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 72 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 -0727 Aug 16. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0752 Jan 21. The total duration of Saros series 72 is 1478.47 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0727 Aug 16 03:50:07 TD Last Eclipse = 0752 Jan 21 11:25:25 TD Duration of Saros 72 = 1478.47 Years
Saros 72 is composed of 83 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 72 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 83 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 40 | 48.2% |
| Annular | A | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | T | 43 | 51.8% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 0 | 0.0% |
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 72 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 72 | ||
| 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 83 eclipses in Saros 72: 22P 43T 18P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 72 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 72 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0204 Jun 25 | 06m36s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0427 Jul 10 | 00m55s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0348 Mar 31 | - | 0.98873 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0752 Jan 21 | - | 0.02000 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 72. 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 72.
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
03020 -37 -0727 Aug 16 03:50:07 20636 -33721 Pb -1.5437 0.0212 62.1S 153.6E 0
03065 -36 -0709 Aug 27 11:16:26 20344 -33498 P -1.4930 0.1101 61.5S 31.9E 0
03109 -35 -0691 Sep 06 18:54:32 20055 -33275 P -1.4507 0.1844 61.0S 92.7W 0
03154 -34 -0673 Sep 18 02:41:26 19767 -33052 P -1.4144 0.2480 60.8S 140.7E 0
03199 -33 -0655 Sep 28 10:40:10 19482 -32829 P -1.3865 0.2968 60.6S 11.2E 0
03244 -32 -0637 Oct 09 18:46:43 19199 -32606 P -1.3641 0.3361 60.7S 120.3W 0
03290 -31 -0619 Oct 20 03:02:09 18918 -32383 P -1.3482 0.3637 60.9S 106.0E 0
03337 -30 -0601 Oct 31 11:23:47 18639 -32160 P -1.3365 0.3840 61.3S 29.3W 0
03384 -29 -0583 Nov 10 19:51:52 18362 -31937 P -1.3298 0.3957 61.9S 166.4W 0
03431 -28 -0565 Nov 22 04:22:19 18087 -31714 P -1.3240 0.4055 62.6S 55.8E 0
03477 -27 -0547 Dec 02 12:54:50 17814 -31491 P -1.3193 0.4135 63.4S 82.7W 0
03522 -26 -0529 Dec 13 21:27:10 17543 -31268 P -1.3138 0.4228 64.4S 138.4E 0
03567 -25 -0511 Dec 24 05:58:52 17274 -31045 P -1.3076 0.4335 65.4S 0.6W 0
03612 -24 -0492 Jan 04 14:25:59 16982 -30822 P -1.2968 0.4524 66.5S 139.0W 0
03656 -23 -0474 Jan 14 22:49:31 16666 -30599 P -1.2825 0.4778 67.5S 82.9E 0
03700 -22 -0456 Jan 26 07:06:25 16360 -30376 P -1.2621 0.5146 68.6S 54.1W 0
