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 60 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 -1020 May 18. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0260 Jun 26. The total duration of Saros series 60 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1020 May 18 22:05:51 TD Last Eclipse = 0260 Jun 26 07:30:13 TD Duration of Saros 60 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 60 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 60 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.4% |
| Annular | A | 14 | 19.4% |
| Total | T | 40 | 55.6% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.6% |
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 60 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 60 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 58 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 57 | 98.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.7% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 60: 8P 40T 4H 14A 6P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 60 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 60 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0134 Apr 12 | 01m24s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0083 Dec 03 | 00m16s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0407 May 22 | 07m13s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0173 Oct 10 | 01m35s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0155 Oct 20 | 01m10s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0101 Nov 22 | 00m03s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0894 Aug 03 | - | 0.96293 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1020 May 18 | - | 0.02194 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 60. 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 60.
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
02354 -36 -1020 May 18 22:05:51 25669 -37348 Pb -1.5290 0.0219 69.6S 12.6W 0
02396 -35 -1002 May 30 05:07:56 25343 -37125 P -1.4485 0.1695 68.7S 131.5W 0
02437 -34 -0984 Jun 09 12:13:01 25020 -36902 P -1.3689 0.3165 67.7S 109.3E 0
02478 -33 -0966 Jun 20 19:22:47 24699 -36679 P -1.2918 0.4598 66.7S 10.5W 0
02519 -32 -0948 Jul 01 02:36:52 24380 -36456 P -1.2170 0.5994 65.7S 130.9W 0
02560 -31 -0930 Jul 12 09:58:18 24063 -36233 P -1.1471 0.7302 64.7S 107.3E 0
02600 -30 -0912 Jul 22 17:26:11 23748 -36010 P -1.0815 0.8530 63.8S 15.8W 0
02639 -29 -0894 Aug 03 01:03:26 23435 -35787 P -1.0228 0.9629 63.0S 140.8W 0
02680 -28 -0876 Aug 13 08:47:40 23125 -35564 T -0.9692 1.0250 52.1S 109.5E 14 349 01m50s
02721 -27 -0858 Aug 24 16:42:49 22816 -35341 T -0.9238 1.0271 46.2S 8.9W 22 236 02m03s
02761 -26 -0840 Sep 04 00:45:59 22509 -35118 T -0.8844 1.0280 43.8S 131.2W 27 199 02m06s
02801 -25 -0822 Sep 15 08:59:19 22205 -34895 T -0.8531 1.0283 43.5S 103.1E 31 180 02m06s
02842 -24 -0804 Sep 25 17:20:29 21902 -34672 T -0.8278 1.0284 44.7S 24.7W 34 167 02m03s
02883 -23 -0786 Oct 07 01:50:51 21602 -34449 T -0.8099 1.0284 47.1S 155.1W 36 161 01m59s
02924 -22 -0768 Oct 17 10:27:38 21304 -34226 T -0.7967 1.0284 50.2S 73.0E 37 157 01m56s
02965 -21 -0750 Oct 28 19:10:19 21008 -34003 T -0.7881 1.0288 54.0S 60.2W 38 156 01m55s
03007 -20 -0732 Nov 08 03:57:44 20713 -33780 T -0.7831 1.0293 58.2S 166.0E 38 158 01m54s
03051 -19 -0714 Nov 19 12:48:45 20421 -33557 T -0.7812 1.0304 62.6S 32.3E 38 164 01m56s
03096 -18 -0696 Nov 29 21:40:32 20131 -33334 T -0.7793 1.0318 66.8S 99.5W 39 172 02m00s
03141 -17 -0678 Dec 11 06:31:58 19843 -33111 T -0.7772 1.0338 70.5S 132.2E 39 182 02m06s
03186 -16 -0660 Dec 21 15:21:15 19557 -32888 T -0.7731 1.0364 73.1S 9.2E 39 194 02m15s
03231 -15 -0641 Jan 02 00:07:37 19274 -32665 T -0.7666 1.0394 73.8S 109.0W 40 207 02m26s
03277 -14 -0623 Jan 12 08:47:53 18992 -32442 T -0.7552 1.0428 72.1S 133.7E 41 220 02m41s
03323 -13 -0605 Jan 23 17:23:02 18712 -32219 T -0.7396 1.0467 68.4S 12.9E 42 232 02m59s
03370 -12 -0587 Feb 03 01:50:15 18435 -31996 T -0.7174 1.0508 63.3S 110.7W 44 242 03m21s
