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 68 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 -0626 Mar 16. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0654 Apr 22. The total duration of Saros series 68 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0626 Mar 16 01:05:55 TD Last Eclipse = 0654 Apr 22 17:13:12 TD Duration of Saros 68 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 68 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 68 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 30 | 41.7% |
| Annular | A | 28 | 38.9% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.3% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.2% |
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 68 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 68 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 97.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.4% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 68: 7P 28A 3H 11T 23P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 68 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 68 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0428 Jul 12 | 07m07s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0013 Mar 18 | 00m27s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0131 Jun 12 | 02m31s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0239 Aug 16 | 01m45s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0041 Apr 19 | 01m24s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0005 Mar 28 | 00m14s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0257 Aug 26 | - | 0.99693 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0626 Mar 16 | - | 0.04216 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 68. 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 68.
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
03270 -34 -0626 Mar 16 01:05:55 19036 -32477 Pb -1.5403 0.0422 71.6S 9.7W 0
03316 -33 -0608 Mar 26 07:53:16 18756 -32254 P -1.4781 0.1467 71.8S 126.7W 0
03363 -32 -0590 Apr 06 14:34:18 18478 -32031 P -1.4109 0.2605 71.7S 117.9E 0
03411 -31 -0572 Apr 16 21:05:31 18202 -31808 P -1.3355 0.3886 71.4S 5.1E 0
03457 -30 -0554 Apr 28 03:33:20 17929 -31585 P -1.2569 0.5225 70.9S 106.5W 0
03502 -29 -0536 May 08 09:54:52 17657 -31362 P -1.1725 0.6670 70.2S 144.0E 0
03547 -28 -0518 May 19 16:14:51 17387 -31139 P -1.0865 0.8144 69.3S 35.5E 0
03592 -27 -0500 May 29 22:32:09 17118 -30916 A- -0.9975 0.9670 68.4S 71.7W 0
03637 -26 -0482 Jun 10 04:51:57 16798 -30693 A -0.9098 0.9417 43.3S 177.8E 24 524 06m26s
03680 -25 -0464 Jun 20 11:13:11 16488 -30470 A -0.8224 0.9439 32.0S 76.9E 34 365 06m51s
03724 -24 -0446 Jul 01 17:38:34 16186 -30247 A -0.7375 0.9451 23.7S 23.4W 42 299 07m03s
03768 -23 -0428 Jul 12 00:09:36 15892 -30024 A -0.6564 0.9456 17.3S 124.1W 49 264 07m07s
03810 -22 -0410 Jul 23 06:47:50 15606 -29801 A -0.5804 0.9456 12.7S 134.2E 54 243 07m03s
03852 -21 -0392 Aug 02 13:34:16 15327 -29578 A -0.5104 0.9452 9.7S 31.0E 59 232 06m56s
03894 -20 -0374 Aug 13 20:28:56 15055 -29355 A -0.4465 0.9445 8.0S 73.9W 63 226 06m47s
03935 -19 -0356 Aug 24 03:34:30 14790 -29132 A -0.3907 0.9437 7.7S 178.6E 67 224 06m39s
03974 -18 -0338 Sep 04 10:49:39 14531 -28909 A -0.3420 0.9427 8.5S 68.8E 70 223 06m33s
04015 -17 -0320 Sep 14 18:15:18 14277 -28686 A -0.3015 0.9418 10.3S 43.6W 72 224 06m29s
04056 -16 -0302 Sep 26 01:50:57 14030 -28463 A -0.2686 0.9411 12.9S 158.6W 74 225 06m26s
04097 -15 -0284 Oct 06 09:37:04 13787 -28240 A -0.2438 0.9406 16.0S 83.8E 76 226 06m25s
04137 -14 -0266 Oct 17 17:31:31 13550 -28017 A -0.2251 0.9405 19.5S 35.7W 77 225 06m24s
04177 -13 -0248 Oct 28 01:33:12 13318 -27794 A -0.2115 0.9408 23.1S 156.8W 78 224 06m21s
04218 -12 -0230 Nov 08 09:41:29 13090 -27571 A -0.2028 0.9417 26.6S 80.8E 78 220 06m17s
04258 -11 -0212 Nov 18 17:55:03 12867 -27348 A -0.1981 0.9431 29.7S 42.4W 78 214 06m10s
