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 47 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 -1306 Apr 02. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0026 May 10. The total duration of Saros series 47 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1306 Apr 02 13:04:59 TD Last Eclipse = -0026 May 10 15:59:57 TD Duration of Saros 47 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 47 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 47 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 18 | 25.0% |
| Annular | A | 21 | 29.2% |
| Total | T | 30 | 41.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.2% |
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 47 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 47 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 54 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 50 | 92.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 3 | 5.6% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.9% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 47: 6P 21A 3H 30T 12P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 47 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 47 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1000 Oct 02 | 03m26s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0837 Jan 08 | 00m38s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0567 Jun 19 | 06m17s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0261 Dec 21 | 01m24s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0783 Feb 09 | 01m14s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0819 Jan 18 | 00m00s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0224 Jan 12 | - | 0.99316 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0026 May 10 | - | 0.02875 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 47. 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 47.
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
01646 -34 -1306 Apr 02 13:04:59 31107 -40887 Pb 1.4985 0.1100 60.6N 25.3E 0
01689 -33 -1288 Apr 12 19:37:54 30749 -40664 P 1.4205 0.2425 60.6N 83.1W 0
01734 -32 -1270 Apr 24 02:06:07 30393 -40441 P 1.3379 0.3840 60.9N 169.7E 0
01779 -31 -1252 May 04 08:33:10 30039 -40218 P 1.2528 0.5306 61.2N 62.6E 0
01824 -30 -1234 May 15 14:57:03 29687 -39995 P 1.1641 0.6844 61.7N 43.7W 0
01869 -29 -1216 May 25 21:23:51 29338 -39772 P 1.0766 0.8367 62.3N 150.9W 0
01914 -28 -1198 Jun 06 03:50:59 28990 -39549 An 0.9885 0.9524 68.7N 114.3E 8 - 02m50s
01959 -27 -1180 Jun 16 10:23:42 28644 -39326 A 0.9035 0.9582 77.9N 64.7E 25 359 02m48s
02005 -26 -1162 Jun 27 16:59:29 28301 -39103 A 0.8199 0.9615 76.7N 9.0E 35 246 02m47s
02051 -25 -1144 Jul 07 23:44:20 27959 -38880 A 0.7428 0.9638 71.7N 70.1W 42 197 02m48s
02097 -24 -1126 Jul 19 06:35:40 27619 -38657 A 0.6701 0.9653 65.4N 163.2W 48 170 02m51s
02142 -23 -1108 Jul 29 13:36:42 27282 -38434 A 0.6047 0.9663 58.8N 95.4E 53 153 02m56s
02185 -22 -1090 Aug 09 20:46:57 26947 -38211 A 0.5457 0.9669 52.0N 11.1W 57 142 03m02s
02228 -21 -1072 Aug 20 04:08:47 26613 -37988 A 0.4954 0.9673 45.3N 122.2W 60 135 03m08s
02271 -20 -1054 Aug 31 11:40:38 26282 -37765 A 0.4526 0.9675 38.8N 123.2E 63 131 03m15s
02314 -19 -1036 Sep 10 19:22:54 25953 -37542 A 0.4175 0.9677 32.5N 5.5E 65 128 03m20s
02359 -18 -1018 Sep 22 03:15:47 25626 -37319 A 0.3903 0.9679 26.4N 115.2W 67 125 03m24s
02401 -17 -1000 Oct 02 11:18:35 25301 -37096 A 0.3705 0.9684 20.8N 121.5E 68 122 03m26s
02442 -16 -0982 Oct 13 19:29:50 24978 -36873 A 0.3566 0.9692 15.6N 4.0W 69 118 03m25s
02483 -15 -0964 Oct 24 03:48:35 24657 -36650 A 0.3481 0.9704 10.9N 131.2W 70 113 03m22s
02524 -14 -0946 Nov 04 12:13:23 24339 -36427 A 0.3438 0.9720 6.7N 100.3E 70 107 03m14s
02565 -13 -0928 Nov 14 20:42:26 24022 -36204 A 0.3422 0.9742 3.2N 29.2W 70 98 03m01s
02605 -12 -0910 Nov 26 05:13:06 23707 -35981 A 0.3411 0.9770 0.3N 158.8W 70 87 02m43s
02644 -11 -0892 Dec 06 13:45:10 23395 -35758 A 0.3403 0.9805 2.0S 71.3E 70 74 02m19s
02685 -10 -0874 Dec 17 22:15:39 23084 -35535 A 0.3373 0.9845 3.6S 58.0W 70 58 01m49s
