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 97 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 0123 Jun 11. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1385 Jul 08. The total duration of Saros series 97 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0123 Jun 11 10:40:13 TD Last Eclipse = 1385 Jul 08 04:02:10 TD Duration of Saros 97 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 97 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 97 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.7% |
| Annular | A | 23 | 32.4% |
| Total | T | 32 | 45.1% |
| 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 97 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 97 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 55 | 96.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 97: 8P 32T 2H 23A 6P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 97 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 97 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1259 Apr 24 | 05m15s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0880 Sep 08 | 00m09s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0700 May 23 | 03m56s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0826 Aug 07 | 01m56s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0844 Aug 17 | 01m15s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0862 Aug 29 | 00m33s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0249 Aug 25 | - | 0.95969 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1385 Jul 08 | - | 0.07453 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 97. 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 97.
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
05079 -36 0123 Jun 11 10:40:13 9328 -23210 Pb 1.4766 0.1028 64.6N 96.4W 0
05123 -35 0141 Jun 21 18:02:55 9156 -22987 P 1.4015 0.2470 65.6N 142.2E 0
05166 -34 0159 Jul 03 01:30:16 8985 -22764 P 1.3295 0.3856 66.5N 19.3E 0
05207 -33 0177 Jul 13 09:00:47 8814 -22541 P 1.2600 0.5196 67.5N 104.9W 0
05248 -32 0195 Jul 24 16:36:40 8643 -22318 P 1.1945 0.6457 68.5N 129.1E 0
05289 -31 0213 Aug 04 00:18:25 8472 -22095 P 1.1337 0.7625 69.5N 1.1E 0
05330 -30 0231 Aug 15 08:07:30 8301 -21872 P 1.0789 0.8673 70.3N 129.4W 0
05371 -29 0249 Aug 25 16:04:09 8129 -21649 P 1.0303 0.9597 71.0N 97.6E 0
05412 -28 0267 Sep 06 00:08:11 7956 -21426 Tn 0.9878 1.0472 73.1N 62.9W 8 - 02m32s
05452 -27 0285 Sep 16 08:21:02 7783 -21203 T 0.9528 1.0475 67.4N 135.4E 17 531 02m51s
05492 -26 0303 Sep 27 16:41:24 7610 -20980 T 0.9240 1.0463 60.6N 5.2W 22 405 03m00s
05531 -25 0321 Oct 08 01:09:39 7435 -20757 T 0.9018 1.0445 54.6N 141.7W 25 343 03m05s
05571 -24 0339 Oct 19 09:44:42 7259 -20534 T 0.8852 1.0425 49.5N 82.6E 27 305 03m07s
05611 -23 0357 Oct 29 18:26:42 7083 -20311 T 0.8744 1.0406 45.3N 53.7W 29 280 03m07s
05651 -22 0375 Nov 10 03:13:23 6906 -20088 T 0.8677 1.0388 42.0N 169.5E 29 262 03m07s
05692 -21 0393 Nov 20 12:03:39 6728 -19865 T 0.8640 1.0373 39.4N 32.1E 30 250 03m05s
05733 -20 0411 Dec 01 20:56:26 6550 -19642 T 0.8625 1.0363 37.6N 105.7W 30 242 03m04s
05774 -19 0429 Dec 12 05:50:23 6372 -19419 T 0.8620 1.0356 36.4N 116.2E 30 237 03m02s
05815 -18 0447 Dec 23 14:42:21 6193 -19196 T 0.8603 1.0355 35.6N 21.3W 30 235 03m02s
05857 -17 0466 Jan 02 23:31:56 6015 -18973 T 0.8569 1.0357 35.2N 158.1W 31 233 03m02s
05900 -16 0484 Jan 14 08:16:49 5838 -18750 T 0.8499 1.0366 35.0N 66.5E 32 232 03m04s
05944 -15 0502 Jan 24 16:57:17 5662 -18527 T 0.8396 1.0378 35.1N 67.5W 33 230 03m06s
05988 -14 0520 Feb 05 01:29:14 5485 -18304 T 0.8227 1.0395 35.2N 161.1E 34 228 03m10s
06032 -13 0538 Feb 15 09:55:14 5309 -18081 T 0.8012 1.0412 35.7N 31.8E 37 226 03m14s
06078 -12 0556 Feb 26 18:11:26 5135 -17858 T 0.7721 1.0433 36.2N 94.4W 39 222 03m19s
06124 -11 0574 Mar 09 02:20:43 4961 -17635 T 0.7376 1.0452 37.1N 141.8E 42 218 03m23s
