Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 61

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 61

Solar eclipses of Saros 61 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 -0973 May 10. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0289 Jun 05. The total duration of Saros series 61 is 1262.11 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -0973 May 10   20:50:26 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   0289 Jun 05   14:20:04 TD

                      Duration of Saros  61  =  1262.11 Years

Saros 61 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 61
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 71100.0%
PartialP 15 21.1%
AnnularA 52 73.2%
TotalT 3 4.2%
Hybrid[3]H 1 1.4%

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 61 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 61
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 56100.0%
Central (two limits) 54 96.4%
Central (one limit) 1 1.8%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 1.8%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 61: 8P 3T 1H 52A 7P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 61 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 61
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0162 Sep 0808m39s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0757 Sep 1700m13s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -0811 Aug 1500m42s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -0793 Aug 2600m29s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0775 Sep 0600m10s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0775 Sep 0600m10s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0847 Jul 25 - 0.91147
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -0973 May 10 - 0.03787

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 61

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 61. 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 61.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 61

                         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

02462 -36 -0973 May 10  20:50:26  24826 -36767   Pb   1.5114  0.0379  61.8N 150.2W   0             
02503 -35 -0955 May 21  04:09:23  24506 -36544   P    1.4428  0.1701  62.4N  89.6E   0             
02544 -34 -0937 Jun 01  11:26:28  24188 -36321   P    1.3729  0.3043  63.1N  30.2W   0             
02584 -33 -0919 Jun 11  18:43:06  23872 -36098   P    1.3032  0.4376  63.9N 150.2W   0             
02624 -32 -0901 Jun 23  02:01:09  23559 -35875   P    1.2351  0.5666  64.8N  89.2E   0             
02664 -31 -0883 Jul 03  09:21:33  23247 -35652   P    1.1699  0.6894  65.7N  32.3W   0             
02705 -30 -0865 Jul 14  16:44:39  22938 -35429   P    1.1075  0.8054  66.7N 154.8W   0             
02745 -29 -0847 Jul 25  00:12:34  22630 -35206   P    1.0497  0.9115  67.7N  81.0E   0             
02785 -28 -0829 Aug 05  07:46:01  22325 -34983   T+   0.9972  1.0064  68.7N  45.2W   0             
02826 -27 -0811 Aug 15  15:26:27  22022 -34760   T    0.9514  1.0121  79.2N 127.4E  17  140  00m42s

02867 -26 -0793 Aug 26  23:12:24  21720 -34537   T    0.9110  1.0076  73.2N  26.9W  24   65  00m29s
02908 -25 -0775 Sep 06  07:07:03  21421 -34314   H    0.8785  1.0025  66.2N 160.1W  28   18  00m10s
02949 -24 -0757 Sep 17  15:08:17  21124 -34091   A    0.8522  0.9970  59.6N  70.9E  31   20  00m13s
02991 -23 -0739 Sep 27  23:17:35  20829 -33868   A    0.8331  0.9916  53.8N  57.9W  33   53  00m40s
03035 -22 -0721 Oct 09  07:32:07  20536 -33645   A    0.8192  0.9863  48.5N 172.9E  35   84  01m09s
03079 -21 -0703 Oct 19  15:53:39  20245 -33422   A    0.8117  0.9813  44.1N  42.6E  35  113  01m40s
03123 -20 -0685 Oct 31  00:18:57  19957 -33199   A    0.8080  0.9767  40.3N  88.4W  36  140  02m11s
03168 -19 -0667 Nov 10  08:47:36  19670 -32976   A    0.8077  0.9726  37.3N 140.0E  36  166  02m42s
03213 -18 -0649 Nov 21  17:17:39  19385 -32753   A    0.8092  0.9690  34.9N   8.1E  36  189  03m11s
03258 -17 -0631 Dec 02  01:48:06  19103 -32530   A    0.8116  0.9662  33.0N 124.0W  35  209  03m35s

03305 -16 -0613 Dec 13  10:16:03  18822 -32307   A    0.8129  0.9638  31.7N 104.6E  35  225  03m55s
03352 -15 -0595 Dec 23  18:39:43  18544 -32084   A    0.8114  0.9622  30.6N  25.7W  36  235  04m09s
03399 -14 -0576 Jan 04  02:58:21  18268 -31861   A    0.8066  0.9611  29.9N 154.7W  36  238  04m17s
03446 -13 -0558 Jan 14  11:10:14  17993 -31638   A    0.7966  0.9606  29.2N  78.3E  37  234  04m19s
03491 -12 -0540 Jan 25  19:12:59  17721 -31415   A    0.7801  0.9606  28.6N  46.1W  39  225  04m15s
03536 -11 -0522 Feb 05  03:06:44  17451 -31192   A    0.7570  0.9609  28.2N 167.8W  41  212  04m08s
03581 -10 -0504 Feb 16  10:50:13  17183 -30969   A    0.7261  0.9616  28.0N  73.6E  43  197  03m59s
03626 -09 -0486 Feb 26  18:24:09  16874 -30746   A    0.6880  0.9624  28.0N  42.2W  46  182  03m48s
03670 -08 -0468 Mar 09  01:46:01  16561 -30523   A    0.6406  0.9633  28.1N 154.3W  50  169  03m39s
03714 -07 -0450 Mar 20  08:59:06  16257 -30300   A    0.5865  0.9641  28.6N  96.5E  54  157  03m31s

