4S 127.8E 41 244 04m59s
01787 -23 -1249 Aug 27 18:09:35 29974 -40177 A -0.7012 0.9549 26.1S 14.0E 45 225 04m50s
01832 -22 -1231 Sep 07 01:43:58 29623 -39954 A -0.6621 0.9550 26.2S 101.9W 48 213 04m40s
01877 -21 -1213 Sep 18 09:30:30 29273 -39731 A -0.6319 0.9552 27.7S 139.1E 51 206 04m29s
01922 -20 -1195 Sep 28 17:25:34 28926 -39508 A -0.6079 0.9555 30.0S 18.0E 52 200 04m18s
01967 -19 -1177 Oct 10 01:30:33 28581 -39285 A -0.5913 0.9562 33.3S 105.5W 54 194 04m07s
02014 -18 -1159 Oct 20 09:42:04 28238 -39062 A -0.5793 0.9571 37.0S 129.6E 54 188 03m55s
02060 -17 -1141 Oct 31 18:01:02 27896 -38839 A -0.5727 0.9586 41.2S 3.2E 55 181 03m41s
02106 -16 -1123 Nov 11 02:23:36 27557 -38616 A -0.5683 0.9606 45.4S 123.4W 55 172 03m26s
02151 -15 -1105 Nov 22 10:49:20 27220 -38393 A -0.5659 0.9632 49.4S 110.2E 55 161 03m09s
02194 -14 -1087 Dec 02 19:15:52 26885 -38170 A -0.5634 0.9664 52.9S 14.9W 55 146 02m50s
02237 -13 -1069 Dec 14 03:42:16 26552 -37947 A -0.5605 0.9703 55.6S 138.6W 56 129 02m29s
02280 -12 -1051 Dec 24 12:05:18 26222 -37724 A -0.5537 0.9748 57.0S 100.1E 56 108 02m06s
02323 -11 -1032 Jan 04 20:24:42 25893 -37501 A -0.5432 0.9799 56.8S 19.7W 57 85 01m41s
02366 -10 -1014 Jan 15 04:38:44 25566 -37278 A -0.5275 0.9856 54.9S 138.8W 58 60 01m13s
02408 -09 -0996 Jan 26 12:47:41 25242 -37055 A -0.5068 0.9917 51.6S 102.0E 59 34 00m43s
02449 -08 -0978 Feb 05 20:48:17 24919 -36832 A -0.4783 0.9982 46.9S 17.0W 61 7 00m09s
02490 -07 -0960 Feb 17 04:42:54 24599 -36609 H -0.4440 1.0050 41.2S 136.0W 63 19 00m27s
02531 -06 -0942 Feb 27 12:29:02 24280 -36386 H -0.4016 1.0118 34.7S 105.6E 66 44 01m05s
02572 -05 -0924 Mar 09 20:09:35 23964 -36163 T -0.3537 1.0187 27.7S 12.2W 69 68 01m45s
02612 -04 -0906 Mar 21 03:41:44 23650 -35940 T -0.2981 1.0254 20.2S 128.5W 73 90 02m26s
02652 -03 -0888 Mar 31 11:09:47 23338 -35717 T -0.2381 1.0318 12.5S 115.8E 76 110 03m06s
02693 -02 -0870 Apr 11 18:31:51 23028 -35494 T -0.1722 1.0377 4.6S 1.6E 80 128 03m42s
02734 -01 -0852 Apr 22 01:50:28 22720 -35271 T -0.1025 1.0432 3.3N 111.8W 84 145 04m14s
02773 00 -0834 May 03 09:05:39 22414 -35048 T -0.0291 1.0480 11.2N 136.1E 88 159 04m38s
02814 01 -0816 May 13 16:20:00 22110 -34825 T 0.0458 1.0521 18.8N 24.6E 87 173 04m56s
02855 02 -0798 May 24 23:34:25 21808 -34602 Tm 0.1215 1.0554 26.1N 86.2W 83 184 05m04s
02896 03 -0780 Jun 04 06:49:16 21508 -34379 T 0.1975 1.0580 32.8N 163.9E 78 195 05m06s
02937 04 -0762 Jun 15 14:07:32 21211 -34156 T 0.2715 1.0596 38.9N 54.3E 74 204 05m00s
02979 05 -0744 Jun 25 21:29:20 20915 -33933 T 0.3434 1.0605 44.0N 54.8W 70 212 04m51s
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
03022 06 -0726 Jul 07 04:56:39 20621 -33710 T 0.4113 1.0607 47.9N 163.9W 65 219 04m38s
