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 79 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0434 May 21. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0828 Jun 16. The total duration of Saros series 79 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0434 May 21 00:03:26 TD Last Eclipse = 0828 Jun 16 04:36:44 TD Duration of Saros 79 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 79 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 79 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.7% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 42.3% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.5% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 16 | 22.5% |
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 79 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 79 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 55 | 96.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 2 | 3.5% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 79: 8P 11T 16H 30A 6P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 79 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 79 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0521 Dec 15 | 07m28s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0197 Jun 03 | 00m11s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0254 Sep 06 | 02m27s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0110 Dec 02 | 00m58s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0092 Dec 12 | 00m46s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0179 May 24 | 00m06s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0308 Aug 04 | - | 0.92010 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0434 May 21 | - | 0.02793 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 79. 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 79.
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
03754 -37 -0434 May 21 00:03:26 15991 -30100 Pb 1.5128 0.0279 62.7N 112.6E 0
03797 -36 -0416 May 31 07:28:25 15703 -29877 P 1.4411 0.1676 63.4N 9.2W 0
03839 -35 -0398 Jun 11 14:54:03 15422 -29654 P 1.3697 0.3067 64.3N 131.3W 0
03881 -34 -0380 Jun 21 22:20:47 15147 -29431 P 1.2994 0.4435 65.2N 106.0E 0
03922 -33 -0362 Jul 03 05:50:34 14880 -29208 P 1.2318 0.5745 66.1N 17.8W 0
03961 -32 -0344 Jul 13 13:23:45 14618 -28985 P 1.1671 0.6993 67.1N 142.9W 0
04001 -31 -0326 Jul 24 21:01:18 14363 -28762 P 1.1063 0.8155 68.1N 90.5E 0
04042 -30 -0308 Aug 04 04:44:56 14113 -28539 P 1.0511 0.9201 69.1N 38.1W 0
04083 -29 -0290 Aug 15 12:34:54 13869 -28316 T+ 1.0017 1.0127 70.0N 168.9W 0
04123 -28 -0272 Aug 25 20:31:42 13630 -28093 T 0.9583 1.0435 75.2N 3.3E 16 525 02m25s
04163 -27 -0254 Sep 06 04:36:03 13396 -27870 T 0.9216 1.0404 68.8N 146.4W 22 353 02m27s
04204 -26 -0236 Sep 16 12:48:23 13167 -27647 T 0.8919 1.0366 62.0N 77.2E 26 272 02m24s
04245 -25 -0218 Sep 27 21:08:11 12943 -27424 T 0.8691 1.0324 55.8N 56.1W 29 220 02m16s
04286 -24 -0200 Oct 08 05:34:03 12723 -27201 T 0.8517 1.0281 50.4N 171.0E 31 181 02m06s
04327 -23 -0182 Oct 19 14:07:02 12507 -26978 T 0.8407 1.0239 45.8N 37.3E 32 149 01m53s
04370 -22 -0164 Oct 29 22:45:19 12295 -26755 T 0.8343 1.0199 41.9N 97.1W 33 123 01m39s
04413 -21 -0146 Nov 10 07:27:50 12087 -26532 T 0.8320 1.0163 38.9N 127.7E 33 101 01m25s
04456 -20 -0128 Nov 20 16:12:27 11883 -26309 T 0.8319 1.0131 36.5N 7.8W 33 81 01m10s
04499 -19 -0110 Dec 02 00:58:31 11683 -26086 T 0.8335 1.0104 34.8N 143.6W 33 65 00m58s
04542 -18 -0092 Dec 12 09:44:07 11485 -25863 H 0.8354 1.0081 33.7N 80.7E 33 51 00m46s
04587 -17 -0074 Dec 23 18:26:24 11291 -25640 H 0.8350 1.0066 32.9N 54.2W 33 41 00m37s
04632 -16 -0055 Jan 03 03:05:23 11100 -25417 H 0.8326 1.0054 32.5N 171.8E 33 34 00m31s
04677 -15 -0037 Jan 14 11:38:03 10912 -25194 H 0.8256 1.0048 32.3N 39.6E 34 30 00m27s
04723 -14 -0019 Jan 24 20:04:24 10727 -24971 H 0.8142 1.0047 32.2N 90.7W 35 27 00m26s
04769 -13 -0001 Feb 05 04:21:20 10543 -24748 H 0.7956 1.0049 32.2N 141.9E 37 27 00m26s