03758 -06 -0432 Mar 30  16:01:21  15961 -30077   A    0.5243  0.9646  29.0N   9.4W  58  147  03m27s
03801 -05 -0414 Apr 10  22:55:21  15673 -29854   A    0.4558  0.9650  29.5N 112.7W  63  140  03m25s
03843 -04 -0396 Apr 21  05:40:33  15393 -29631   A    0.3807  0.9649  29.7N 146.8E  67  136  03m29s
03885 -03 -0378 May 02  12:19:43  15119 -29408   A    0.3012  0.9645  29.5N  48.2E  72  134  03m37s
03926 -02 -0360 May 12  18:53:04  14852 -29185   A    0.2177  0.9636  28.6N  48.7W  77  135  03m52s
03965 -01 -0342 May 24  01:21:41  14592 -28962   Am   0.1308  0.9622  26.9N 144.4W  82  138  04m13s
04005  00 -0324 Jun 03  07:48:31  14337 -28739   A    0.0434  0.9603  24.3N 120.0E  87  144  04m41s
04046  01 -0306 Jun 14  14:14:06  14088 -28516   A   -0.0442  0.9579  20.8N  24.2E  88  153  05m14s
04087  02 -0288 Jun 24  20:41:21  13844 -28293   A   -0.1300  0.9551  16.4N  72.7W  83  165  05m53s
04127  03 -0270 Jul 06  03:09:49  13606 -28070   A   -0.2141  0.9519  11.2N 170.6W  78  180  06m34s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 61

                         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

04167  04 -0252 Jul 16  09:43:49  13373 -27847   A   -0.2930  0.9483   5.4N  89.4E  73  199  07m13s
04208  05 -0234 Jul 27  16:21:57  13144 -27624   A   -0.3678  0.9445   0.9S  12.4W  68  220  07m46s
04249  06 -0216 Aug 06  23:07:26  12920 -27401   A   -0.4360  0.9404   7.6S 116.6W  64  244  08m12s
04290  07 -0198 Aug 18  05:59:42  12700 -27178   A   -0.4984  0.9363  14.4S 137.0E  60  272  08m28s
04332  08 -0180 Aug 28  13:02:00  12485 -26955   A   -0.5523  0.9323  21.3S  27.7E  56  301  08m37s
04375  09 -0162 Sep 08  20:12:38  12274 -26732   A   -0.5988  0.9284  28.2S  83.9W  53  332  08m39s
04418  10 -0144 Sep 19  03:32:37  12066 -26509   A   -0.6376  0.9247  34.8S 162.2E  50  364  08m36s
04461  11 -0126 Sep 30  11:01:41  11862 -26286   A   -0.6688  0.9214  41.3S  46.2E  48  395  08m30s
04504  12 -0108 Oct 10  18:39:51  11662 -26063   A   -0.6925  0.9186  47.3S  71.7W  46  424  08m21s
04547  13 -0090 Oct 22  02:25:08  11465 -25840   A   -0.7103  0.9164  53.1S 169.6E  44  450  08m11s

04591  14 -0072 Nov 01  10:17:08  11272 -25617   A   -0.7225  0.9147  58.4S  50.6E  43  470  08m01s
04636  15 -0054 Nov 12  18:13:57  11081 -25394   A   -0.7309  0.9137  63.2S  67.7W  43  483  07m49s
04681  16 -0036 Nov 23  02:15:09  10893 -25171   A   -0.7359  0.9134  67.2S 176.0E  42  490  07m38s
04728  17 -0018 Dec 04  10:16:40  10708 -24948   A   -0.7407  0.9139  70.2S  63.3E  42  492  07m25s
04774  18  0000 Dec 14  18:19:36  10525 -24725   A   -0.7446  0.9150  71.8S  46.2W  42  488  07m12s
04820  19  0018 Dec 26  02:19:23  10344 -24502   A   -0.7515  0.9167  71.7S 153.7W  41  483  06m56s
04866  20  0037 Jan 05  10:17:02  10165 -24279   A   -0.7602  0.9191  70.1S  97.6E  40  474  06m40s
04911  21  0055 Jan 16  18:07:44   9988 -24056   A   -0.7752  0.9219  67.7S  12.1W  39  467  06m22s
04955  22  0073 Jan 27  01:54:29   9812 -23833   A   -0.7938  0.9252  64.7S 123.8W  37  461  06m02s
04999  23  0091 Feb 07  09:32:43   9638 -23610   A   -0.8201  0.9288  61.9S 125.2E  35  463  05m42s

05044  24  0109 Feb 17  17:04:01   9465 -23387   A   -0.8523  0.9325  59.5S  15.2E  31  475  05m21s
05088  25  0127 Mar 01  00:25:56   9292 -23164   A   -0.8926  0.9361  58.1S  92.1W  26  518  05m00s
05132  26  0145 Mar 11  07:41:10   9121 -22941   A   -0.9387  0.9395  57.9S 164.2E  20  643  04m38s
05174  27  0163 Mar 22  14:48:14   8950 -22718   As  -0.9922  0.9409  60.3S  75.0E   6   -   04m11s
05215  28  0181 Apr 01  21:47:59   8779 -22495   P   -1.0519  0.8780  60.8S  27.5W   0             
05256  29  0199 Apr 13  04:41:40   8608 -22272   P   -1.1170  0.7667  61.1S 140.3W   0             
05297  30  0217 Apr 23  11:30:26   8437 -22049   P   -1.1862  0.6472  61.5S 108.0E   0             
05338  31  0235 May 04  18:14:55   8265 -21826   P   -1.2592  0.5197  62.0S   2.8W   0             
05379  32  0253 May 15  00:56:59   8093 -21603   P   -1.3347  0.3868  62.7S 113.2W   0             
05420  33  0271 May 26  07:37:54   7921 -21380   P   -1.4113  0.2507  63.5S 136.5E   0             

05460  34  0289 Jun 05  14:20:04   7748 -21157   Pe  -1.4873  0.1149  64.3S  25.6E   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)"


Return to:

Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26