Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 52

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 52

Solar eclipses of Saros 52 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 -1378 Aug 14. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0155 Feb 19. The total duration of Saros series 52 is 1532.56 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1378 Aug 14   13:12:41 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   0155 Feb 19   11:13:58 TD

                      Duration of Saros  52  =  1532.56 Years

Saros 52 is composed of 86 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 52
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 86100.0%
PartialP 46 53.5%
AnnularA 40 46.5%
TotalT 0 0.0%
Hybrid[3]H 0 0.0%

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 52 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 52
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 40100.0%
Central (two limits) 39 97.5%
Central (one limit) 1 2.5%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 86 eclipses in Saros 52: 24P 40A 22P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 52 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 52
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0530 Jan 0410m50s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0945 May 0101m30s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0963 Apr 20 - 0.92237
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 0155 Feb 19 - 0.01147

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 52

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 52. 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 52.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 52

                         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

01477 -46 -1378 Aug 14  13:12:41  32551 -41773   Pb  -1.5201  0.0278  62.5S  68.7E   0             
01519 -45 -1360 Aug 24  21:13:05  32184 -41550   P   -1.4850  0.0962  61.9S  62.1W   0             
01561 -44 -1342 Sep 05  05:21:06  31820 -41327   P   -1.4566  0.1517  61.4S 165.4E   0             
01604 -43 -1324 Sep 15  13:36:18  31458 -41104   P   -1.4346  0.1945  61.0S  31.3E   0             
01648 -42 -1306 Sep 26  21:58:51  31098 -40881   P   -1.4191  0.2249  60.8S 104.6W   0             
01691 -41 -1288 Oct 07  06:27:50  30740 -40658   P   -1.4092  0.2444  60.8S 117.9E   0             
01736 -40 -1270 Oct 18  15:02:56  30384 -40435   P   -1.4049  0.2535  60.9S  21.0W   0             
01781 -39 -1252 Oct 28  23:40:54  30030 -40212   P   -1.4034  0.2573  61.2S 160.8W   0             
01826 -38 -1234 Nov 09  08:23:08  29678 -39989   P   -1.4060  0.2534  61.6S  58.4E   0             
01871 -37 -1216 Nov 19  17:05:52  29328 -39766   P   -1.4101  0.2466  62.2S  82.8W   0             

01916 -36 -1198 Dec 01  01:48:49  28980 -39543   P   -1.4147  0.2388  63.0S 135.8E   0             
01961 -35 -1180 Dec 11  10:27:44  28635 -39320   P   -1.4171  0.2350  63.8S   4.8W   0             
02007 -34 -1162 Dec 22  19:03:55  28291 -39097   P   -1.4181  0.2335  64.8S 145.1W   0             
02053 -33 -1143 Jan 02  03:33:34  27950 -38874   P   -1.4149  0.2394  65.8S  75.9E   0             
02099 -32 -1125 Jan 13  11:56:16  27610 -38651   P   -1.4071  0.2534  66.8S  61.9W   0             
02144 -31 -1107 Jan 23  20:10:09  27273 -38428   P   -1.3934  0.2781  67.9S 162.1E   0             
02187 -30 -1089 Feb 04  04:15:20  26938 -38205   P   -1.3734  0.3140  68.9S  27.8E   0             
02230 -29 -1071 Feb 14  12:10:04  26605 -37982   P   -1.3461  0.3632  69.8S 104.5W   0             
02273 -28 -1053 Feb 25  19:54:43  26273 -37759   P   -1.3116  0.4254  70.5S 125.1E   0             
02316 -27 -1035 Mar 08  03:29:08  25944 -37536   P   -1.2696  0.5008  71.1S   3.2W   0             