06170 -10 0592 Mar 19 10:19:26 4789 -17412 T 0.6948 1.0470 38.0N 21.5E 46 213 03m29s
06215 -09 0610 Mar 30 18:11:46 4619 -17189 T 0.6469 1.0485 39.2N 96.4W 49 208 03m34s
06260 -08 0628 Apr 10 01:54:42 4449 -16966 T 0.5919 1.0496 40.2N 148.8E 53 202 03m40s
06305 -07 0646 Apr 21 09:31:04 4282 -16743 T 0.5316 1.0502 41.0N 36.5E 58 195 03m45s
06352 -06 0664 May 01 16:59:55 4116 -16520 T 0.4658 1.0501 41.3N 73.2W 62 187 03m50s
06398 -05 0682 May 13 00:23:49 3951 -16297 T 0.3964 1.0494 40.8N 178.7E 66 178 03m54s
06442 -04 0700 May 23 07:42:50 3789 -16074 T 0.3233 1.0480 39.4N 72.0E 71 168 03m56s
06485 -03 0718 Jun 03 14:57:54 3629 -15851 T 0.2478 1.0458 36.9N 34.1W 75 157 03m56s
06528 -02 0736 Jun 13 22:11:01 3472 -15628 T 0.1715 1.0428 33.5N 140.4W 80 145 03m52s
06570 -01 0754 Jun 25 05:23:15 3317 -15405 Tm 0.0955 1.0391 29.1N 112.7E 84 132 03m43s
06611 00 0772 Jul 05 12:35:35 3165 -15182 T 0.0204 1.0347 23.9N 4.9E 89 117 03m27s
06652 01 0790 Jul 16 19:49:25 3015 -14959 T -0.0525 1.0296 18.0N 104.1W 87 100 03m03s
06693 02 0808 Jul 27 03:06:05 2869 -14736 T -0.1222 1.0241 11.7N 145.4E 83 83 02m33s
06734 03 0826 Aug 07 10:27:15 2727 -14513 T -0.1869 1.0180 5.0N 33.1E 79 63 01m56s
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
06774 04 0844 Aug 17 17:52:11 2588 -14290 H -0.2475 1.0117 1.8S 80.5W 76 42 01m15s
06814 05 0862 Aug 29 01:24:08 2453 -14067 H -0.3013 1.0051 8.7S 163.9E 72 19 00m33s
06854 06 0880 Sep 08 09:02:03 2322 -13844 A -0.3493 0.9985 15.6S 46.8E 69 6 00m09s
06894 07 0898 Sep 19 16:48:21 2195 -13621 A -0.3894 0.9919 22.2S 72.4W 67 31 00m50s
06934 08 0916 Sep 30 00:40:10 2072 -13398 A -0.4242 0.9855 28.7S 167.5E 65 56 01m27s
06975 09 0934 Oct 11 08:40:25 1953 -13175 A -0.4510 0.9794 34.6S 45.8E 63 82 02m01s
07016 10 0952 Oct 21 16:46:04 1839 -12952 A -0.4727 0.9736 40.2S 76.4W 62 107 02m32s
07057 11 0970 Nov 02 00:58:17 1730 -12729 A -0.4883 0.9684 45.1S 161.0E 61 130 02m59s
07097 12 0988 Nov 12 09:14:16 1625 -12506 A -0.4999 0.9636 49.2S 38.8E 60 152 03m23s
07139 13 1006 Nov 23 17:34:38 1525 -12283 A -0.5074 0.9596 52.3S 83.0W 59 171 03m43s
07181 14 1024 Dec 04 01:56:15 1429 -12060 A -0.5130 0.9561 54.2S 156.2E 59 187 04m00s
07223 15 1042 Dec 15 10:17:55 1338 -11837 A -0.5180 0.9533 54.8S 36.1E 59 200 04m14s
07267 16 1060 Dec 25 18:38:02 1251 -11614 A -0.5234 0.9511 54.2S 83.7W 58 211 04m26s
07311 17 1079 Jan 06 02:55:27 1169 -11391 A -0.5307 0.9494 52.5S 156.6E 58 219 04m35s
07356 18 1097 Jan 16 11:07:06 1092 -11168 A -0.5420 0.9483 50.1S 37.2E 57 225 04m41s
07402 19 1115 Jan 27 19:12:32 1019 -10945 A -0.5578 0.9477 47.3S 81.6W 56 230 04m46s
07447 20 1133 Feb 07 03:10:08 950 -10722 A -0.5794 0.9473 44.3S 160.7E 54 235 04m49s
07492 21 1151 Feb 18 11:00:02 885 -10499 A -0.6070 0.9473 41.6S 44.2E 52 240 04m52s
07537 22 1169 Feb 28 18:38:38 824 -10276 A -0.6431 0.9473 39.3S 69.7W 50 248 04m55s
07583 23 1187 Mar 12 02:08:41 767 -10053 A -0.6856 0.9474 37.8S 178.2E 47 259 04m59s
07628 24 1205 Mar 22 09:27:32 714 -9830 A -0.7365 0.9473 37.3S 69.0E 42 278 05m04s
07674 25 1223 Apr 02 16:37:47 664 -9607 A -0.7938 0.9471 38.2S 38.0W 37 310 05m09s
07719 26 1241 Apr 12 23:36:48 618 -9384 A -0.8597 0.9462 41.1S 141.6W 30 376 05m14s
07763 27 1259 Apr 24 06:28:48 574 -9161 A -0.9304 0.9445 46.9S 117.9E 21 548 05m15s
07807 28 1277 May 04 13:11:57 534 -8938 A- -1.0071 0.9528 62.6S 34.0E 0
07850 29 1295 May 15 19:48:34 496 -8715 P -1.0884 0.8131 63.3S 74.5W 0
07892 30 1313 May 26 02:19:28 460 -8492 P -1.1731 0.6672 64.2S 178.1E 0
07933 31 1331 Jun 06 08:46:50 427 -8269 P -1.2597 0.5183 65.1S 71.4E 0
07974 32 1349 Jun 16 15:12:24 396 -8046 P -1.3468 0.3687 66.1S 35.3W 0
08015 33 1367 Jun 27 21:36:10 366 -7823 P -1.4343 0.2188 67.1S 141.9W 0
08056 34 1385 Jul 08 04:02:10 339 -7600 Pe -1.5189 0.0745 68.1S 110.4E 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)"