03067 07 -0708 Jul 17 12:28:51 20330 -33487 T 0.4756 1.0601 50.5N 86.9E 61 225 04m25s
03111 08 -0690 Jul 28 20:09:10 20041 -33264 T 0.5338 1.0589 51.6N 23.9W 57 229 04m11s
03156 09 -0672 Aug 08 03:56:31 19753 -33041 T 0.5867 1.0572 51.4N 136.8W 54 232 03m59s
03201 10 -0654 Aug 19 11:52:06 19468 -32818 T 0.6332 1.0551 50.3N 107.3E 50 233 03m47s
03246 11 -0636 Aug 29 19:55:51 19185 -32595 T 0.6733 1.0528 48.3N 12.1W 47 234 03m36s
03292 12 -0618 Sep 10 04:09:08 18904 -32372 T 0.7056 1.0503 45.9N 135.3W 45 232 03m28s
03339 13 -0600 Sep 20 12:30:31 18625 -32149 T 0.7318 1.0478 43.3N 98.2E 43 229 03m21s
03386 14 -0582 Oct 01 20:59:24 18348 -31926 T 0.7520 1.0455 40.6N 31.1W 41 225 03m16s
03433 15 -0564 Oct 12 05:35:35 18073 -31703 T 0.7664 1.0435 37.9N 163.1W 40 221 03m13s
03479 16 -0546 Oct 23 14:18:31 17800 -31480 T 0.7755 1.0418 35.3N 62.7E 39 216 03m11s
03524 17 -0528 Nov 02 23:05:46 17530 -31257 T 0.7813 1.0406 33.0N 72.9W 38 213 03m13s
03569 18 -0510 Nov 14 07:57:17 17261 -31034 T 0.7837 1.0397 31.0N 150.2E 38 211 03m16s
03614 19 -0492 Nov 24 16:50:18 16966 -30811 T 0.7851 1.0395 29.4N 12.7E 38 211 03m21s
03659 20 -0474 Dec 06 01:44:51 16651 -30588 T 0.7855 1.0397 28.4N 125.2W 38 213 03m27s
03703 21 -0456 Dec 16 10:36:32 16345 -30365 T 0.7883 1.0403 28.2N 97.7E 38 219 03m34s
03746 22 -0438 Dec 27 19:27:14 16047 -30142 T 0.7922 1.0413 28.7N 39.2W 37 227 03m40s
03789 23 -0419 Jan 07 04:12:19 15757 -29919 T 0.8004 1.0426 30.2N 174.7W 37 238 03m46s
03831 24 -0401 Jan 18 12:52:53 15474 -29696 T 0.8128 1.0442 32.8N 50.6E 35 253 03m49s
03873 25 -0383 Jan 28 21:25:04 15198 -29473 T 0.8320 1.0456 36.6N 82.4W 33 274 03m49s
03914 26 -0365 Feb 09 05:51:31 14930 -29250 T 0.8559 1.0471 41.5N 145.4E 31 302 03m45s
03953 27 -0347 Feb 19 14:08:39 14667 -29027 T 0.8873 1.0481 47.7N 14.1E 27 346 03m36s
03993 28 -0329 Mar 02 22:17:43 14411 -28804 T 0.9252 1.0486 55.3N 117.9W 22 427 03m22s
04034 29 -0311 Mar 13 06:17:39 14160 -28581 T 0.9704 1.0476 64.9N 103.7E 13 680 02m58s
04075 30 -0293 Mar 24 14:10:04 13915 -28358 P 1.0217 0.9751 71.8N 60.9W 0
04115 31 -0275 Apr 03 21:54:21 13675 -28135 P 1.0792 0.8654 71.7N 167.9E 0
04155 32 -0257 Apr 15 05:31:25 13440 -27912 P 1.1422 0.7449 71.4N 38.8E 0
04196 33 -0239 Apr 25 13:02:25 13210 -27689 P 1.2099 0.6153 70.8N 88.3W 0
04237 34 -0221 May 06 20:28:38 12985 -27466 P 1.2811 0.4790 70.1N 146.3E 0
04278 35 -0203 May 17 03:49:42 12764 -27243 P 1.3559 0.3360 69.3N 22.8E 0
04319 36 -0185 May 28 11:08:37 12547 -27020 P 1.4317 0.1917 68.4N 99.6W 0
04362 37 -0167 Jun 07 18:25:15 12335 -26797 Pe 1.5089 0.0459 67.4N 139.1E 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)"
