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 109 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 0416 Sep 07. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1859 Feb 03. The total duration of Saros series 109 is 1442.41 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0416 Sep 07 13:26:34 TD Last Eclipse = 1859 Feb 03 01:22:42 TD Duration of Saros 109 = 1442.41 Years
Saros 109 is composed of 81 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 109 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 81 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 38 | 46.9% |
| Annular | A | 4 | 4.9% |
| Total | T | 24 | 29.6% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 15 | 18.5% |
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 109 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 109 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 95.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 2 | 4.7% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 81 eclipses in Saros 109: 21P 24T 15H 4A 17P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 109 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 109 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1552 Jul 21 | 02m05s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1498 Jun 19 | 00m29s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0957 Jul 29 | 05m46s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 1209 Dec 28 | 01m50s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1228 Jan 08 | 01m40s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1480 Jun 08 | 00m02s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0777 Apr 12 | - | 0.92787 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1859 Feb 03 | - | 0.00769 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 109. 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 109.
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
05745 -43 0416 Sep 07 13:26:34 6503 -19583 Pb 1.5077 0.0637 71.6N 112.1E 0
05786 -42 0434 Sep 18 21:26:54 6325 -19360 P 1.4688 0.1352 71.9N 22.7W 0
05826 -41 0452 Sep 29 05:36:43 6146 -19137 P 1.4369 0.1938 71.8N 160.1W 0
05869 -40 0470 Oct 10 13:54:40 5968 -18914 P 1.4111 0.2412 71.5N 60.6E 0
05912 -39 0488 Oct 20 22:21:32 5792 -18691 P 1.3921 0.2761 71.0N 80.5W 0
05956 -38 0506 Nov 01 06:55:05 5615 -18468 P 1.3780 0.3019 70.3N 137.2E 0
06000 -37 0524 Nov 11 15:34:10 5438 -18245 P 1.3680 0.3201 69.4N 5.9W 0
06045 -36 0542 Nov 23 00:17:37 5263 -18022 P 1.3612 0.3325 68.4N 149.3W 0
06091 -35 0560 Dec 03 09:04:10 5089 -17799 P 1.3564 0.3411 67.3N 67.0E 0
06137 -34 0578 Dec 14 17:51:31 4916 -17576 P 1.3521 0.3488 66.2N 76.2W 0
06183 -33 0596 Dec 25 02:38:01 4744 -17353 P 1.3467 0.3584 65.2N 141.2E 0
06228 -32 0615 Jan 05 11:22:56 4574 -17130 P 1.3397 0.3712 64.2N 0.6W 0
