Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 78

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 78

Solar eclipses of Saros 78 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 -0463 Jun 09. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0817 Jul 18. The total duration of Saros series 78 is 1280.14 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -0463 Jun 09   14:14:46 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   0817 Jul 18   01:39:41 TD

                      Duration of Saros  78  =  1280.14 Years

Saros 78 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 78
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PartialP 16 22.2%
AnnularA 9 12.5%
TotalT 45 62.5%
Hybrid[3]H 2 2.8%

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 78 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 78
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 56100.0%
Central (two limits) 56100.0%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 78: 9P 9A 2H 45T 7P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 78 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 78
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0301 Sep 1501m16s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0157 Dec 1100m09s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse 0132 Jun 0107m14s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -0102 Jan 1200m39s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0120 Jan 0100m21s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0139 Dec 2100m05s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0319 Sep 03 - 0.97582
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -0463 Jun 09 - 0.01741

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 78

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 78. 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 78.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 78

                         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

03684 -36 -0463 Jun 09  14:14:46  16471 -30458   Pb  -1.5420  0.0174  67.4S  39.2E   0             
03728 -35 -0445 Jun 20  20:59:47  16170 -30235   P   -1.4589  0.1643  66.4S  74.1W   0             
03772 -34 -0427 Jul 01  03:49:51  15877 -30012   P   -1.3784  0.3073  65.4S 171.8E   0             
03814 -33 -0409 Jul 12  10:46:02  15591 -29789   P   -1.3014  0.4445  64.4S  56.6E   0             
03856 -32 -0391 Jul 22  17:50:17  15313 -29566   P   -1.2296  0.5730  63.5S  60.3W   0             
03898 -31 -0373 Aug 03  01:03:18  15041 -29343   P   -1.1635  0.6914  62.7S 179.1W   0             
03937 -30 -0355 Aug 13  08:24:46  14776 -29120   P   -1.1031  0.7997  62.0S  60.3E   0             
03976 -29 -0337 Aug 24  15:56:49  14517 -28897   P   -1.0503  0.8944  61.5S  62.7W   0             
04017 -28 -0319 Sep 03  23:38:48  14264 -28674   P   -1.0048  0.9758  61.0S 172.0E   0             
04058 -27 -0301 Sep 15  07:31:43  14016 -28451   A   -0.9674  0.9823  55.7S  69.1E  14  248  01m16s

04099 -26 -0283 Sep 25  15:33:09  13774 -28228   A   -0.9361  0.9842  54.6S  49.6W  20  157  01m08s
04139 -25 -0265 Oct 06  23:44:55  13537 -28005   A   -0.9125  0.9855  55.6S 173.7W  24  123  01m01s
04179 -24 -0247 Oct 17  08:04:31  13305 -27782   A   -0.8945  0.9867  57.8S  59.4E  26  103  00m55s
04220 -23 -0229 Oct 28  16:31:34  13078 -27559   A   -0.8822  0.9882  61.0S  70.0W  28   88  00m47s
04260 -22 -0211 Nov 08  01:04:24  12856 -27336   A   -0.8739  0.9898  64.8S 159.3E  29   74  00m40s
04301 -21 -0193 Nov 19  09:41:51  12637 -27113   A   -0.8689  0.9919  68.9S  27.9E  29   58  00m31s
04343 -20 -0175 Nov 29  18:22:07  12423 -26890   A   -0.8654  0.9944  73.3S 102.5W  30   39  00m21s
04387 -19 -0157 Dec 11  03:02:37  12213 -26667   A   -0.8616  0.9976  77.4S 131.6E  30   17  00m09s
04430 -18 -0139 Dec 21  11:43:23  12006 -26444   H   -0.8574  1.0012  80.8S  15.2E  31    8  00m05s
04473 -17 -0120 Jan 01  20:21:20  11804 -26221   H   -0.8509  1.0056  81.9S  86.0W  31   37  00m21s

04516 -16 -0102 Jan 12  04:55:26  11604 -25998   T   -0.8403  1.0104  79.5S 170.3E  32   67  00m39s
04559 -15 -0084 Jan 23  13:23:46  11409 -25775   T   -0.8246  1.0158  74.8S  53.0E  34   97  01m01s
04604 -14 -0066 Feb 02  21:46:36  11216 -25552   T   -0.8039  1.0217  69.1S  71.0W  36  125  01m26s
04649 -13 -0048 Feb 14  06:02:38  11026 -25329   T   -0.7773  1.0279  62.7S 163.1E  39  150  01m54s
04694 -12 -0030 Feb 24  14:10:39  10839 -25106   T   -0.7435  1.0343  55.7S  37.6E  42  172  02m27s
04741 -11 -0012 Mar 06  22:11:44  10654 -24883   T   -0.7036  1.0407  48.4S  86.9W  45  191  03m03s
04786 -10  0006 Mar 18  06:05:10  10472 -24660   T   -0.6566  1.0470  40.8S 150.3E  49  206  03m42s
04832 -09  0024 Mar 28  13:52:19  10291 -24437   T   -0.6039  1.0531  33.0S  29.0E  53  219  04m24s
04878 -08  0042 Apr 08  21:32:29  10113 -24214   T   -0.5449  1.0588  25.1S  90.4W  57  229  05m05s
04923 -07  0060 Apr 19  05:08:12   9936 -23991   T   -0.4815  1.0640  17.3S 151.7E  61  238  05m45s