03743 -21 -0438 Feb 05 15:18:18 16061 -30153 P -1.2368 0.5607 69.6S 169.6E 0
03787 -20 -0420 Feb 16 23:21:21 15771 -29930 P -1.2039 0.6214 70.4S 35.0E 0
03829 -19 -0402 Feb 27 07:18:58 15488 -29707 P -1.1656 0.6926 71.1S 98.9W 0
03871 -18 -0384 Mar 09 15:07:57 15212 -29484 P -1.1195 0.7792 71.6S 129.0E 0
03912 -17 -0366 Mar 20 22:51:24 14943 -29261 P -1.0682 0.8767 71.8S 2.0W 0
03951 -16 -0348 Mar 31 06:27:06 14680 -29038 P -1.0096 0.9887 71.8S 131.1W 0
03991 -15 -0330 Apr 11 13:58:37 14423 -28815 T -0.9468 1.0360 60.1S 65.0E 18 381 02m28s
04032 -14 -0312 Apr 21 21:24:48 14172 -28592 T -0.8788 1.0438 48.6S 61.6W 28 306 03m20s
04073 -13 -0294 May 03 04:47:27 13927 -28369 T -0.8072 1.0505 38.4S 178.9E 36 282 04m11s
04113 -12 -0276 May 13 12:07:52 13687 -28146 T -0.7328 1.0559 29.2S 62.4E 43 270 04m57s
04153 -11 -0258 May 24 19:27:21 13452 -27923 T -0.6568 1.0605 20.9S 52.5W 49 263 05m37s
04194 -10 -0240 Jun 04 02:47:32 13221 -27700 T -0.5807 1.0641 13.6S 166.5W 54 258 06m08s
04235 -09 -0222 Jun 15 10:08:27 12996 -27477 T -0.5047 1.0668 7.1S 80.3E 60 253 06m28s
04276 -08 -0204 Jun 25 17:33:02 12775 -27254 T -0.4309 1.0686 1.7S 33.1W 64 247 06m36s
04317 -07 -0186 Jul 07 01:01:07 12558 -27031 T -0.3594 1.0695 2.6N 146.7W 69 242 06m35s
04360 -06 -0168 Jul 17 08:34:21 12345 -26808 T -0.2917 1.0695 5.7N 99.1E 73 236 06m25s
04404 -05 -0150 Jul 28 16:13:20 12136 -26585 T -0.2286 1.0689 7.7N 16.2W 77 230 06m11s
04447 -04 -0132 Aug 07 23:59:55 11931 -26362 T -0.1714 1.0676 8.4N 133.2W 80 224 05m53s
04490 -03 -0114 Aug 19 07:54:00 11730 -26139 T -0.1203 1.0658 8.0N 108.0E 83 216 05m36s
04533 -02 -0096 Aug 29 15:55:39 11532 -25916 T -0.0752 1.0636 6.7N 12.8W 86 209 05m18s
04576 -01 -0078 Sep 10 00:05:45 11337 -25693 T -0.0372 1.0611 4.6N 135.8W 88 201 05m02s
04621 00 -0060 Sep 20 08:24:07 11146 -25470 T -0.0062 1.0584 1.8N 98.9E 90 192 04m48s
04666 01 -0042 Oct 01 16:50:13 10957 -25247 T 0.0186 1.0558 1.4S 28.5W 89 184 04m35s
04712 02 -0024 Oct 12 01:23:20 10770 -25024 T 0.0373 1.0532 4.8S 157.7W 88 176 04m25s
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
04758 03 -0006 Oct 23 10:03:04 10587 -24801 T 0.0506 1.0509 8.3S 71.4E 87 169 04m17s
04803 04 0012 Nov 02 18:48:38 10405 -24578 Tm 0.0590 1.0488 11.6S 60.7W 87 162 04m11s
04849 05 0030 Nov 14 03:37:26 10226 -24355 T 0.0644 1.0473 14.6S 166.6E 86 158 04m08s
04896 06 0048 Nov 24 12:30:09 10048 -24132 T 0.0667 1.0461 17.1S 33.2E 86 154 04m07s
04940 07 0066 Dec 05 21:23:09 9872 -23909 T 0.0684 1.0454 18.8S 100.0W 86 152 04m07s
04984 08 0084 Dec 16 06:16:36 9697 -23686 T 0.0699 1.0451 19.7S 126.9E 86 151 04m10s
05029 09 0102 Dec 27 15:06:16 9524 -23463 T 0.0743 1.0454 19.4S 5.3W 86 152 04m15s
05073 10 0121 Jan 06 23:54:07 9351 -23240 T 0.0802 1.0460 18.2S 137.0W 86 154 04m20s
05117 11 0139 Jan 18 08:35:48 9179 -23017 T 0.0906 1.0469 15.8S 92.4E 85 157 04m27s