06273 -31 0633 Jan 15 20:04:43 4405 -16907 P 1.3295 0.3897 63.3N 141.2W 0
06318 -30 0651 Jan 27 04:40:40 4238 -16684 P 1.3144 0.4175 62.5N 79.9E 0
06365 -29 0669 Feb 06 13:11:22 4072 -16461 P 1.2949 0.4541 61.9N 57.5W 0
06410 -28 0687 Feb 17 21:34:47 3908 -16238 P 1.2691 0.5026 61.4N 167.1E 0
06454 -27 0705 Feb 28 05:52:06 3747 -16015 P 1.2380 0.5617 61.1N 33.3E 0
06497 -26 0723 Mar 11 14:00:20 3587 -15792 P 1.1992 0.6358 60.9N 98.1W 0
06539 -25 0741 Mar 21 22:02:37 3430 -15569 P 1.1553 0.7203 60.9N 132.0E 0
06581 -24 0759 Apr 02 05:56:17 3276 -15346 P 1.1044 0.8190 61.0N 4.2E 0
06622 -23 0777 Apr 12 13:44:14 3125 -15123 P 1.0485 0.9279 61.3N 122.2W 0
06663 -22 0795 Apr 23 21:24:56 2976 -14900 Tn 0.9863 1.0587 65.2N 130.7E 9 - 02m58s
06704 -21 0813 May 04 05:01:53 2831 -14677 T 0.9209 1.0659 68.6N 43.5E 23 556 03m34s
06745 -20 0831 May 15 12:34:04 2690 -14454 T 0.8514 1.0705 69.6N 50.4W 31 439 04m00s
06784 -19 0849 May 25 20:03:24 2552 -14231 T 0.7794 1.0738 69.0N 145.3W 38 383 04m22s
06824 -18 0867 Jun 06 03:30:59 2418 -14008 T 0.7058 1.0760 66.6N 117.5E 45 349 04m43s
06864 -17 0885 Jun 16 10:58:05 2288 -13785 T 0.6320 1.0772 62.6N 16.4E 51 323 05m02s
06904 -16 0903 Jun 27 18:26:02 2162 -13562 T 0.5585 1.0773 57.4N 88.8W 56 302 05m18s
06944 -15 0921 Jul 08 01:55:03 2040 -13339 T 0.4862 1.0765 51.4N 162.7E 61 284 05m32s
06985 -14 0939 Jul 19 09:27:56 1923 -13116 T 0.4172 1.0748 44.9N 51.1E 65 267 05m42s
07026 -13 0957 Jul 29 17:04:35 1810 -12893 T 0.3518 1.0723 38.0N 63.0W 69 251 05m46s
07067 -12 0975 Aug 10 00:46:07 1702 -12670 T 0.2907 1.0692 31.0N 179.2W 73 236 05m45s
07109 -11 0993 Aug 20 08:33:40 1598 -12447 T 0.2350 1.0654 24.0N 62.4E 76 220 05m37s
07151 -10 1011 Aug 31 16:27:51 1499 -12224 T 0.1851 1.0612 17.1N 58.0W 79 204 05m25s
07193 -09 1029 Sep 11 00:29:28 1404 -12001 T 0.1422 1.0567 10.4N 179.6E 82 189 05m07s
07235 -08 1047 Sep 22 08:36:53 1314 -11778 T 0.1046 1.0519 4.0N 55.8E 84 173 04m47s
07279 -07 1065 Oct 02 16:52:55 1229 -11555 T 0.0747 1.0471 2.0S 69.9W 86 157 04m24s
07323 -06 1083 Oct 14 01:15:15 1148 -11332 T 0.0503 1.0424 7.4S 163.1E 87 142 04m00s
07368 -05 1101 Oct 24 09:45:16 1072 -11109 T 0.0328 1.0378 12.3S 34.7E 88 127 03m37s
07413 -04 1119 Nov 04 18:19:38 1000 -10886 T 0.0194 1.0336 16.4S 94.2W 89 113 03m14s
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
07458 -03 1137 Nov 15 03:00:21 932 -10663 Tm 0.0116 1.0297 19.6S 135.7E 89 101 02m53s
07503 -02 1155 Nov 26 11:43:38 869 -10440 T 0.0063 1.0262 21.9S 5.5E 90 89 02m34s
07548 -01 1173 Dec 06 20:29:30 809 -10217 T 0.0034 1.0234 23.2S 125.0W 90 80 02m17s
07594 00 1191 Dec 18 05:15:22 753 -9994 T 0.0008 1.0209 23.6S 104.7E 90 71 02m02s
07640 01 1209 Dec 28 14:00:54 701 -9771 T -0.0018 1.0190 23.0S 25.5W 90 65 01m50s
07686 02 1228 Jan 08 22:42:54 652 -9548 H3 -0.0068 1.0176 21.6S 155.1W 89 60 01m40s