04967 -06  0078 Apr 30  12:39:31   9761 -23768   T   -0.4136  1.0685   9.7S  35.2E  66  244  06m19s
05012 -05  0096 May 10  20:07:02   9587 -23545   T   -0.3421  1.0723   2.3S  79.8W  70  250  06m47s
05057 -04  0114 May 22  03:32:43   9414 -23322   T   -0.2684  1.0753   4.6N 166.2E  74  253  07m06s
05101 -03  0132 Jun 01  10:57:16   9242 -23099   T   -0.1932  1.0775  10.9N  53.3E  79  255  07m14s
05145 -02  0150 Jun 12  18:23:03   9071 -22876   T   -0.1187  1.0787  16.5N  59.3W  83  256  07m13s
05187 -01  0168 Jun 23  01:48:53   8900 -22653   T   -0.0441  1.0792  21.3N 171.0W  88  256  07m03s
05227  00  0186 Jul 04  09:18:54   8729 -22430   Tm   0.0275  1.0787  25.0N  77.0E  88  254  06m47s
05268  01  0204 Jul 14  16:51:47   8558 -22207   T    0.0968  1.0774  27.6N  35.2W  84  252  06m27s
05309  02  0222 Jul 26  00:30:26   8387 -21984   T    0.1612  1.0754  29.0N 148.5W  81  248  06m06s
05350  03  0240 Aug 05  08:13:15   8215 -21761   T    0.2221  1.0728  29.4N  97.2E  77  242  05m45s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 78

                         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

05391  04  0258 Aug 16  16:04:16   8043 -21538   T    0.2761  1.0696  28.7N  19.4W  74  235  05m25s
05432  05  0276 Aug 27  00:01:24   7870 -21315   T    0.3249  1.0660  27.3N 137.9W  71  227  05m06s
05472  06  0294 Sep 07  08:06:29   7697 -21092   T    0.3671  1.0621  25.2N 101.0E  68  218  04m48s
05511  07  0312 Sep 17  16:18:56   7523 -20869   T    0.4032  1.0581  22.8N  22.5W  66  207  04m33s
05551  08  0330 Sep 29  00:40:17   7348 -20646   T    0.4313  1.0540  20.0N 148.8W  64  196  04m19s
05591  09  0348 Oct 09  09:08:38   7172 -20423   T    0.4540  1.0501  17.2N  82.8E  63  185  04m07s
05631  10  0366 Oct 20  17:43:30   6995 -20200   T    0.4710  1.0464  14.4N  47.5W  62  173  03m56s
05672  11  0384 Oct 31  02:24:17   6818 -19977   T    0.4831  1.0431  11.9N 179.4W  61  163  03m47s
05713  12  0402 Nov 11  11:10:32   6640 -19754   T    0.4904  1.0401   9.6N  47.2E  61  153  03m39s
05754  13  0420 Nov 21  19:59:16   6461 -19531   T    0.4956  1.0377   7.9N  86.8W  60  145  03m33s

05795  14  0438 Dec 03  04:50:38   6283 -19308   T    0.4982  1.0357   6.7N 138.5E  60  138  03m27s
05836  15  0456 Dec 13  13:41:28   6105 -19085   T    0.5010  1.0342   6.3N   4.0E  60  133  03m23s
05879  16  0474 Dec 24  22:31:52   5927 -18862   T    0.5039  1.0332   6.7N 130.4W  60  129  03m20s
05922  17  0493 Jan 04  07:17:22   5751 -18639   T    0.5104  1.0326   8.1N  96.3E  59  128  03m16s
05966  18  0511 Jan 15  16:00:05   5574 -18416   T    0.5189  1.0323  10.3N  36.4W  59  128  03m14s
06011  19  0529 Jan 26  00:35:32   5397 -18193   T    0.5327  1.0323  13.6N 167.6W  58  129  03m10s
06056  20  0547 Feb 06  09:04:44   5222 -17970   T    0.5516  1.0325  17.7N  62.5E  56  131  03m07s
06102  21  0565 Feb 16  17:24:37   5048 -17747   T    0.5777  1.0327  22.8N  65.5W  55  134  03m02s
06148  22  0583 Feb 28  01:37:28   4876 -17524   T    0.6092  1.0329  28.7N 167.8E  52  139  02m55s
06193  23  0601 Mar 10  09:40:34   4704 -17301   T    0.6483  1.0327  35.3N  43.1E  49  144  02m47s

06238  24  0619 Mar 21  17:34:36   4534 -17078   T    0.6944  1.0323  42.8N  80.0W  46  150  02m36s
06283  25  0637 Apr 01  01:19:52   4366 -16855   T    0.7473  1.0312  50.9N 158.3E  41  158  02m21s
06329  26  0655 Apr 12  08:56:58   4199 -16632   T    0.8065  1.0296  59.8N  36.8E  36  169  02m05s
06375  27  0673 Apr 22  16:26:17   4034 -16409   T    0.8714  1.0270  69.6N  88.0W  29  188  01m44s
06420  28  0691 May 03  23:48:12   3870 -16186   T    0.9415  1.0229  78.9N 123.0E  19  238  01m20s
06464  29  0709 May 14  07:04:35   3709 -15963   P    1.0154  0.9736  69.1N  68.7W   0             
06506  30  0727 May 25  14:15:57   3551 -15740   P    1.0925  0.8295  68.1N 171.2E   0             
06548  31  0745 Jun 04  21:22:42   3394 -15517   P    1.1724  0.6809  67.1N  52.9E   0             
06590  32  0763 Jun 16  04:27:29   3241 -15294   P    1.2526  0.5326  66.1N  64.5W   0             
06631  33  0781 Jun 26  11:30:45   3090 -15071   P    1.3330  0.3849  65.1N 178.9E   0             

06672  34  0799 Jul 07  18:35:08   2942 -14848   P    1.4112  0.2426  64.2N  62.4E   0             
06713  35  0817 Jul 18  01:39:41   2798 -14625   Pe   1.4880  0.1042  63.4N  53.8W   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