04299 -10 -0194 Nov 30 02:10:48 12649 -27125 A -0.1943 0.9452 32.2S 165.6W 79 206 05m58s
04341 -09 -0176 Dec 10 10:28:09 12434 -26902 A -0.1911 0.9479 33.9S 71.3E 79 195 05m43s
04385 -08 -0158 Dec 21 18:44:20 12224 -26679 A -0.1862 0.9514 34.5S 51.2W 79 181 05m22s
04428 -07 -0139 Jan 01 02:59:33 12017 -26456 A -0.1796 0.9554 34.0S 173.4W 79 166 04m57s
04471 -06 -0121 Jan 12 11:09:11 11815 -26233 A -0.1679 0.9601 32.1S 65.5E 80 147 04m27s
04514 -05 -0103 Jan 22 19:15:23 11615 -26010 A -0.1527 0.9652 29.1S 55.3W 81 127 03m53s
04557 -04 -0085 Feb 03 03:13:49 11419 -25787 A -0.1302 0.9709 25.0S 175.0W 82 105 03m15s
04602 -03 -0067 Feb 13 11:06:56 11226 -25564 A -0.1026 0.9769 20.0S 65.9E 84 83 02m35s
04647 -02 -0049 Feb 24 18:50:54 11036 -25341 A -0.0666 0.9831 14.1S 51.6W 86 60 01m52s
04692 -01 -0031 Mar 07 02:29:23 10849 -25118 A -0.0252 0.9895 7.7S 168.3W 89 37 01m09s
04739 00 -0013 Mar 18 09:59:34 10664 -24895 A 0.0238 0.9959 0.8S 76.6E 89 14 00m27s
04784 01 0005 Mar 28 17:23:34 10481 -24672 H 0.0789 1.0022 6.6N 37.2W 85 8 00m14s
04830 02 0023 Apr 09 00:41:09 10301 -24449 Hm 0.1404 1.0082 14.2N 149.4W 82 29 00m51s
04876 03 0041 Apr 19 07:54:46 10123 -24226 H 0.2062 1.0139 22.0N 99.5E 78 49 01m24s
04921 04 0059 Apr 30 15:04:34 9946 -24003 T 0.2762 1.0191 29.8N 10.2W 74 68 01m50s
04965 05 0077 May 10 22:11:37 9771 -23780 T 0.3493 1.0238 37.5N 118.6W 69 86 02m10s
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
05010 06 0095 May 22 05:17:54 9597 -23557 T 0.4242 1.0277 45.0N 134.3E 65 104 02m22s
05055 07 0113 Jun 01 12:24:30 9424 -23334 T 0.5000 1.0310 52.1N 28.7E 60 121 02m29s
05099 08 0131 Jun 12 19:32:12 9252 -23111 T 0.5756 1.0335 58.6N 74.8W 55 139 02m31s
05143 09 0149 Jun 23 02:42:52 9080 -22888 T 0.6495 1.0352 64.1N 175.6W 49 156 02m29s
05185 10 0167 Jul 04 09:57:52 8909 -22665 T 0.7207 1.0361 68.2N 87.0E 44 176 02m24s
05225 11 0185 Jul 14 17:18:39 8738 -22442 T 0.7879 1.0362 70.2N 7.9W 38 198 02m17s
05266 12 0203 Jul 26 00:44:37 8567 -22219 T 0.8516 1.0355 70.3N 102.6W 31 229 02m09s
05307 13 0221 Aug 05 08:18:57 8396 -21996 T 0.9089 1.0339 68.8N 159.0E 24 276 01m58s
05348 14 0239 Aug 16 16:00:15 8224 -21773 T 0.9611 1.0313 66.4N 58.8E 15 392 01m45s
05389 15 0257 Aug 26 23:51:08 8052 -21550 P 1.0060 0.9969 61.3N 34.3W 0
05430 16 0275 Sep 07 07:49:10 7880 -21327 P 1.0456 0.9222 61.0N 163.3W 0
05470 17 0293 Sep 17 15:57:50 7706 -21104 P 1.0773 0.8624 60.9N 65.1E 0
05509 18 0311 Sep 29 00:14:07 7532 -20881 P 1.1035 0.8130 60.9N 68.3W 0
05549 19 0329 Oct 09 08:39:31 7357 -20658 P 1.1227 0.7769 61.0N 155.9E 0
05589 20 0347 Oct 20 17:12:08 7181 -20435 P 1.1367 0.7504 61.4N 18.3E 0
05629 21 0365 Oct 31 01:52:16 7005 -20212 P 1.1450 0.7347 61.9N 121.4W 0
05670 22 0383 Nov 11 10:37:14 6827 -19989 P 1.1502 0.7249 62.5N 97.7E 0
05711 23 0401 Nov 21 19:26:03 6649 -19766 P 1.1528 0.7201 63.3N 44.5W 0
05752 24 0419 Dec 03 04:17:38 6471 -19543 P 1.1536 0.7187 64.2N 172.4E 0
05793 25 0437 Dec 13 13:10:27 6293 -19320 P 1.1533 0.7193 65.1N 28.6E 0
05833 26 0455 Dec 24 22:01:42 6114 -19097 P 1.1551 0.7163 66.2N 115.2W 0
05876 27 0474 Jan 04 06:50:38 5937 -18874 P 1.1589 0.7095 67.3N 101.1E 0
05919 28 0492 Jan 15 15:35:24 5760 -18651 P 1.1665 0.6957 68.3N 42.1W 0
05963 29 0510 Jan 26 00:15:39 5583 -18428 P 1.1778 0.6746 69.3N 175.2E 0
06007 30 0528 Feb 06 08:48:21 5407 -18205 P 1.1955 0.6417 70.2N 33.8E 0
06052 31 0546 Feb 16 17:15:08 5232 -17982 P 1.2181 0.5989 70.9N 106.7W 0
06098 32 0564 Feb 28 01:33:17 5058 -17759 P 1.2481 0.5419 71.5N 114.5E 0
06144 33 0582 Mar 10 09:44:43 4885 -17536 P 1.2837 0.4737 71.8N 23.1W 0
06190 34 0600 Mar 20 17:47:01 4713 -17313 P 1.3269 0.3907 71.8N 158.5W 0
06235 35 0618 Apr 01 01:42:57 4543 -17090 P 1.3754 0.2969 71.6N 67.9E 0
06280 36 0636 Apr 11 09:31:19 4375 -16867 P 1.4301 0.1909 71.2N 63.6W 0
06326 37 0654 Apr 22 17:13:12 4208 -16644 Pe 1.4901 0.0743 70.6N 167.0E 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)"
