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 66 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 -0756 Mar 12. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0542 May 01. The total duration of Saros series 66 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0756 Mar 12 08:51:34 TD Last Eclipse = 0542 May 01 02:16:58 TD Duration of Saros 66 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 66 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 66 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 25 | 34.2% |
| Annular | A | 4 | 5.5% |
| Total | T | 43 | 58.9% |
| 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 66 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 66 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 48 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 47 | 97.9% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.1% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 66: 8P 43T 1H 4A 17P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 66 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 66 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0217 Oct 18 | 01m10s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0181 Sep 26 | 00m09s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0089 Apr 17 | 06m15s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0145 Sep 04 | 00m52s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0163 Sep 16 | 00m21s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0163 Sep 16 | 00m21s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0253 Nov 08 | - | 0.95699 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0756 Mar 12 | - | 0.00472 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 66. 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 66.
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
02951 -37 -0756 Mar 12 08:51:34 21116 -34085 Pb -1.5417 0.0047 71.4S 112.2W 0
02993 -36 -0738 Mar 23 16:19:52 20821 -33862 P -1.4834 0.1085 71.7S 120.6E 0
03037 -35 -0720 Apr 02 23:44:08 20528 -33639 P -1.4209 0.2216 71.7S 5.7W 0
03081 -34 -0702 Apr 14 07:02:58 20238 -33416 P -1.3528 0.3465 71.5S 130.6W 0
03125 -33 -0684 Apr 24 14:18:14 19949 -33193 P -1.2806 0.4804 71.0S 105.8E 0
03170 -32 -0666 May 05 21:31:04 19662 -32970 P -1.2052 0.6216 70.4S 16.8W 0
03215 -31 -0648 May 16 04:43:15 19378 -32747 P -1.1279 0.7675 69.6S 138.6W 0
03260 -30 -0630 May 27 11:55:19 19095 -32524 P -1.0497 0.9162 68.7S 100.2E 0
03306 -29 -0612 Jun 06 19:08:18 18815 -32301 T -0.9713 1.0379 54.8S 24.4W 13 558 02m52s
03353 -28 -0594 Jun 18 02:24:37 18537 -32078 T -0.8947 1.0440 40.6S 141.2W 26 331 03m44s
03400 -27 -0576 Jun 28 09:45:01 18260 -31855 T -0.8206 1.0478 31.4S 103.9E 35 279 04m18s
03447 -26 -0558 Jul 09 17:09:51 17986 -31632 T -0.7494 1.0504 24.7S 10.9W 41 252 04m39s
03492 -25 -0540 Jul 20 00:41:28 17714 -31409 T -0.6831 1.0520 19.8S 126.5W 47 234 04m48s
03537 -24 -0522 Jul 31 08:20:05 17444 -31186 T -0.6223 1.0527 16.5S 116.6E 51 221 04m49s
03582 -23 -0504 Aug 10 16:07:21 17176 -30963 T -0.5679 1.0528 14.8S 2.1W 55 210 04m43s
03627 -22 -0486 Aug 22 00:01:27 16865 -30740 T -0.5188 1.0522 14.2S 122.5W 59 200 04m33s
03671 -21 -0468 Sep 01 08:05:35 16553 -30517 T -0.4775 1.0513 14.9S 114.7E 61 191 04m21s
03715 -20 -0450 Sep 12 16:17:47 16249 -30294 T -0.4426 1.0501 16.6S 10.0W 64 184 04m09s
03759 -19 -0432 Sep 23 00:39:06 15953 -30071 T -0.4149 1.0489 19.2S 137.0W 65 177 03m57s
03802 -18 -0414 Oct 04 09:07:54 15666 -29848 T -0.3933 1.0475 22.4S 94.3E 67 170 03m47s
03844 -17 -0396 Oct 14 17:44:49 15385 -29625 T -0.3782 1.0463 26.1S 36.3W 68 165 03m39s
03886 -16 -0378 Oct 26 02:27:56 15112 -29402 T -0.3681 1.0453 30.0S 168.1W 68 161 03m32s
03927 -15 -0360 Nov 05 11:15:17 14845 -29179 T -0.3614 1.0446 33.9S 59.5E 69 159 03m28s
03966 -14 -0342 Nov 16 20:07:00 14585 -28956 T -0.3583 1.0443 37.5S 73.3W 69 158 03m26s
04006 -13 -0324 Nov 27 05:00:21 14330 -28733 T -0.3570 1.0445 40.7S 154.4E 69 159 03m28s