04814 -12 0017 Feb 15 12:30:45 10362 -24525 H 0.7717 1.0053 32.4N 16.8E 39 28 00m28s
04860 -11 0035 Feb 26 20:29:54 10183 -24302 H 0.7398 1.0059 32.8N 105.0W 42 30 00m31s
04905 -10 0053 Mar 09 04:19:20 10006 -24079 H 0.7006 1.0065 33.4N 136.3E 45 31 00m33s
04949 -09 0071 Mar 20 11:58:48 9830 -23856 H 0.6541 1.0069 34.1N 20.8E 49 31 00m35s
04993 -08 0089 Mar 30 19:29:18 9656 -23633 H 0.6008 1.0071 35.0N 91.8W 53 30 00m36s
05038 -07 0107 Apr 11 02:51:12 9483 -23410 H 0.5410 1.0069 35.8N 158.6E 57 28 00m35s
05083 -06 0125 Apr 21 10:04:01 9310 -23187 H 0.4745 1.0063 36.3N 51.8E 61 24 00m32s
05127 -05 0143 May 02 17:10:28 9138 -22964 H 0.4035 1.0051 36.4N 52.7W 66 19 00m27s
05170 -04 0161 May 13 00:10:12 8967 -22741 H 0.3280 1.0034 35.8N 155.3W 71 12 00m18s
05211 -03 0179 May 24 07:05:09 8796 -22518 H 0.2493 1.0011 34.4N 103.3E 75 4 00m06s
05252 -02 0197 Jun 03 13:56:11 8625 -22295 Am 0.1683 0.9981 31.9N 2.7E 80 7 00m11s
05293 -01 0215 Jun 14 20:45:22 8454 -22072 A 0.0867 0.9946 28.5N 98.1W 85 19 00m34s
05334 00 0233 Jun 25 03:34:11 8283 -21849 A 0.0061 0.9905 24.1N 160.5E 90 34 01m04s
05375 01 0251 Jul 06 10:22:43 8111 -21626 A -0.0738 0.9859 19.0N 58.3E 86 50 01m40s
05416 02 0269 Jul 16 17:14:24 7939 -21403 A -0.1498 0.9808 13.2N 45.5W 81 69 02m21s
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
05456 03 0287 Jul 28 00:08:38 7765 -21180 A -0.2228 0.9754 6.9N 150.7W 77 90 03m04s
05496 04 0305 Aug 07 07:08:56 7592 -20957 A -0.2898 0.9697 0.2N 102.0E 73 114 03m48s
05535 05 0323 Aug 18 14:13:22 7417 -20734 A -0.3525 0.9638 6.7S 6.8W 69 139 04m29s
05575 06 0341 Aug 28 21:26:32 7241 -20511 A -0.4068 0.9579 13.5S 118.1W 66 167 05m06s
05615 07 0359 Sep 09 04:45:34 7065 -20288 A -0.4555 0.9520 20.4S 128.9E 63 196 05m38s
05656 08 0377 Sep 19 12:13:48 6888 -20065 A -0.4959 0.9464 27.1S 13.8E 60 225 06m05s
05697 09 0395 Sep 30 19:48:39 6710 -19842 A -0.5302 0.9411 33.6S 102.8W 58 255 06m27s
05738 10 0413 Oct 11 03:32:32 6532 -19619 A -0.5566 0.9362 39.7S 139.0E 56 284 06m44s
05779 11 0431 Oct 22 11:22:11 6353 -19396 A -0.5773 0.9318 45.4S 20.1E 54 311 06m58s
05819 12 0449 Nov 01 19:17:57 6175 -19173 A -0.5925 0.9280 50.6S 99.0W 53 335 07m09s
05861 13 0467 Nov 13 03:18:02 5997 -18950 A -0.6035 0.9248 55.1S 142.5E 53 356 07m17s
05904 14 0485 Nov 23 11:22:19 5820 -18727 A -0.6109 0.9222 58.6S 24.9E 52 372 07m23s
05948 15 0503 Dec 04 19:27:10 5644 -18504 A -0.6172 0.9204 61.1S 90.9W 52 384 07m27s
05992 16 0521 Dec 15 03:32:14 5467 -18281 A -0.6230 0.9193 62.2S 154.8E 51 393 07m28s
06037 17 0539 Dec 26 11:34:40 5291 -18058 A -0.6305 0.9188 62.0S 41.4E 51 398 07m26s
06084 18 0558 Jan 05 19:34:45 5117 -17835 A -0.6398 0.9189 60.5S 72.3W 50 400 07m23s
06130 19 0576 Jan 17 03:27:40 4944 -17612 A -0.6547 0.9196 58.4S 174.5E 49 402 07m17s
06176 20 0594 Jan 27 11:15:35 4772 -17389 A -0.6735 0.9207 55.7S 60.9E 47 403 07m10s
06221 21 0612 Feb 07 18:54:14 4601 -17166 A -0.6997 0.9221 53.0S 51.4W 45 407 07m02s
06266 22 0630 Feb 18 02:26:01 4432 -16943 A -0.7313 0.9239 50.5S 162.9W 43 413 06m53s
06311 23 0648 Feb 29 09:46:24 4265 -16720 A -0.7722 0.9257 48.8S 88.3E 39 430 06m44s
06358 24 0666 Mar 11 16:59:40 4099 -16497 A -0.8187 0.9275 47.9S 18.8W 35 461 06m34s
06403 25 0684 Mar 22 00:02:14 3935 -16274 A -0.8738 0.9290 48.6S 122.4W 29 531 06m23s
06447 26 0702 Apr 02 06:56:41 3773 -16051 A -0.9353 0.9299 51.7S 138.2E 20 725 06m09s
06490 27 0720 Apr 12 13:42:10 3613 -15828 A- -1.0037 0.9531 61.2S 60.5E 0
06532 28 0738 Apr 23 20:21:34 3456 -15605 P -1.0767 0.8301 61.7S 48.8W 0
06574 29 0756 May 04 02:54:59 3301 -15382 P -1.1544 0.6982 62.3S 156.8W 0
06615 30 0774 May 15 09:22:59 3149 -15159 P -1.2361 0.5588 63.0S 96.4E 0
06656 31 0792 May 25 15:48:34 3000 -14936 P -1.3193 0.4161 63.8S 10.0W 0
06697 32 0810 Jun 05 22:12:29 2855 -14713 P -1.4034 0.2714 64.7S 116.3W 0
06738 33 0828 Jun 16 04:36:44 2712 -14490 Pe -1.4870 0.1273 65.7S 137.0E 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)"