07731 03 1246 Jan 19 07:20:33 606 -9325 H -0.0150 1.0166 19.6S 76.3E 89 57 01m34s
07775 04 1264 Jan 30 15:52:26 563 -9102 H -0.0276 1.0159 17.1S 51.2W 88 55 01m29s
07818 05 1282 Feb 10 00:17:59 523 -8879 H -0.0451 1.0156 14.3S 177.3W 87 54 01m26s
07861 06 1300 Feb 21 08:34:00 486 -8656 H -0.0698 1.0154 11.5S 58.8E 86 53 01m24s
07903 07 1318 Mar 03 16:42:11 451 -8433 H -0.1003 1.0153 8.8S 63.2W 84 53 01m24s
07944 08 1336 Mar 14 00:40:15 419 -8210 H -0.1386 1.0152 6.4S 177.4E 82 52 01m23s
07985 09 1354 Mar 25 08:30:21 388 -7987 H -0.1829 1.0149 4.4S 60.0E 79 52 01m23s
08026 10 1372 Apr 04 16:09:02 359 -7764 H -0.2359 1.0143 3.1S 54.4W 76 50 01m22s
08068 11 1390 Apr 15 23:40:36 332 -7541 H -0.2940 1.0133 2.7S 167.0W 73 48 01m19s
08108 12 1408 Apr 26 07:02:10 306 -7318 H -0.3595 1.0119 3.3S 82.8E 69 44 01m13s
08148 13 1426 May 07 14:17:32 282 -7095 H -0.4294 1.0100 5.0S 26.0W 65 38 01m03s
08188 14 1444 May 17 21:24:41 259 -6872 H -0.5052 1.0074 8.1S 133.0W 60 29 00m48s
08228 15 1462 May 29 04:28:02 237 -6649 H -0.5833 1.0042 12.4S 120.4E 54 18 00m28s
08268 16 1480 Jun 08 11:26:08 217 -6426 H -0.6644 1.0002 18.0S 14.4E 48 1 00m02s
08308 17 1498 Jun 19 18:21:38 197 -6203 A -0.7466 0.9956 25.1S 91.8W 42 23 00m29s
08350 18 1516 Jun 30 01:15:15 179 -5980 A -0.8291 0.9899 33.8S 161.3E 34 64 01m03s
08391 19 1534 Jul 11 08:08:46 163 -5757 A -0.9104 0.9833 44.9S 52.5E 24 144 01m35s
08432 20 1552 Jul 21 15:03:48 148 -5534 As -0.9893 0.9742 62.9S 64.6W 7 - 02m05s
08473 21 1570 Aug 01 22:00:22 135 -5311 P -1.0655 0.8623 70.4S 171.9E 0
08514 22 1588 Aug 22 05:01:47 124 -5088 P -1.1364 0.7355 71.1S 53.5E 0
08555 23 1606 Sep 02 12:07:23 111 -4865 P -1.2026 0.6182 71.7S 66.5W 0
08598 24 1624 Sep 12 19:19:26 87 -4642 P -1.2625 0.5133 72.0S 171.5E 0
08643 25 1642 Sep 24 02:37:37 60 -4419 P -1.3163 0.4199 72.1S 47.6E 0
08688 26 1660 Oct 04 10:03:43 34 -4196 P -1.3629 0.3401 72.0S 78.2W 0
08734 27 1678 Oct 15 17:36:58 15 -3973 P -1.4027 0.2730 71.6S 154.5E 0
08779 28 1696 Oct 26 01:17:07 8 -3750 P -1.4361 0.2172 70.9S 25.9E 0
08824 29 1714 Nov 07 09:04:34 10 -3527 P -1.4630 0.1730 70.1S 103.9W 0
08869 30 1732 Nov 17 16:58:51 11 -3304 P -1.4841 0.1389 69.2S 125.3E 0
08915 31 1750 Nov 29 00:58:14 13 -3081 P -1.5004 0.1129 68.2S 6.2W 0
08960 32 1768 Dec 09 09:01:39 16 -2858 P -1.5129 0.0932 67.1S 138.1W 0
09006 33 1786 Dec 20 17:07:24 17 -2635 P -1.5232 0.0772 66.0S 89.9E 0
09051 34 1805 Jan 01 01:14:57 12 -2412 P -1.5315 0.0642 65.0S 42.1W 0
09096 35 1823 Jan 12 09:20:12 11 -2189 P -1.5413 0.0484 64.0S 173.0W 0
09140 36 1841 Jan 22 17:24:15 5 -1966 P -1.5516 0.0316 63.1S 56.6E 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
09183 37 1859 Feb 03 01:22:42 7 -1743 Pe -1.5659 0.0077 62.4S 72.1W 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)"
