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 74 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 -0615 Aug 08. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0719 Oct 18. The total duration of Saros series 74 is 1334.23 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0615 Aug 08 17:45:17 TD Last Eclipse = 0719 Oct 18 00:50:25 TD Duration of Saros 74 = 1334.23 Years
Saros 74 is composed of 75 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 74 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 75 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 34 | 45.3% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 40.0% |
| Total | T | 8 | 10.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.0% |
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 74 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 74 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 75 eclipses in Saros 74: 22P 30A 3H 8T 12P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 74 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 74 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0146 May 16 | 06m22s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0305 Feb 10 | 00m37s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0449 May 08 | 02m35s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0377 Mar 25 | 01m41s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0359 Mar 15 | 01m13s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0323 Feb 22 | 00m03s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0521 Jun 20 | - | 0.96705 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0719 Oct 18 | - | 0.00711 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 74. 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 74.
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
03300 -34 -0615 Aug 08 17:45:17 18859 -32336 Pb -1.5409 0.0314 62.5S 57.0W 0
03347 -33 -0597 Aug 20 00:54:04 18580 -32113 P -1.4909 0.1203 61.9S 174.5W 0
03394 -32 -0579 Aug 30 08:09:58 18303 -31890 P -1.4471 0.1975 61.4S 66.5E 0
03441 -31 -0561 Sep 10 15:34:01 18029 -31667 P -1.4101 0.2622 61.0S 54.5W 0
03486 -30 -0543 Sep 20 23:06:09 17757 -31444 P -1.3799 0.3148 60.7S 177.3W 0
03531 -29 -0525 Oct 02 06:46:28 17486 -31221 P -1.3564 0.3552 60.7S 57.8E 0
03576 -28 -0507 Oct 12 14:32:48 17218 -30998 P -1.3381 0.3867 60.8S 68.5W 0
03621 -27 -0489 Oct 23 22:26:39 16915 -30775 P -1.3260 0.4072 61.1S 163.1E 0
03665 -26 -0471 Nov 03 06:24:52 16601 -30552 P -1.3180 0.4208 61.5S 33.5E 0
03709 -25 -0453 Nov 14 14:27:24 16296 -30329 P -1.3134 0.4287 62.1S 97.3W 0
03752 -24 -0435 Nov 24 22:30:25 15999 -30106 P -1.3093 0.4356 62.9S 131.5E 0
03795 -23 -0417 Dec 06 06:34:48 15710 -29883 P -1.3066 0.4401 63.8S 0.1W 0
03837 -22 -0399 Dec 16 14:36:52 15429 -29660 P -1.3022 0.4472 64.7S 131.5W 0
03879 -21 -0381 Dec 27 22:35:31 15155 -29437 P -1.2954 0.4584 65.8S 97.6E 0
03920 -20 -0362 Jan 07 06:28:31 14887 -29214 P -1.2844 0.4766 66.9S 32.3W 0
03959 -19 -0344 Jan 18 14:15:11 14625 -28991 P -1.2682 0.5035 68.0S 161.1W 0
03999 -18 -0326 Jan 28 21:53:54 14370 -28768 P -1.2458 0.5408 69.0S 71.5E 0
04040 -17 -0308 Feb 09 05:23:28 14120 -28545 P -1.2161 0.5904 69.9S 54.2W 0
04082 -16 -0290 Feb 19 12:44:05 13876 -28322 P -1.1792 0.6525 70.8S 178.3W 0
04122 -15 -0272 Mar 01 19:55:28 13637 -28099 P -1.1349 0.7275 71.4S 59.4E 0
04162 -14 -0254 Mar 13 02:56:47 13403 -27876 P -1.0821 0.8173 71.8S 60.8W 0
04203 -13 -0236 Mar 23 09:49:30 13173 -27653 P -1.0219 0.9204 72.0S 179.0W 0
04244 -12 -0218 Apr 03 16:34:07 12949 -27430 A -0.9546 0.9326 63.1S 26.3E 17 858 05m40s
04285 -11 -0200 Apr 13 23:12:36 12729 -27207 A -0.8818 0.9382 50.9S 91.4W 28 483 06m00s
04326 -10 -0182 Apr 25 05:43:43 12513 -26984 A -0.8023 0.9429 39.9S 161.0E 36 350 06m13s
04369 -09 -0164 May 05 12:12:03 12301 -26761 A -0.7198 0.9469 29.9S 57.2E 44 279 06m20s
04412 -08 -0146 May 16 18:36:34 12093 -26538 A -0.6331 0.9504 20.6S 44.1W 51 234 06m22s
