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 48 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 -1331 Feb 08. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0015 Apr 09. The total duration of Saros series 48 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1331 Feb 08 11:09:17 TD Last Eclipse = -0015 Apr 09 04:25:09 TD Duration of Saros 48 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 48 is composed of 74 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 48 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 39.2% |
| Annular | A | 6 | 8.1% |
| Total | T | 37 | 50.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 2 | 2.7% |
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 48 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 48 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 45 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 95.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 2 | 4.4% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 74 eclipses in Saros 48: 9P 37T 2H 6A 20P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 48 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 48 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0376 Sep 04 | 02m34s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0466 Jul 13 | 00m05s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1079 Jul 09 | 06m36s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0520 Jun 10 | 01m26s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0502 Jun 21 | 00m56s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0484 Jul 01 | 00m25s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0358 Sep 16 | - | 0.91305 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1331 Feb 08 | - | 0.01628 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 48. 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 48.
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
01586 -39 -1331 Feb 08 11:09:17 31610 -41198 Pb -1.5290 0.0163 69.1S 59.4W 0
01629 -38 -1313 Feb 19 19:12:20 31249 -40975 P -1.4916 0.0838 70.0S 165.9E 0
01673 -37 -1295 Mar 02 03:07:17 30890 -40752 P -1.4471 0.1655 70.7S 32.7E 0
01717 -36 -1277 Mar 13 10:55:17 30534 -40529 P -1.3965 0.2597 71.2S 99.2W 0
01761 -35 -1259 Mar 23 18:36:27 30179 -40306 P -1.3398 0.3669 71.6S 130.2E 0
01807 -34 -1241 Apr 04 02:12:31 29826 -40083 P -1.2781 0.4845 71.7S 0.7E 0
01852 -33 -1223 Apr 14 09:43:26 29475 -39860 P -1.2117 0.6122 71.5S 127.5W 0
01897 -32 -1205 Apr 25 17:10:35 29127 -39637 P -1.1418 0.7476 71.2S 105.6E 0
01942 -31 -1187 May 06 00:35:19 28780 -39414 P -1.0692 0.8888 70.6S 20.4W 0
01988 -30 -1169 May 17 07:59:08 28436 -39191 Ts -0.9953 1.0601 67.1S 150.8W 3 - 03m46s
02034 -29 -1151 May 27 15:21:38 28094 -38968 T -0.9200 1.0676 47.4S 76.5E 23 567 05m04s
02080 -28 -1133 Jun 07 22:45:58 27753 -38745 T -0.8458 1.0708 36.5S 42.7W 32 433 05m48s
02125 -27 -1115 Jun 18 06:11:48 27415 -38522 T -0.7726 1.0725 27.8S 159.8W 39 371 06m18s
02169 -26 -1097 Jun 29 13:42:32 27079 -38299 T -0.7034 1.0729 21.0S 83.1E 45 333 06m33s
02212 -25 -1079 Jul 09 21:15:56 26745 -38076 T -0.6363 1.0723 15.6S 33.6W 50 304 06m36s
02255 -24 -1061 Jul 21 04:56:56 26413 -37853 T -0.5753 1.0709 11.6S 151.7W 55 281 06m28s
02298 -23 -1043 Jul 31 12:43:14 26083 -37630 T -0.5187 1.0687 9.0S 89.5E 59 260 06m11s
02342 -22 -1025 Aug 11 20:38:00 25755 -37407 T -0.4692 1.0660 7.7S 31.1W 62 242 05m49s
02384 -21 -1007 Aug 22 04:39:03 25429 -37184 T -0.4251 1.0627 7.6S 153.1W 65 225 05m25s
02426 -20 -0989 Sep 02 12:49:37 25105 -36961 T -0.3889 1.0592 8.7S 82.5E 67 210 05m00s
02467 -19 -0971 Sep 12 21:07:23 24784 -36738 T -0.3588 1.0554 10.8S 43.7W 69 195 04m36s
02508 -18 -0953 Sep 24 05:32:57 24464 -36515 T -0.3353 1.0518 13.6S 171.8W 70 181 04m14s
02549 -17 -0935 Oct 04 14:05:36 24147 -36292 T -0.3180 1.0481 17.1S 58.2E 71 168 03m54s
02589 -16 -0917 Oct 15 22:45:19 23831 -36069 T -0.3072 1.0447 21.0S 73.4W 72 156 03m36s
02629 -15 -0899 Oct 26 07:30:00 23518 -35846 T -0.3004 1.0416 25.1S 154.0E 72 145 03m21s