02360 -26 -1017 Mar 19  10:54:23  25617 -37313   P   -1.2212  0.5879  71.5S 129.6W   0             
02402 -25 -0999 Mar 29  18:08:50  25292 -37090   P   -1.1646  0.6895  71.7S 106.5E   0             
02443 -24 -0981 Apr 10  01:16:03  24970 -36867   P   -1.1028  0.8002  71.6S  15.7W   0             
02484 -23 -0963 Apr 20  08:14:34  24649 -36644   P   -1.0344  0.9224  71.3S 135.4W   0             
02525 -22 -0945 May 01  15:08:00  24330 -36421   A   -0.9628  0.9812  59.3S  82.9E  15  252  01m30s
02566 -21 -0927 May 11  21:53:47  24014 -36198   A   -0.8855  0.9820  45.6S  33.9W  27  137  01m41s
02606 -20 -0909 May 23  04:37:51  23699 -35975   A   -0.8075  0.9811  35.0S 143.2W  36  114  01m59s
02645 -19 -0891 Jun 02  11:17:54  23386 -35752   A   -0.7266  0.9792  25.8S 110.7E  43  107  02m22s
02686 -18 -0873 Jun 13  17:58:30  23076 -35529   A   -0.6470  0.9766  17.9S   6.0E  50  109  02m51s
02727 -17 -0855 Jun 24  00:38:07  22768 -35306   A   -0.5672  0.9733  11.0S  97.5W  55  116  03m23s

02767 -16 -0837 Jul 05  07:21:54  22461 -35083   A   -0.4915  0.9695   5.5S 158.9E  61  126  03m55s
02808 -15 -0819 Jul 15  14:07:59  22157 -34860   A   -0.4183  0.9652   1.2S  55.4E  65  138  04m27s
02849 -14 -0801 Jul 26  20:59:11  21855 -34637   A   -0.3499  0.9606   1.9N  48.8W  70  152  04m57s
02890 -13 -0783 Aug 06  03:56:12  21555 -34414   A   -0.2870  0.9557   3.7N 154.1W  73  168  05m26s
02931 -12 -0765 Aug 17  11:00:55  21257 -34191   A   -0.2310  0.9507   4.2N  98.8E  77  185  05m53s
02973 -11 -0747 Aug 27  18:13:34  20961 -33968   A   -0.1818  0.9457   3.6N  10.1W  80  203  06m20s
03015 -10 -0729 Sep 08  01:33:43  20667 -33745   A   -0.1394  0.9409   2.1N 121.1W  82  221  06m47s
03059 -09 -0711 Sep 18  09:03:14  20376 -33522   A   -0.1051  0.9363   0.3S 125.5E  84  238  07m15s
03103 -08 -0693 Sep 29  16:40:11  20086 -33299   A   -0.0772  0.9320   3.3S  10.0E  86  255  07m44s
03148 -07 -0675 Oct 10  00:24:52  19798 -33076   A   -0.0562  0.9282   6.7S 107.4W  87  270  08m13s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 52

                         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

03193 -06 -0657 Oct 21  08:15:36  19513 -32853   A   -0.0405  0.9249  10.3S 133.6E  88  283  08m43s
03238 -05 -0639 Oct 31  16:12:24  19229 -32630   A   -0.0302  0.9222  13.9S  13.3E  88  294  09m12s
03284 -04 -0621 Nov 12  00:12:30  18948 -32407   A   -0.0230  0.9202  17.3S 107.6W  89  302  09m40s
03331 -03 -0603 Nov 22  08:14:30  18669 -32184   Am  -0.0176  0.9188  20.2S 131.4E  89  308  10m06s
03378 -02 -0585 Dec 03  16:16:58  18391 -31961   A   -0.0131  0.9182  22.3S  10.6E  89  311  10m27s
03426 -01 -0567 Dec 14  00:18:30  18116 -31738   A   -0.0084  0.9182  23.7S 109.7W  89  311  10m42s
03472  00 -0549 Dec 25  08:15:49  17843 -31515   A   -0.0002  0.9189  23.9S 131.3E  90  308  10m49s
03517  01 -0530 Jan 04  16:08:23  17572 -31292   A    0.0118  0.9202  22.9S  13.4E  89  302  10m50s
03562  02 -0512 Jan 15  23:54:16  17303 -31069   A    0.0290  0.9222  20.7S 103.2W  88  294  10m41s
03607  03 -0494 Jan 26  07:33:51  17017 -30846   A    0.0513  0.9245  17.4S 141.3E  87  285  10m24s

