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 56 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 -1172 Jul 17. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0144 Sep 15. The total duration of Saros series 56 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1172 Jul 17 20:10:38 TD Last Eclipse = 0144 Sep 15 04:08:10 TD Duration of Saros 56 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 56 is composed of 74 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 56 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 31 | 41.9% |
| Annular | A | 13 | 17.6% |
| Total | T | 15 | 20.3% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 15 | 20.3% |
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 56 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 56 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 74 eclipses in Saros 56: 21P 13A 15H 15T 10P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 56 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 56 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0793 Mar 02 | 04m06s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0577 Jul 09 | 00m04s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0126 Apr 06 | 04m48s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0289 Dec 30 | 02m04s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0307 Dec 18 | 01m38s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0559 Jul 20 | 00m04s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0018 Jun 10 | - | 0.99542 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0144 Sep 15 | - | 0.01763 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 56. 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 56.
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
01981 -34 -1172 Jul 17 20:10:38 28490 -39226 Pb -1.5509 0.0224 64.4S 30.8W 0
02028 -33 -1154 Jul 29 02:53:30 28147 -39003 P -1.4854 0.1352 63.5S 142.7W 0
02074 -32 -1136 Aug 08 09:44:32 27806 -38780 P -1.4262 0.2368 62.7S 103.8E 0
02119 -31 -1118 Aug 19 16:44:36 27468 -38557 P -1.3738 0.3261 62.0S 11.8W 0
02163 -30 -1100 Aug 29 23:52:26 27131 -38334 P -1.3272 0.4050 61.4S 129.1W 0
02206 -29 -1082 Sep 10 07:10:58 26797 -38111 P -1.2889 0.4693 60.9S 111.1E 0
02249 -28 -1064 Sep 20 14:38:06 26465 -37888 P -1.2574 0.5219 60.6S 10.7W 0
02292 -27 -1046 Oct 01 22:15:12 26134 -37665 P -1.2334 0.5618 60.5S 135.0W 0
02336 -26 -1028 Oct 12 05:58:51 25806 -37442 P -1.2144 0.5932 60.6S 99.1E 0
02378 -25 -1010 Oct 23 13:51:12 25480 -37219 P -1.2020 0.6136 60.8S 28.9W 0
02420 -24 -0992 Nov 02 21:47:52 25156 -36996 P -1.1926 0.6291 61.2S 158.2W 0
02460 -23 -0974 Nov 14 05:49:08 24834 -36773 P -1.1868 0.6387 61.8S 71.3E 0
02501 -22 -0956 Nov 24 13:51:36 24514 -36550 P -1.1814 0.6476 62.5S 59.6W 0
02542 -21 -0938 Dec 05 21:55:18 24196 -36327 P -1.1767 0.6555 63.4S 168.9E 0
02582 -20 -0920 Dec 16 05:56:25 23881 -36104 P -1.1695 0.6678 64.3S 37.7E 0
02622 -19 -0902 Dec 27 13:54:30 23567 -35881 P -1.1594 0.6850 65.3S 93.1W 0
02662 -18 -0883 Jan 06 21:47:16 23255 -35658 P -1.1446 0.7104 66.4S 137.0E 0
02703 -17 -0865 Jan 18 05:34:46 22946 -35435 P -1.1254 0.7434 67.5S 8.0E 0
02744 -16 -0847 Jan 28 13:13:23 22638 -35212 P -1.0983 0.7902 68.6S 119.4W 0
02784 -15 -0829 Feb 08 20:45:13 22333 -34989 P -1.0650 0.8481 69.6S 114.3E 0
02825 -14 -0811 Feb 19 04:08:00 22030 -34766 P -1.0238 0.9202 70.4S 10.3W 0
02866 -13 -0793 Mar 02 11:24:22 21728 -34543 A -0.9765 0.9399 74.5S 172.2W 12 1102 04m06s
02907 -12 -0775 Mar 12 18:30:48 21429 -34320 A -0.9204 0.9479 66.8S 38.9E 23 493 04m01s
02948 -11 -0757 Mar 24 01:32:01 21132 -34097 A -0.8589 0.9550 57.0S 83.4W 30 319 03m50s
02990 -10 -0739 Apr 03 08:25:25 20837 -33874 A -0.7897 0.9617 47.0S 162.7E 38 224 03m35s
03034 -09 -0721 Apr 14 15:15:24 20544 -33651 A -0.7168 0.9681 37.4S 52.5E 44 163 03m15s
03078 -08 -0703 Apr 24 21:59:40 20253 -33428 A -0.6379 0.9739 28.0S 54.9W 50 120 02m51s
03122 -07 -0685 May 06 04:43:37 19964 -33205 A -0.5575 0.9793 19.1S 161.2W 56 88 02m23s