04455 -07 -0128 May 27 01:01:11 11889 -26315 A -0.5459 0.9534 12.3S 144.3W 57 203 06m16s
04498 -06 -0110 Jun 07 07:24:32 11688 -26092 A -0.4568 0.9557 4.7S 116.8E 63 181 06m05s
04541 -05 -0092 Jun 17 13:51:37 11491 -25869 A -0.3699 0.9576 1.8N 18.0E 68 166 05m48s
04586 -04 -0074 Jun 28 20:21:24 11297 -25646 A -0.2842 0.9589 7.3N 80.8W 74 156 05m29s
04631 -03 -0056 Jul 09 02:56:21 11105 -25423 A -0.2021 0.9599 11.7N 179.9E 78 149 05m09s
04676 -02 -0038 Jul 20 09:37:47 10917 -25200 A -0.1246 0.9603 14.8N 79.6E 83 145 04m52s
04722 -01 -0020 Jul 30 16:27:14 10731 -24977 A -0.0529 0.9604 16.6N 22.4W 87 144 04m38s
04768 00 -0002 Aug 10 23:26:07 10548 -24754 A 0.0118 0.9602 17.3N 126.5W 89 144 04m28s
04813 01 0016 Aug 21 06:33:33 10367 -24531 A 0.0703 0.9598 16.9N 127.1E 86 146 04m22s
04859 02 0034 Sep 01 13:52:18 10188 -24308 A 0.1203 0.9593 15.5N 17.6E 83 149 04m20s
04904 03 0052 Sep 11 21:20:36 10011 -24085 Am 0.1634 0.9588 13.4N 94.6W 81 151 04m20s
04948 04 0070 Sep 23 05:00:07 9835 -23862 A 0.1978 0.9584 10.8N 150.0E 79 154 04m22s
04992 05 0088 Oct 03 12:48:46 9661 -23639 A 0.2256 0.9582 7.8N 32.0E 77 155 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
05037 06 0106 Oct 14 20:48:09 9487 -23416 A 0.2454 0.9583 4.7N 88.9W 76 156 04m29s
05082 07 0124 Oct 25 04:55:04 9315 -23193 A 0.2599 0.9588 1.6N 148.3E 75 154 04m31s
05126 08 0142 Nov 05 13:09:35 9143 -22970 A 0.2688 0.9598 1.3S 23.5E 74 151 04m31s
05169 09 0160 Nov 15 21:29:22 8972 -22747 A 0.2741 0.9614 3.9S 102.5W 74 145 04m27s
05210 10 0178 Nov 27 05:53:56 8801 -22524 A 0.2758 0.9635 5.9S 130.5E 74 137 04m18s
05251 11 0196 Dec 07 14:19:38 8630 -22301 A 0.2776 0.9662 7.2S 3.3E 74 127 04m02s
05292 12 0214 Dec 18 22:46:04 8459 -22078 A 0.2794 0.9696 7.6S 124.0W 74 114 03m41s
05333 13 0232 Dec 29 07:10:36 8287 -21855 A 0.2833 0.9736 7.0S 109.1E 74 99 03m12s
05374 14 0251 Jan 09 15:33:30 8116 -21632 A 0.2892 0.9781 5.5S 17.4W 73 82 02m38s
05415 15 0269 Jan 19 23:50:15 7943 -21409 A 0.3008 0.9831 2.9S 142.8W 73 63 01m59s
05455 16 0287 Jan 31 08:03:05 7770 -21186 A 0.3163 0.9886 0.7N 92.6E 72 42 01m18s
05495 17 0305 Feb 10 16:07:59 7596 -20963 A 0.3393 0.9944 5.2N 30.6W 70 21 00m37s
05534 18 0323 Feb 22 00:07:59 7422 -20740 H 0.3671 1.0004 10.5N 152.9W 68 2 00m03s
05574 19 0341 Mar 04 07:58:43 7246 -20517 H 0.4033 1.0065 16.6N 86.7E 66 25 00m40s
05614 20 0359 Mar 15 15:44:41 7070 -20294 H 0.4444 1.0126 23.2N 32.8W 63 48 01m13s
05655 21 0377 Mar 25 23:22:23 6893 -20071 T 0.4932 1.0184 30.4N 150.6W 60 72 01m41s
05696 22 0395 Apr 06 06:55:08 6715 -19848 T 0.5470 1.0240 38.1N 92.8E 57 97 02m04s
05737 23 0413 Apr 16 14:20:56 6537 -19625 T 0.6075 1.0291 46.3N 22.2W 52 124 02m20s
05778 24 0431 Apr 27 21:43:54 6358 -19402 T 0.6712 1.0337 54.7N 136.4W 48 153 02m31s
05818 25 0449 May 08 05:02:39 6180 -19179 T 0.7391 1.0374 63.7N 110.5E 42 187 02m35s
05860 26 0467 May 19 12:19:15 6002 -18956 T 0.8094 1.0403 73.1N 2.2W 36 231 02m33s
05903 27 0485 May 29 19:34:46 5825 -18733 T 0.8814 1.0420 83.4N 118.0W 28 301 02m26s
05947 28 0503 Jun 10 02:51:04 5649 -18510 T 0.9535 1.0420 83.7N 27.9W 17 483 02m12s
05991 29 0521 Jun 20 10:08:44 5472 -18287 P 1.0248 0.9670 65.8N 143.0W 0
06035 30 0539 Jul 01 17:28:39 5296 -18064 P 1.0948 0.8345 64.9N 96.2E 0
06082 31 0557 Jul 12 00:53:11 5121 -17841 P 1.1616 0.7075 64.0N 25.4W 0
06128 32 0575 Jul 23 08:23:00 4948 -17618 P 1.2247 0.5871 63.2N 148.1W 0
06174 33 0593 Aug 02 15:58:20 4776 -17395 P 1.2839 0.4743 62.5N 88.2E 0
06219 34 0611 Aug 13 23:41:16 4606 -17172 P 1.3374 0.3723 61.9N 37.3W 0
06264 35 0629 Aug 24 07:31:59 4437 -16949 P 1.3849 0.2818 61.5N 164.6W 0
06309 36 0647 Sep 04 15:31:41 4269 -16726 P 1.4260 0.2039 61.2N 65.9E 0
06356 37 0665 Sep 14 23:38:28 4103 -16503 P 1.4618 0.1363 61.0N 65.2W 0
06401 38 0683 Sep 26 07:54:43 3939 -16280 P 1.4907 0.0822 61.0N 161.3E 0
06445 39 0701 Oct 06 16:18:38 3777 -16057 P 1.5138 0.0391 61.2N 25.9E 0
06488 40 0719 Oct 18 00:50:25 3617 -15834 Pe 1.5311 0.0071 61.5N 111.5W 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)"