05160 12 0157 Jan 28 17:11:51 9008 -22794 T 0.1059 1.0482 12.4S 37.2W 84 161 04m34s
05201 13 0175 Feb 09 01:39:26 8837 -22571 T 0.1278 1.0495 8.0S 165.3W 83 165 04m41s
05242 14 0193 Feb 19 10:00:11 8666 -22348 T 0.1552 1.0509 2.8S 67.9E 81 171 04m47s
05283 15 0211 Mar 02 18:11:38 8495 -22125 T 0.1899 1.0521 3.1N 57.1W 79 176 04m51s
05324 16 0229 Mar 13 02:14:35 8324 -21902 T 0.2312 1.0532 9.6N 179.6E 77 180 04m52s
05365 17 0247 Mar 24 10:08:36 8152 -21679 T 0.2796 1.0538 16.6N 58.4E 74 185 04m50s
05407 18 0265 Apr 03 17:54:54 7980 -21456 T 0.3341 1.0540 24.1N 61.0W 70 189 04m44s
05447 19 0283 Apr 15 01:32:54 7807 -21233 T 0.3951 1.0537 31.8N 178.3W 67 193 04m32s
05487 20 0301 Apr 25 09:04:15 7633 -21010 T 0.4610 1.0526 39.8N 66.3E 62 196 04m16s
05526 21 0319 May 06 16:29:08 7458 -20787 T 0.5318 1.0508 48.0N 46.8W 58 199 03m56s
05566 22 0337 May 16 23:50:04 7283 -20564 T 0.6053 1.0481 56.2N 157.8W 52 201 03m31s
05606 23 0355 May 28 07:05:38 7107 -20341 T 0.6827 1.0446 64.6N 94.5E 47 204 03m04s
05646 24 0373 Jun 07 14:20:16 6930 -20118 T 0.7601 1.0401 72.7N 8.0W 40 208 02m36s
05687 25 0391 Jun 18 21:32:22 6752 -19895 T 0.8390 1.0346 80.3N 94.3W 33 216 02m06s
05728 26 0409 Jun 29 04:46:23 6574 -19672 T 0.9153 1.0279 82.0N 135.1W 23 239 01m35s
05769 27 0427 Jul 10 11:59:29 6396 -19449 T 0.9913 1.0180 69.4N 167.3E 6 576 00m55s
05810 28 0445 Jul 20 19:17:00 6217 -19226 P 1.0629 0.8841 63.3N 56.1E 0
05851 29 0463 Aug 01 02:36:42 6039 -19003 P 1.1318 0.7553 62.5N 63.8W 0
05894 30 0481 Aug 11 10:02:04 5862 -18780 P 1.1949 0.6383 61.9N 175.0E 0
05938 31 0499 Aug 22 17:31:58 5686 -18557 P 1.2532 0.5314 61.4N 52.9E 0
05982 32 0517 Sep 02 01:09:31 5509 -18334 P 1.3044 0.4388 61.1N 71.0W 0
06026 33 0535 Sep 13 08:53:31 5333 -18111 P 1.3493 0.3585 60.9N 163.6E 0
06072 34 0553 Sep 23 16:44:18 5158 -17888 P 1.3880 0.2903 60.8N 36.5E 0
06118 35 0571 Oct 05 00:42:13 4985 -17665 P 1.4200 0.2348 60.9N 92.3W 0
06164 36 0589 Oct 15 08:47:11 4812 -17442 P 1.4453 0.1917 61.2N 137.0E 0
06209 37 0607 Oct 26 16:58:21 4642 -17219 P 1.4652 0.1585 61.7N 4.7E 0
06254 38 0625 Nov 06 01:14:00 4472 -16996 P 1.4805 0.1333 62.3N 128.8W 0
06299 39 0643 Nov 17 09:34:13 4304 -16773 P 1.4917 0.1155 63.0N 96.3E 0
06345 40 0661 Nov 27 17:56:51 4138 -16550 P 1.5001 0.1023 63.9N 39.4W 0
06391 41 0679 Dec 09 02:20:02 3973 -16327 P 1.5072 0.0911 64.9N 175.5W 0
06435 42 0697 Dec 19 10:42:19 3811 -16104 P 1.5144 0.0798 65.9N 48.1E 0
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
06478 43 0715 Dec 30 19:02:01 3651 -15881 P 1.5228 0.0660 67.0N 88.0W 0
06521 44 0734 Jan 10 03:17:02 3493 -15658 P 1.5341 0.0469 68.1N 136.5E 0
06563 45 0752 Jan 21 11:25:25 3337 -15435 Pe 1.5500 0.0200 69.1N 2.1E 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)"