02669 -14 -0881 Nov 06 16:17:53 23207 -35623 T -0.2968 1.0389 29.2S 21.0E 73 136 03m08s
02710 -13 -0863 Nov 17 01:08:32 22897 -35400 T -0.2959 1.0367 33.1S 112.1W 73 129 02m58s
02750 -12 -0845 Nov 28 10:00:06 22590 -35177 T -0.2963 1.0350 36.4S 115.3E 73 123 02m51s
02790 -11 -0827 Dec 08 18:50:11 22285 -34954 T -0.2960 1.0338 39.0S 16.2W 73 119 02m47s
02831 -10 -0809 Dec 20 03:37:52 21982 -34731 T -0.2942 1.0331 40.5S 146.4W 73 117 02m45s
02872 -09 -0791 Dec 30 12:21:11 21681 -34508 T -0.2892 1.0328 40.7S 84.7E 73 116 02m46s
02913 -08 -0772 Jan 10 20:59:12 21382 -34285 T -0.2803 1.0329 39.6S 42.9W 74 116 02m49s
02955 -07 -0754 Jan 21 05:29:27 21086 -34062 T -0.2655 1.0333 37.2S 169.2W 74 116 02m54s
02997 -06 -0736 Feb 01 13:52:44 20791 -33839 T -0.2453 1.0339 33.5S 65.4E 76 118 03m01s
03041 -05 -0718 Feb 11 22:07:07 20498 -33616 T -0.2186 1.0345 28.8S 58.7W 77 119 03m08s
03085 -04 -0700 Feb 23 06:12:09 20208 -33393 T -0.1843 1.0352 23.2S 178.5E 79 121 03m16s
03130 -03 -0682 Mar 05 14:07:49 19919 -33170 T -0.1429 1.0356 16.8S 57.4E 82 121 03m23s
03175 -02 -0664 Mar 15 21:54:36 19633 -32947 Tm -0.0946 1.0359 10.0S 62.1W 85 121 03m28s
03220 -01 -0646 Mar 27 05:32:40 19349 -32724 T -0.0399 1.0356 2.6S 179.8W 88 120 03m29s
03265 00 -0628 Apr 06 13:01:12 19066 -32501 T 0.0221 1.0349 5.0N 64.7E 89 118 03m26s
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
03311 01 -0610 Apr 17 20:23:07 18786 -32278 T 0.0887 1.0336 12.9N 49.2W 85 114 03m18s
03358 02 -0592 Apr 28 03:37:40 18508 -32055 T 0.1609 1.0317 20.8N 160.9W 81 109 03m05s
03406 03 -0574 May 09 10:47:35 18232 -31832 T 0.2358 1.0291 28.7N 89.0E 76 101 02m46s
03453 04 -0556 May 19 17:51:44 17958 -31609 T 0.3145 1.0258 36.6N 19.0W 71 92 02m22s
03498 05 -0538 May 31 00:54:35 17686 -31386 T 0.3934 1.0218 44.0N 125.4W 67 81 01m55s
03543 06 -0520 Jun 10 07:54:41 17416 -31163 T 0.4737 1.0170 51.0N 130.6E 61 66 01m26s
03588 07 -0502 Jun 21 14:54:51 17148 -30940 H 0.5529 1.0116 57.3N 28.9E 56 48 00m56s
03633 08 -0484 Jul 01 21:55:42 16832 -30717 H 0.6304 1.0055 62.5N 69.9W 51 25 00m25s
03676 09 -0466 Jul 13 04:59:52 16521 -30494 A 0.7042 0.9989 66.2N 165.8W 45 5 00m05s
03720 10 -0448 Jul 23 12:07:49 16218 -30271 A 0.7738 0.9918 68.0N 100.3E 39 45 00m35s
03764 11 -0430 Aug 03 19:20:15 15923 -30048 A 0.8388 0.9843 68.0N 5.9E 33 102 01m04s
03806 12 -0412 Aug 14 02:39:14 15636 -29825 A 0.8974 0.9765 66.7N 91.5W 26 190 01m34s
03848 13 -0394 Aug 25 10:04:55 15357 -29602 A 0.9496 0.9682 64.9N 169.0E 18 369 02m04s
03890 14 -0376 Sep 04 17:37:31 15084 -29379 An 0.9951 0.9584 62.2N 77.3E 4 - 02m34s
03931 15 -0358 Sep 16 01:17:33 14818 -29156 P 1.0334 0.9131 60.7N 39.7W 0
03970 16 -0340 Sep 26 09:05:02 14558 -28933 P 1.0650 0.8560 60.6N 166.3W 0
04011 17 -0322 Oct 07 16:59:55 14304 -28710 P 1.0895 0.8118 60.7N 65.3E 0
04052 18 -0304 Oct 18 00:59:44 14056 -28487 P 1.1092 0.7764 60.9N 64.3W 0
04093 19 -0286 Oct 29 09:06:06 13813 -28264 P 1.1226 0.7523 61.3N 164.4E 0
04133 20 -0268 Nov 08 17:15:46 13575 -28041 P 1.1322 0.7349 61.9N 32.2E 0
04173 21 -0250 Nov 20 01:28:50 13343 -27818 P 1.1388 0.7230 62.6N 101.1W 0
04214 22 -0232 Nov 30 09:40:44 13115 -27595 P 1.1455 0.7110 63.4N 125.8E 0
04254 23 -0214 Dec 11 17:53:27 12891 -27372 P 1.1509 0.7015 64.4N 7.9W 0
04295 24 -0196 Dec 22 02:02:20 12672 -27149 P 1.1585 0.6883 65.4N 140.9W 0
04337 25 -0177 Jan 02 10:07:17 12457 -26926 P 1.1687 0.6709 66.5N 86.6E 0
04380 26 -0159 Jan 12 18:05:07 12246 -26703 P 1.1839 0.6453 67.6N 44.7W 0
04423 27 -0141 Jan 24 01:56:29 12039 -26480 P 1.2040 0.6116 68.7N 174.8W 0
04466 28 -0123 Feb 03 09:38:33 11836 -26257 P 1.2307 0.5665 69.7N 56.7E 0
04509 29 -0105 Feb 14 17:11:14 11636 -26034 P 1.2643 0.5099 70.5N 70.0W 0
04552 30 -0087 Feb 25 00:33:44 11440 -25811 P 1.3053 0.4406 71.2N 165.3E 0
04596 31 -0069 Mar 08 07:46:43 11247 -25588 P 1.3531 0.3595 71.7N 42.5E 0
04641 32 -0051 Mar 18 14:48:25 11056 -25365 P 1.4092 0.2640 71.9N 77.8W 0
04686 33 -0033 Mar 29 21:41:30 10869 -25142 P 1.4714 0.1577 71.8N 164.1E 0
04733 34 -0015 Apr 09 04:25:09 10684 -24919 Pe 1.5403 0.0397 71.6N 48.5E 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)"