04047 -12 -0306 Dec 08 13:54:19 14081 -28510 T -0.3559 1.0452 43.0S 22.7E 69 161 03m31s
04088 -11 -0288 Dec 18 22:45:47 13838 -28287 T -0.3529 1.0463 44.2S 107.6W 69 165 03m38s
04128 -10 -0270 Dec 30 07:35:31 13600 -28064 T -0.3486 1.0479 44.2S 122.7E 69 170 03m47s
04168 -09 -0251 Jan 09 16:20:26 13366 -27841 T -0.3405 1.0499 42.9S 5.9W 70 176 03m59s
04209 -08 -0233 Jan 21 00:59:37 13138 -27618 T -0.3277 1.0522 40.2S 133.9W 71 183 04m13s
04250 -07 -0215 Jan 31 09:31:56 12914 -27395 T -0.3093 1.0548 36.3S 98.9E 72 190 04m30s
04291 -06 -0197 Feb 11 17:57:05 12694 -27172 T -0.2849 1.0574 31.5S 27.6W 73 197 04m48s
04333 -05 -0179 Feb 22 02:14:20 12479 -26949 T -0.2540 1.0602 25.8S 153.1W 75 204 05m08s
04376 -04 -0161 Mar 05 10:23:04 12268 -26726 T -0.2163 1.0627 19.6S 82.8E 77 210 05m27s
04419 -03 -0143 Mar 15 18:24:02 12061 -26503 T -0.1720 1.0650 12.8S 39.9W 80 216 05m45s
04462 -02 -0125 Mar 27 02:17:01 11857 -26280 T -0.1213 1.0669 5.7S 161.0W 83 220 05m59s
04505 -01 -0107 Apr 06 10:01:59 11657 -26057 Tm -0.0640 1.0684 1.7N 79.8E 86 223 06m10s
04548 00 -0089 Apr 17 17:40:32 11460 -25834 T -0.0015 1.0692 9.3N 37.7W 90 225 06m15s
04592 01 -0071 Apr 28 01:12:51 11266 -25611 T 0.0658 1.0694 16.8N 153.3W 86 226 06m13s
04637 02 -0053 May 09 08:41:04 11076 -25388 T 0.1361 1.0686 24.2N 92.5E 82 226 06m03s
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
04682 03 -0035 May 19 16:03:49 10888 -25165 T 0.2106 1.0672 31.4N 19.5W 78 225 05m46s
04729 04 -0017 May 30 23:25:29 10703 -24942 T 0.2855 1.0649 38.2N 130.2W 73 222 05m23s
04775 05 0001 Jun 10 06:44:16 10520 -24719 T 0.3625 1.0617 44.4N 121.2E 69 218 04m56s
04821 06 0019 Jun 21 14:04:18 10339 -24496 T 0.4376 1.0577 49.7N 13.9E 64 212 04m26s
04867 07 0037 Jul 01 21:23:24 10160 -24273 T 0.5128 1.0529 54.1N 91.2W 59 204 03m54s
04912 08 0055 Jul 13 04:47:03 9983 -24050 T 0.5837 1.0475 57.0N 164.2E 54 195 03m23s
04956 09 0073 Jul 23 12:12:48 9808 -23827 T 0.6522 1.0413 58.6N 60.1E 49 182 02m52s
05000 10 0091 Aug 03 19:44:06 9633 -23604 T 0.7154 1.0347 58.9N 45.5W 44 167 02m21s
05045 11 0109 Aug 14 03:20:13 9460 -23381 T 0.7739 1.0276 58.4N 153.2W 39 147 01m51s
05089 12 0127 Aug 25 11:03:53 9288 -23158 T 0.8252 1.0203 57.2N 95.5E 34 121 01m22s
05133 13 0145 Sep 04 18:53:49 9116 -22935 T 0.8709 1.0128 56.1N 18.7W 29 88 00m52s
05175 14 0163 Sep 16 02:50:40 8945 -22712 H 0.9101 1.0053 55.3N 135.8W 24 43 00m21s
05216 15 0181 Sep 26 10:54:43 8774 -22489 A 0.9426 0.9978 55.1N 104.4E 19 23 00m09s
05257 16 0199 Oct 07 19:06:10 8603 -22266 A 0.9683 0.9905 55.8N 17.8W 14 134 00m40s
05298 17 0217 Oct 18 03:23:22 8432 -22043 A 0.9884 0.9833 57.9N 140.4W 8 425 01m10s
05340 18 0235 Oct 29 11:46:24 8261 -21820 A+ 1.0029 0.9781 61.6N 98.0E 0
05381 19 0253 Nov 08 20:13:33 8089 -21597 P 1.0136 0.9570 62.2N 38.4W 0
05422 20 0271 Nov 20 04:44:21 7916 -21374 P 1.0204 0.9430 62.9N 175.9W 0
05462 21 0289 Nov 30 13:15:06 7743 -21151 P 1.0264 0.9307 63.8N 46.3E 0
05501 22 0307 Dec 11 21:47:09 7569 -20928 P 1.0308 0.9217 64.8N 92.1W 0
05540 23 0325 Dec 22 06:16:14 7394 -20705 P 1.0365 0.9106 65.9N 129.9E 0
05580 24 0344 Jan 02 14:42:39 7218 -20482 P 1.0440 0.8967 67.0N 8.0W 0
05620 25 0362 Jan 12 23:02:10 7042 -20259 P 1.0565 0.8743 68.0N 144.7W 0
05661 26 0380 Jan 24 07:16:41 6865 -20036 P 1.0722 0.8464 69.1N 79.3E 0
05702 27 0398 Feb 03 15:22:22 6687 -19813 P 1.0942 0.8077 70.0N 55.2W 0
05743 28 0416 Feb 14 23:19:01 6509 -19590 P 1.1229 0.7575 70.8N 171.9E 0
05784 29 0434 Feb 25 07:05:34 6330 -19367 P 1.1588 0.6947 71.5N 41.0E 0
05824 30 0452 Mar 07 14:42:20 6152 -19144 P 1.2019 0.6192 71.8N 87.9W 0
05866 31 0470 Mar 18 22:08:44 5974 -18921 P 1.2523 0.5311 72.0N 145.7E 0
05909 32 0488 Mar 29 05:24:28 5797 -18698 P 1.3102 0.4298 71.9N 21.9E 0
05953 33 0506 Apr 09 12:30:50 5621 -18475 P 1.3745 0.3174 71.5N 99.3W 0
05997 34 0524 Apr 19 19:28:06 5444 -18252 P 1.4451 0.1940 70.9N 142.2E 0
06042 35 0542 May 01 02:16:58 5268 -18029 Pe 1.5211 0.0615 70.2N 26.4E 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)"