03418 -11 -0569 Feb 14 10:10:41 18159 -31773 T -0.6896 1.0551 57.4S 124.1E 46 251 03m45s
03464 -10 -0551 Feb 24 18:21:56 17886 -31550 T -0.6543 1.0593 50.7S 0.9W 49 257 04m13s
03509 -09 -0533 Mar 08 02:26:22 17614 -31327 T -0.6132 1.0635 43.5S 125.3W 52 262 04m44s
03554 -08 -0515 Mar 18 10:22:33 17345 -31104 T -0.5654 1.0673 36.1S 111.8E 55 265 05m15s
03599 -07 -0497 Mar 29 18:11:18 17067 -30881 T -0.5113 1.0708 28.4S 9.6W 59 267 05m47s
03644 -06 -0479 Apr 09 01:53:28 16749 -30658 T -0.4515 1.0737 20.6S 129.6W 63 267 06m16s
03688 -05 -0461 Apr 20 09:30:02 16440 -30435 T -0.3870 1.0760 12.8S 112.0E 67 266 06m42s
03732 -04 -0443 Apr 30 17:02:20 16139 -30212 T -0.3188 1.0774 5.1S 5.0W 71 264 07m01s
03776 -03 -0425 May 12 00:29:44 15847 -29989 T -0.2467 1.0782 2.4N 120.3W 76 260 07m12s
03818 -02 -0407 May 22 07:55:23 15562 -29766 T -0.1732 1.0779 9.4N 125.5E 80 256 07m13s
03860 -01 -0389 Jun 02 15:19:08 15284 -29543 T -0.0980 1.0769 15.9N 12.4E 84 250 07m04s
03902 00 -0371 Jun 12 22:43:10 15013 -29320 Tm -0.0234 1.0749 21.7N 99.8W 89 243 06m46s
03941 01 -0353 Jun 24 06:07:24 14749 -29097 T 0.0505 1.0721 26.7N 148.8E 87 235 06m22s
03980 02 -0335 Jul 04 13:35:01 14491 -28874 T 0.1213 1.0685 30.6N 37.4E 83 225 05m53s
04021 03 -0317 Jul 15 21:05:41 14238 -28651 T 0.1890 1.0642 33.4N 74.0W 79 214 05m21s
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
04062 04 -0299 Jul 26 04:40:36 13991 -28428 T 0.2527 1.0593 35.0N 174.0E 75 201 04m50s
04103 05 -0281 Aug 06 12:20:45 13750 -28205 T 0.3114 1.0539 35.4N 60.7E 72 187 04m18s
04143 06 -0263 Aug 16 20:07:28 13513 -27982 T 0.3639 1.0480 34.8N 54.5W 68 171 03m48s
04184 07 -0245 Aug 28 04:01:10 13282 -27759 T 0.4102 1.0420 33.2N 172.1W 66 153 03m19s
04225 08 -0227 Sep 07 12:01:32 13055 -27536 T 0.4503 1.0359 31.1N 68.0E 63 134 02m52s
04266 09 -0209 Sep 18 20:09:46 12833 -27313 T 0.4835 1.0298 28.5N 54.5W 61 114 02m25s
04307 10 -0191 Sep 29 04:25:30 12615 -27090 T 0.5099 1.0238 25.7N 179.6W 59 93 01m59s
04349 11 -0173 Oct 10 12:47:45 12401 -26867 T 0.5303 1.0183 22.7N 53.2E 58 73 01m35s
04393 12 -0155 Oct 20 21:16:23 12191 -26644 H 0.5448 1.0130 19.8N 75.9W 57 53 01m10s
04435 13 -0137 Nov 01 05:49:52 11985 -26421 H 0.5549 1.0083 17.2N 153.6E 56 34 00m47s
04478 14 -0119 Nov 11 14:27:46 11783 -26198 H 0.5607 1.0041 14.8N 21.8E 56 17 00m24s
04521 15 -0101 Nov 22 23:06:25 11584 -25975 H 0.5654 1.0005 12.9N 110.1W 55 2 00m03s
04564 16 -0083 Dec 03 07:47:15 11388 -25752 A 0.5675 0.9974 11.6N 117.4E 55 11 00m16s
04609 17 -0065 Dec 14 16:26:07 11196 -25529 A 0.5702 0.9949 11.0N 14.5W 55 22 00m33s
04654 18 -0047 Dec 25 01:02:53 11006 -25306 A 0.5744 0.9930 11.3N 145.9W 55 30 00m47s
04700 19 -0028 Jan 05 09:33:30 10819 -25083 A 0.5827 0.9915 12.6N 84.1E 54 37 00m58s
04747 20 -0010 Jan 15 17:59:33 10635 -24860 A 0.5941 0.9903 14.9N 44.8W 53 42 01m05s
04792 21 0008 Jan 27 02:17:23 10453 -24637 A 0.6115 0.9895 18.2N 172.1W 52 47 01m09s
04838 22 0026 Feb 06 10:26:56 10273 -24414 A 0.6348 0.9888 22.5N 62.4E 50 51 01m12s
04884 23 0044 Feb 17 18:26:46 10095 -24191 A 0.6653 0.9881 27.9N 61.2W 48 56 01m13s
04928 24 0062 Feb 28 02:17:27 9918 -23968 A 0.7028 0.9874 34.1N 176.9E 45 62 01m14s
04972 25 0080 Mar 10 09:57:24 9743 -23745 A 0.7482 0.9864 41.4N 56.7E 41 72 01m15s
05017 26 0098 Mar 21 17:27:30 9569 -23522 A 0.8008 0.9850 49.6N 62.4W 36 88 01m16s
05061 27 0116 Apr 01 00:47:48 9397 -23299 A 0.8606 0.9830 58.9N 177.9E 30 118 01m19s
05105 28 0134 Apr 12 07:59:44 9225 -23076 A 0.9262 0.9801 69.0N 50.7E 22 190 01m24s
05149 29 0152 Apr 22 15:01:57 9053 -22853 A+ 0.9989 0.9832 71.0N 136.2W 0
05191 30 0170 May 03 21:58:07 8882 -22630 P 1.0752 0.8467 70.2N 106.1E 0
05231 31 0188 May 14 04:47:09 8711 -22407 P 1.1564 0.7019 69.3N 9.2W 0
05272 32 0206 May 25 11:32:45 8540 -22184 P 1.2389 0.5555 68.4N 123.1W 0
05313 33 0224 Jun 04 18:12:32 8369 -21961 P 1.3248 0.4037 67.4N 125.1E 0
05354 34 0242 Jun 16 00:52:20 8197 -21738 P 1.4092 0.2555 66.4N 13.7E 0
05395 35 0260 Jun 26 07:30:13 8025 -21515 Pe 1.4942 0.1074 65.4N 96.7W 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)"