03167 -06 -0667 May 16 11:25:24 19678 -32982 A -0.4740 0.9841 10.7S 93.9E 62 64 01m54s
03212 -05 -0649 May 27 18:08:21 19393 -32759 A -0.3902 0.9884 2.9S 10.5W 67 44 01m25s
03257 -04 -0631 Jun 07 00:52:54 19110 -32536 A -0.3066 0.9920 4.1N 114.5W 72 30 00m59s
03304 -03 -0613 Jun 18 07:41:22 18830 -32313 A -0.2250 0.9951 10.3N 141.4E 77 18 00m35s
03351 -02 -0595 Jun 28 14:34:50 18551 -32090 A -0.1466 0.9974 15.5N 36.8E 82 9 00m18s
03398 -01 -0577 Jul 09 21:33:45 18275 -31867 A -0.0717 0.9993 19.5N 68.4W 86 2 00m04s
03445 00 -0559 Jul 20 04:40:58 18001 -31644 H -0.0026 1.0006 22.3N 175.0W 90 2 00m04s
03490 01 -0541 Jul 31 11:56:09 17729 -31421 H 0.0611 1.0015 23.8N 76.7E 86 5 00m09s
03535 02 -0523 Aug 10 19:20:49 17458 -31198 H 0.1176 1.0020 24.1N 34.0W 83 7 00m12s
03580 03 -0505 Aug 22 02:54:54 17190 -30975 Hm 0.1674 1.0023 23.3N 147.1W 80 8 00m13s
03625 04 -0487 Sep 01 10:39:47 16882 -30752 H 0.2091 1.0023 21.5N 96.4E 78 8 00m13s
03669 05 -0469 Sep 12 18:34:28 16569 -30529 H 0.2437 1.0023 19.1N 23.0W 76 8 00m13s
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
03713 06 -0451 Sep 23 02:38:36 16265 -30306 H 0.2713 1.0024 16.1N 145.2W 74 9 00m13s
03757 07 -0433 Oct 04 10:52:17 15969 -30083 H 0.2920 1.0026 12.7N 89.9E 73 9 00m14s
03800 08 -0415 Oct 14 19:14:55 15681 -29860 H 0.3057 1.0031 9.2N 37.5W 72 11 00m17s
03842 09 -0397 Oct 26 03:44:28 15400 -29637 H 0.3148 1.0040 5.7N 166.7W 72 14 00m23s
03884 10 -0379 Nov 05 12:19:59 15127 -29414 H 0.3195 1.0052 2.5N 62.6E 71 19 00m31s
03925 11 -0361 Nov 16 20:59:44 14860 -29191 H 0.3213 1.0071 0.4S 69.1W 71 26 00m42s
03964 12 -0343 Nov 27 05:42:53 14599 -28968 H 0.3210 1.0094 2.7S 158.6E 71 34 00m57s
04004 13 -0325 Dec 08 14:25:47 14344 -28745 H 0.3213 1.0123 4.3S 26.5E 71 45 01m16s
04045 14 -0307 Dec 18 23:08:59 14095 -28522 H 0.3218 1.0156 5.0S 105.6W 71 57 01m38s
04086 15 -0289 Dec 30 07:48:35 13851 -28299 T 0.3258 1.0196 4.7S 123.3E 71 71 02m04s
04126 16 -0270 Jan 09 16:25:37 13612 -28076 T 0.3324 1.0240 3.4S 7.3W 71 86 02m30s
04166 17 -0252 Jan 21 00:55:45 13379 -27853 T 0.3453 1.0287 0.9S 136.3W 70 104 02m57s
04207 18 -0234 Jan 31 09:21:39 13150 -27630 T 0.3623 1.0337 2.5N 95.3E 69 122 03m24s
04248 19 -0216 Feb 11 17:39:22 12926 -27407 T 0.3864 1.0389 6.9N 31.4W 67 141 03m48s
04289 20 -0198 Feb 22 01:50:40 12706 -27184 T 0.4166 1.0441 12.2N 156.9W 65 161 04m10s
04331 21 -0180 Mar 04 09:53:23 12491 -26961 T 0.4546 1.0492 18.3N 79.3E 63 182 04m27s
04374 22 -0162 Mar 15 17:50:15 12279 -26738 T 0.4980 1.0540 25.1N 43.3W 60 205 04m40s
04417 23 -0144 Mar 26 01:39:38 12072 -26515 T 0.5482 1.0584 32.4N 164.5W 57 229 04m47s
04460 24 -0126 Apr 06 09:22:42 11868 -26292 T 0.6041 1.0623 40.3N 75.6E 53 255 04m48s
04503 25 -0108 Apr 16 16:59:52 11668 -26069 T 0.6655 1.0654 48.8N 43.1W 48 286 04m43s
04546 26 -0090 Apr 28 00:32:53 11471 -25846 T 0.7309 1.0677 57.7N 161.4W 43 324 04m32s
04590 27 -0072 May 08 08:01:55 11277 -25623 T 0.7997 1.0690 67.2N 79.8E 37 376 04m16s
04635 28 -0054 May 19 15:28:23 11086 -25400 T 0.8709 1.0691 77.4N 44.6W 29 463 03m55s
04680 29 -0036 May 29 22:53:45 10898 -25177 T 0.9432 1.0674 84.8N 122.3E 19 683 03m28s
04726 30 -0018 Jun 10 06:19:35 10712 -24954 P 1.0154 0.9954 67.1N 49.8W 0
04772 31 0000 Jun 20 13:45:32 10529 -24731 P 1.0876 0.8552 66.1N 172.7W 0
04818 32 0018 Jul 01 21:14:39 10349 -24508 P 1.1572 0.7197 65.1N 64.1E 0
04864 33 0036 Jul 12 04:46:32 10170 -24285 P 1.2245 0.5888 64.2N 59.5W 0
04909 34 0054 Jul 23 12:24:26 9993 -24062 P 1.2871 0.4677 63.4N 175.7E 0
04953 35 0072 Aug 02 20:06:10 9817 -23839 P 1.3464 0.3533 62.6N 50.2E 0
04997 36 0090 Aug 14 03:56:10 9643 -23616 P 1.3992 0.2521 62.0N 77.1W 0
05042 37 0108 Aug 24 11:52:11 9469 -23393 P 1.4473 0.1608 61.5N 154.2E 0
05086 38 0126 Sep 04 19:56:53 9297 -23170 P 1.4882 0.0838 61.2N 23.5E 0
05130 39 0144 Sep 15 04:08:10 9125 -22947 Pe 1.5239 0.0176 61.0N 108.8W 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)"