03651  04 -0476 Feb 06  15:03:05  16700 -30623   A    0.0820  0.9274  12.9S  27.5E  85  274  10m00s
03695  05 -0458 Feb 16  22:25:01  16392 -30400   A    0.1187  0.9304   7.5S  85.0W  83  262  09m29s
03738  06 -0440 Feb 28  05:36:11  16093 -30177   A    0.1647  0.9337   1.2S 164.6E  81  250  08m54s
03782  07 -0422 Mar 10  12:40:07  15802 -29954   A    0.2165  0.9371   5.7N  55.5E  77  239  08m14s
03824  08 -0404 Mar 20  19:33:16  15518 -29731   A    0.2774  0.9405  13.4N  51.3W  74  229  07m32s
03866  09 -0386 Apr 01  02:20:48  15241 -29508   A    0.3431  0.9437  21.4N 156.8W  70  220  06m49s
03908  10 -0368 Apr 11  08:59:55  14971 -29285   A    0.4160  0.9467  30.0N  99.6E  65  215  06m06s
03947  11 -0350 Apr 22  15:34:12  14708 -29062   A    0.4930  0.9494  38.8N   2.8W  60  213  05m25s
03987  12 -0332 May 02  22:03:21  14451 -28839   A    0.5746  0.9516  48.0N 103.7W  55  216  04m47s
04028  13 -0314 May 14  04:30:35  14199 -28616   A    0.6581  0.9534  57.5N 156.4E  49  227  04m13s

04069  14 -0296 May 24  10:56:12  13953 -28393   A    0.7430  0.9545  67.3N  57.6E  42  250  03m45s
04109  15 -0278 Jun 04  17:21:55  13712 -28170   A    0.8282  0.9548  77.8N  39.4W  34  297  03m22s
04149  16 -0260 Jun 14  23:50:04  13477 -27947   A    0.9118  0.9541  89.1N  75.8W  24  416  03m05s
04190  17 -0242 Jun 26  06:22:06  13246 -27724   An   0.9929  0.9507  71.0N  57.1W   5   -   02m50s
04231  18 -0224 Jul 06  12:59:15  13020 -27501   P    1.0700  0.8486  64.8N 164.2W   0             
04272  19 -0206 Jul 17  19:43:04  12798 -27278   P    1.1423  0.7229  63.9N  84.3E   0             
04313  20 -0188 Jul 28  02:35:11  12581 -27055   P    1.2085  0.6078  63.1N  29.1W   0             
04356  21 -0170 Aug 08  09:36:26  12368 -26832   P    1.2681  0.5041  62.4N 144.5W   0             
04400  22 -0152 Aug 18  16:46:22  12159 -26609   P    1.3214  0.4113  61.8N  98.1E   0             
04442  23 -0134 Aug 30  00:07:33  11953 -26386   P    1.3664  0.3330  61.3N  21.9W   0             

04485  24 -0116 Sep 09  07:38:46  11752 -26163   P    1.4039  0.2680  61.0N 144.3W   0             
04528  25 -0098 Sep 20  15:21:31  11553 -25940   P    1.4331  0.2172  60.9N  90.5E   0             
04571  26 -0080 Sep 30  23:12:44  11358 -25717   P    1.4562  0.1769  60.9N  36.8W   0             
04616  27 -0062 Oct 12  07:15:02  11166 -25494   P    1.4713  0.1506  61.0N 166.8W   0             
04661  28 -0044 Oct 22  15:24:22  10977 -25271   P    1.4815  0.1325  61.4N  61.3E   0             
04707  29 -0026 Nov 02  23:41:43  10790 -25048   P    1.4859  0.1244  61.9N  72.7W   0             
04753  30 -0008 Nov 13  08:03:40  10606 -24825   P    1.4874  0.1211  62.5N 152.0E   0             
04798  31  0010 Nov 24  16:30:45  10425 -24602   P    1.4856  0.1234  63.3N  15.3E   0             
04844  32  0028 Dec 05  00:59:19  10245 -24379   P    1.4833  0.1263  64.1N 122.1W   0             
04890  33  0046 Dec 16  09:28:43  10067 -24156   P    1.4810  0.1290  65.1N 100.0E   0             


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 52

                         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

04934  34  0064 Dec 26  17:56:59   9891 -23933   P    1.4805  0.1283  66.1N  38.1W   0             
04978  35  0083 Jan 07  02:23:03   9716 -23710   P    1.4820  0.1238  67.2N 176.0W   0             
05023  36  0101 Jan 17  10:44:09   9542 -23487   P    1.4885  0.1101  68.2N  46.7E   0             
05067  37  0119 Jan 28  19:00:14   9370 -23264   P    1.4998  0.0877  69.2N  89.9W   0             
05111  38  0137 Feb 08  03:09:58   9198 -23041   P    1.5167  0.0546  70.1N 134.5E   0             
05155  39  0155 Feb 19  11:13:58   9026 -22818   Pe   1.5389  0.0115  70.8N   0.2W   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