Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 51

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 51

Solar eclipses of Saros 51 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 -1407 Sep 02. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0108 Feb 29. The total duration of Saros series 51 is 1514.53 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1407 Sep 02   23:13:08 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   0108 Feb 29   17:15:40 TD

                      Duration of Saros  51  =  1514.53 Years

Saros 51 is composed of 85 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 51
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 85100.0%
PartialP 42 49.4%
AnnularA 3 3.5%
TotalT 36 42.4%
Hybrid[3]H 4 4.7%

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 51 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 51
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 43100.0%
Central (two limits) 42 97.7%
Central (one limit) 1 2.3%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 85 eclipses in Saros 51: 21P 36T 4H 3A 21P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 51 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 51
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0271 Jul 1601m49s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0307 Jun 2500m30s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -0866 Jul 2505m35s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -0397 May 0201m49s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0379 May 1301m34s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0325 Jun 1500m09s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0253 Jul 28 - 0.92934
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 0108 Feb 29 - 0.00816

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 51

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 51. 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 51.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 51

                         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

01411 -49 -1407 Sep 02  23:13:08  33143 -42131   Pb   1.5266  0.0355  70.5N 100.0E   0             
01452 -48 -1389 Sep 14  07:18:31  32774 -41908   P    1.4962  0.0905  71.2N  36.4W   0             
01494 -47 -1371 Sep 24  15:32:49  32406 -41685   P    1.4723  0.1337  71.5N 175.4W   0             
01536 -46 -1353 Oct 05  23:56:17  32040 -41462   P    1.4553  0.1643  71.7N  43.1E   0             
01578 -45 -1335 Oct 16  08:25:36  31677 -41239   P    1.4425  0.1872  71.5N 100.0W   0             
01621 -44 -1317 Oct 27  17:02:30  31316 -41016   P    1.4354  0.1999  71.1N 115.3E   0             
01665 -43 -1299 Nov 07  01:43:03  30956 -40793   P    1.4304  0.2084  70.5N  29.8W   0             
01709 -42 -1281 Nov 18  10:27:10  30599 -40570   P    1.4278  0.2125  69.7N 175.3W   0             
01753 -41 -1263 Nov 28  19:11:33  30244 -40347   P    1.4249  0.2172  68.8N  39.9E   0             
01799 -40 -1245 Dec 10  03:56:17  29891 -40124   P    1.4217  0.2222  67.7N 104.4W   0             

01844 -39 -1227 Dec 20  12:37:49  29540 -39901   P    1.4155  0.2325  66.7N 112.7E   0             
01889 -38 -1209 Dec 31  21:15:47  29191 -39678   P    1.4060  0.2491  65.6N  28.8W   0             
01934 -37 -1190 Jan 11  05:48:19  28844 -39455   P    1.3915  0.2749  64.6N 168.4W   0             
01979 -36 -1172 Jan 22  14:15:18  28499 -39232   P    1.3721  0.3102  63.6N  53.7E   0             
02026 -35 -1154 Feb 01  22:33:56  28156 -39009   P    1.3456  0.3590  62.8N  81.8W   0             
02072 -34 -1136 Feb 13  06:45:54  27816 -38786   P    1.3134  0.4191  62.1N 144.6E   0             
02117 -33 -1118 Feb 23  14:49:11  27477 -38563   P    1.2737  0.4938  61.5N  13.4E   0             
02162 -32 -1100 Mar 05  22:46:35  27140 -38340   P    1.2287  0.5796  61.1N 116.3W   0             
02205 -31 -1082 Mar 17  06:34:24  26806 -38117   P    1.1755  0.6818  60.8N 116.6E   0             
02248 -30 -1064 Mar 27  14:17:50  26474 -37894   P    1.1183  0.7925  60.7N   9.4W   0             