02726 -09 -0856 Dec 28 06:43:18 22776 -35312 A 0.3313 0.9892 4.6S 173.6E 71 40 01m15s
02766 -08 -0837 Jan 08 15:06:00 22470 -35089 A 0.3204 0.9943 5.0S 46.4E 71 21 00m38s
02807 -07 -0819 Jan 18 23:23:51 22165 -34866 H 0.3047 1.0001 4.9S 79.4W 72 0 00m00s
02848 -06 -0801 Jan 30 07:35:26 21863 -34643 H 0.2827 1.0061 4.3S 156.3E 74 22 00m38s
02889 -05 -0783 Feb 09 15:39:19 21563 -34420 H 0.2535 1.0125 3.4S 34.1E 75 44 01m14s
02930 -04 -0765 Feb 20 23:36:23 21265 -34197 T 0.2177 1.0190 2.2S 86.3W 77 66 01m49s
02972 -03 -0747 Mar 03 07:25:55 20969 -33974 T 0.1749 1.0256 0.8S 155.3E 80 88 02m21s
03014 -02 -0729 Mar 14 15:09:18 20675 -33751 T 0.1258 1.0320 0.6N 38.6E 83 109 02m52s
03058 -01 -0711 Mar 24 22:45:09 20383 -33528 T 0.0695 1.0382 2.0N 76.1W 86 128 03m21s
03102 00 -0693 Apr 05 06:16:21 20094 -33305 T 0.0082 1.0440 3.2N 170.6E 90 147 03m49s
03147 01 -0675 Apr 15 13:41:58 19806 -33082 T -0.0583 1.0493 4.1N 58.7E 87 164 04m17s
03192 02 -0657 Apr 26 21:04:23 19520 -32859 Tm -0.1284 1.0540 4.4N 52.3W 83 180 04m44s
03237 03 -0639 May 07 04:23:33 19237 -32636 T -0.2020 1.0580 3.9N 162.5W 78 195 05m10s
03283 04 -0621 May 18 11:42:11 18955 -32413 T -0.2765 1.0613 2.7N 87.3E 74 209 05m34s
03330 05 -0603 May 28 19:00:44 18676 -32190 T -0.3517 1.0637 0.7N 23.2W 69 222 05m54s
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
03377 06 -0585 Jun 09 02:19:58 18399 -31967 T -0.4268 1.0652 2.4S 134.2W 65 235 06m10s
03425 07 -0567 Jun 19 09:42:08 18124 -31744 T -0.4997 1.0659 6.2S 113.5E 60 248 06m17s
03471 08 -0549 Jun 30 17:07:35 17850 -31521 T -0.5701 1.0657 10.9S 0.3W 55 261 06m16s
03516 09 -0531 Jul 11 00:38:17 17579 -31298 T -0.6366 1.0648 16.4S 116.0W 50 275 06m05s
03561 10 -0513 Jul 22 08:14:07 17310 -31075 T -0.6990 1.0630 22.4S 126.2E 45 289 05m44s
03606 11 -0495 Aug 01 15:57:30 17026 -30852 T -0.7555 1.0607 29.0S 5.6E 41 304 05m17s
03650 12 -0477 Aug 12 23:48:23 16708 -30629 T -0.8059 1.0578 35.8S 117.8W 36 321 04m46s
03694 13 -0459 Aug 23 07:46:54 16400 -30406 T -0.8502 1.0546 42.8S 115.9E 31 341 04m14s
03737 14 -0441 Sep 03 15:54:13 16101 -30183 T -0.8876 1.0509 49.9S 13.8W 27 366 03m41s
03781 15 -0423 Sep 14 00:09:47 15809 -29960 T -0.9186 1.0472 56.7S 147.3W 23 399 03m12s
03823 16 -0405 Sep 25 08:34:09 15525 -29737 T -0.9423 1.0435 62.9S 74.7E 19 440 02m45s
03865 17 -0387 Oct 05 17:04:43 15249 -29514 T -0.9612 1.0400 68.5S 68.6W 15 500 02m22s
03907 18 -0369 Oct 17 01:43:35 14979 -29291 T -0.9735 1.0368 72.5S 142.1E 12 570 02m04s
03946 19 -0351 Oct 27 10:27:30 14715 -29068 T -0.9819 1.0341 74.9S 13.0W 10 664 01m49s
03986 20 -0333 Nov 07 19:16:57 14457 -28845 T -0.9860 1.0321 75.8S 169.1W 8 736 01m39s
04027 21 -0315 Nov 18 04:08:18 14206 -28622 T -0.9887 1.0306 75.6S 35.5E 7 807 01m32s
04068 22 -0297 Nov 29 13:02:25 13960 -28399 T -0.9892 1.0298 75.1S 117.3W 7 815 01m28s
04108 23 -0279 Dec 09 21:55:28 13719 -28176 Ts -0.9907 1.0294 73.7S 91.4E 7 - 01m25s
04148 24 -0261 Dec 21 06:47:13 13483 -27953 Ts -0.9933 1.0291 71.0S 56.5W 5 - 01m24s
04189 25 -0243 Dec 31 15:35:17 13252 -27730 T- -0.9993 1.0102 65.0S 162.5E 0
04230 26 -0224 Jan 12 00:19:29 13026 -27507 P -1.0087 0.9932 64.0S 20.6E 0
04271 27 -0206 Jan 22 08:56:33 12804 -27284 P -1.0240 0.9651 63.2S 119.0W 0
04312 28 -0188 Feb 02 17:27:14 12587 -27061 P -1.0444 0.9271 62.4S 103.1E 0
04354 29 -0170 Feb 13 01:49:34 12374 -26838 P -1.0719 0.8758 61.8S 32.3W 0
04398 30 -0152 Feb 24 10:04:50 12164 -26615 P -1.1053 0.8131 61.3S 165.9W 0
04440 31 -0134 Mar 06 18:09:42 11959 -26392 P -1.1471 0.7342 61.0S 63.2E 0
04483 32 -0116 Mar 17 02:07:30 11757 -26169 P -1.1943 0.6448 60.8S 65.8W 0
04526 33 -0098 Mar 28 09:55:44 11558 -25946 P -1.2491 0.5408 60.8S 167.6E 0
04569 34 -0080 Apr 07 17:37:49 11363 -25723 P -1.3085 0.4277 60.9S 42.6E 0
04614 35 -0062 Apr 19 01:10:25 11171 -25500 P -1.3750 0.3011 61.2S 80.2W 0
04659 36 -0044 Apr 29 08:38:41 10982 -25277 P -1.4445 0.1690 61.7S 158.1E 0
04705 37 -0026 May 10 15:59:57 10795 -25054 Pe -1.5186 0.0287 62.3S 37.9E 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)"