02291 -29 -1046 Apr 07  21:53:43  26143 -37671   P    1.0545  0.9165  60.7N 133.4W   0             
02335 -28 -1028 Apr 18  05:26:57  25815 -37448   Tn   0.9880  1.0591  62.0N 119.4E   8   -   03m08s
02377 -27 -1010 Apr 29  12:54:08  25489 -37225   T    0.9161  1.0666  61.8N  30.9E  23  541  03m47s
02419 -26 -0992 May 09  20:20:56  25165 -37002   T    0.8433  1.0712  61.6N  69.6W  32  429  04m12s
02459 -25 -0974 May 21  03:44:46  24843 -36779   T    0.7680  1.0744  61.3N 171.1W  40  375  04m32s
02500 -24 -0956 May 31  11:09:40  24523 -36556   T    0.6932  1.0765  60.5N  86.4E  46  343  04m49s
02541 -23 -0938 Jun 11  18:34:31  24205 -36333   T    0.6183  1.0773  58.7N  16.9W  52  318  05m04s
02581 -22 -0920 Jun 22  02:03:01  23889 -36110   T    0.5464  1.0772  56.1N 122.5W  57  299  05m17s
02621 -21 -0902 Jul 03  09:34:32  23575 -35887   T    0.4771  1.0761  52.4N 129.5E  61  281  05m26s
02661 -20 -0884 Jul 13  17:10:32  23264 -35664   T    0.4117  1.0743  47.9N  18.5E  65  265  05m33s

02702 -19 -0866 Jul 25  00:52:06  22954 -35441   T    0.3514  1.0716  42.7N  95.4W  69  249  05m35s
02743 -18 -0848 Aug 04  08:40:00  22647 -35218   T    0.2968  1.0684  37.2N 147.8E  73  234  05m33s
02783 -17 -0830 Aug 15  16:35:06  22341 -34995   T    0.2484  1.0646  31.4N  28.3E  75  218  05m25s
02824 -16 -0812 Aug 26  00:37:15  22038 -34772   T    0.2064  1.0605  25.4N  93.8W  78  203  05m13s
02865 -15 -0794 Sep 06  08:47:51  21737 -34549   T    0.1718  1.0561  19.5N 141.6E  80  188  04m57s
02906 -14 -0776 Sep 16  17:06:09  21437 -34326   T    0.1441  1.0517  13.7N  14.8E  82  173  04m39s
02947 -13 -0758 Sep 28  01:31:40  21140 -34103   T    0.1228  1.0474   8.1N 113.9W  83  159  04m20s
02989 -12 -0740 Oct 08  10:04:20  20845 -33880   T    0.1077  1.0432   2.8N 115.7E  84  145  04m01s
03033 -11 -0722 Oct 19  18:43:18  20552 -33657   T    0.0980  1.0393   2.1S  16.1W  84  132  03m42s
03077 -10 -0704 Oct 30  03:27:08  20261 -33434   T    0.0929  1.0359   6.6S 148.8W  85  121  03m26s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 51

                         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

03121 -09 -0686 Nov 10  12:13:53  19972 -33211   T    0.0905  1.0328  10.4S  78.0E  85  111  03m10s
03166 -08 -0668 Nov 20  21:03:00  19685 -32988   T    0.0904  1.0303  13.6S  55.3W  85  103  02m58s
03211 -07 -0650 Dec 02  05:52:53  19401 -32765   Tm   0.0911  1.0282  16.1S 171.4E  85   96  02m47s
03256 -06 -0632 Dec 12  14:40:33  19118 -32542   T    0.0904  1.0267  17.8S  39.0E  85   91  02m39s
03303 -05 -0614 Dec 23  23:25:35  18837 -32319   T    0.0880  1.0256  18.8S  92.5W  85   87  02m32s
03350 -04 -0595 Jan 03  08:05:12  18559 -32096   T    0.0815  1.0251  19.1S 137.3E  85   86  02m28s
03397 -03 -0577 Jan 14  16:39:43  18282 -31873   T    0.0713  1.0248  18.6S   8.5E  86   84  02m24s
03444 -02 -0559 Jan 25  01:05:11  18008 -31650   T    0.0540  1.0248  17.7S 118.1W  87   85  02m22s
03489 -01 -0541 Feb 05  09:23:58  17736 -31427   T    0.0317  1.0250  16.3S 116.8E  88   85  02m20s
03534  00 -0523 Feb 15  17:32:29  17466 -31204   T    0.0013  1.0252  14.6S   5.8W  90   86  02m19s

03579  01 -0505 Feb 27  01:32:20  17197 -30981   T   -0.0357  1.0254  12.7S 126.3W  88   86  02m18s
03624  02 -0487 Mar 09  09:21:28  16891 -30758   T   -0.0810  1.0253  10.9S 115.8E  85   86  02m17s
03668  03 -0469 Mar 20  17:02:24  16577 -30535   T   -0.1325  1.0250   9.2S   0.2W  82   86  02m15s
03712  04 -0451 Mar 31  00:33:55  16273 -30312   T   -0.1914  1.0243   7.9S 113.8W  79   84  02m12s
03756  05 -0433 Apr 11  07:56:43  15977 -30089   T   -0.2567  1.0230   7.2S 134.9E  75   81  02m07s
03799  06 -0415 Apr 21  15:12:09  15689 -29866   T   -0.3272  1.0211   7.1S  25.5E  71   76  02m00s
03841  07 -0397 May 02  22:21:16  15408 -29643   T   -0.4020  1.0186   7.9S  82.5W  66   69  01m49s
03883  08 -0379 May 13  05:25:04  15134 -29420   H3  -0.4803  1.0155   9.8S 170.7E  61   60  01m34s
03924  09 -0361 May 24  12:23:59  14867 -29197   H   -0.5616  1.0115  12.8S  64.9E  56   47  01m12s
03963  10 -0343 Jun 03  19:20:33  14606 -28974   H   -0.6437  1.0069  17.1S  40.9W  50   31  00m44s

04003  11 -0325 Jun 15  02:15:43  14351 -28751   H   -0.7254  1.0014  22.7S 146.9W  43    7  00m09s
04044  12 -0307 Jun 25  09:10:15  14101 -28528   A   -0.8063  0.9953  29.9S 106.4E  36   28  00m30s
04085  13 -0289 Jul 06  16:06:35  13857 -28305   A   -0.8846  0.9881  39.0S   1.9W  27   90  01m11s
04125  14 -0271 Jul 16  23:05:36  13619 -28082   A   -0.9592  0.9798  51.7S 113.2W  16  261  01m49s
04165  15 -0253 Jul 28  06:09:43  13385 -27859   P   -1.0284  0.9293  68.5S 125.9E   0             
04206  16 -0235 Aug 07  13:17:17  13156 -27636   P   -1.0935  0.8117  69.5S   6.2E   0             
04247  17 -0217 Aug 18  20:32:33  12932 -27413   P   -1.1510  0.7089  70.3S 116.1W   0             
04288  18 -0199 Aug 29  03:53:28  12712 -27190   P   -1.2029  0.6171  71.0S 119.6E   0             
04330  19 -0181 Sep 09  11:23:18  12496 -26967   P   -1.2466  0.5407  71.6S   7.4W   0             
04373  20 -0163 Sep 19  18:59:07  12285 -26744   P   -1.2845  0.4752  71.9S 136.3W   0             

04416  21 -0145 Oct 01  02:44:19  12077 -26521   P   -1.3139  0.4249  71.9S  92.3E   0             
04459  22 -0127 Oct 11  10:35:28  11873 -26298   P   -1.3377  0.3849  71.7S  40.5W   0             
04502  23 -0109 Oct 22  18:33:27  11673 -26075   P   -1.3552  0.3557  71.2S 174.7W   0             
04545  24 -0091 Nov 02  02:35:52  11476 -25852   P   -1.3683  0.3341  70.5S  50.5E   0             
04589  25 -0073 Nov 13  10:43:12  11282 -25629   P   -1.3771  0.3199  69.6S  84.9W   0             
04634  26 -0055 Nov 23  18:51:48  11091 -25406   P   -1.3840  0.3090  68.6S 140.0E   0             
04679  27 -0037 Dec 05  03:00:55  10903 -25183   P   -1.3899  0.2996  67.5S   5.5E   0             
04725  28 -0019 Dec 15  11:08:27  10717 -24960   P   -1.3965  0.2890  66.5S 128.0W   0             
04771  29 -0001 Dec 26  19:13:58  10534 -24737   P   -1.4044  0.2759  65.4S  99.5E   0             
04816  30  0018 Jan 06  03:13:06  10353 -24514   P   -1.4168  0.2553  64.4S  30.9W   0             


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 51

                         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

04862  31  0036 Jan 17  11:06:51  10174 -24291   P   -1.4329  0.2281  63.4S 159.7W   0             
04907  32  0054 Jan 27  18:51:58   9997 -24068   P   -1.4557  0.1898  62.6S  74.0E   0             
04951  33  0072 Feb 08  02:30:05   9822 -23845   P   -1.4835  0.1427  62.0S  50.2W   0             
04995  34  0090 Feb 18  09:56:40   9647 -23622   P   -1.5202  0.0803  61.4S 171.5W   0             
05040  35  0108 Feb 29  17:15:40   9474 -23399   Pe  -1.5625  0.0082  61.1S  69.3E   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)"


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Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26