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 116 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 0727 Jun 23. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 1971 Jul 22. The total duration of Saros series 116 is 1244.08 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0727 Jun 23 22:34:35 TD Last Eclipse = 1971 Jul 22 09:31:55 TD Duration of Saros 116 = 1244.08 Years
Saros 116 is composed of 70 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 116 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 70 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 17 | 24.3% |
| Annular | A | 53 | 75.7% |
| Total | T | 0 | 0.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 0 | 0.0% |
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 116 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 116 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 53 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 52 | 98.1% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.9% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 70 eclipses in Saros 116: 10P 53A 7P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 116 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 116 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1628 Dec 25 | 12m02s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0907 Oct 10 | 00m47s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0889 Sep 28 | - | 0.97476 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1971 Jul 22 | - | 0.06894 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 116. 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 116.
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
06507 -35 0727 Jun 23 22:34:35 3550 -15739 Pb -1.4763 0.1082 65.4S 161.5W 0
06549 -34 0745 Jul 04 05:53:18 3394 -15516 P -1.4085 0.2381 64.5S 78.2E 0
06591 -33 0763 Jul 15 13:14:24 3240 -15293 P -1.3432 0.3625 63.7S 42.4W 0
06632 -32 0781 Jul 25 20:37:53 3089 -15070 P -1.2802 0.4816 62.9S 163.3W 0
06673 -31 0799 Aug 06 04:06:08 2942 -14847 P -1.2217 0.5910 62.2S 74.8E 0
06714 -30 0817 Aug 16 11:38:18 2797 -14624 P -1.1670 0.6921 61.7S 47.8W 0
06754 -29 0835 Aug 27 19:17:30 2657 -14401 P -1.1186 0.7805 61.3S 172.0W 0
06794 -28 0853 Sep 07 03:02:42 2520 -14178 P -1.0755 0.8578 61.0S 62.3E 0
06834 -27 0871 Sep 18 10:54:51 2387 -13955 P -1.0389 0.9224 60.9S 64.9W 0
06874 -26 0889 Sep 28 18:54:00 2258 -13732 P -1.0086 0.9748 61.0S 166.1E 0
06914 -25 0907 Oct 10 03:00:37 2133 -13509 A -0.9851 0.9869 62.7S 54.1E 9 291 00m47s
06954 -24 0925 Oct 20 11:14:00 2012 -13286 A -0.9677 0.9827 64.9S 67.0W 14 250 01m03s
06995 -23 0943 Oct 31 19:32:08 1896 -13063 A -0.9548 0.9783 67.8S 166.7E 17 265 01m19s
07036 -22 0961 Nov 11 03:56:16 1784 -12840 A -0.9475 0.9739 71.3S 35.8E 18 298 01m35s
07076 -21 0979 Nov 22 12:23:31 1677 -12617 A -0.9439 0.9699 75.0S 98.4W 19 335 01m49s
07118 -20 0997 Dec 02 20:53:29 1574 -12394 A -0.9429 0.9663 78.7S 123.3E 19 374 02m02s
07160 -19 1015 Dec 14 05:22:20 1476 -12171 A -0.9420 0.9633 82.5S 19.5W 19 407 02m14s
07202 -18 1033 Dec 24 13:51:14 1383 -11948 A -0.9418 0.9609 85.6S 179.6W 19 434 02m24s
07245 -17 1052 Jan 04 22:16:17 1294 -11725 A -0.9395 0.9591 86.3S 14.2W 20 446 02m33s
07289 -16 1070 Jan 15 06:37:03 1209 -11502 A -0.9346 0.9580 83.3S 174.7E 20 440 02m42s
07333 -15 1088 Jan 26 14:50:56 1130 -11279 A -0.9249 0.9575 78.9S 29.2E 22 415 02m50s
07379 -14 1106 Feb 05 22:58:18 1054 -11056 A -0.9106 0.9575 73.6S 106.6W 24 378 02m59s
07424 -13 1124 Feb 17 06:56:07 983 -10833 A -0.8893 0.9581 67.5S 123.0E 27 335 03m08s
07469 -12 1142 Feb 27 14:45:00 917 -10610 A -0.8615 0.9589 60.8S 2.9W 30 293 03m17s
07514 -11 1160 Mar 09 22:23:38 854 -10387 A -0.8259 0.9599 53.5S 124.9W 34 256 03m28s
07559 -10 1178 Mar 21 05:53:15 795 -10164 A -0.7838 0.9610 46.0S 116.4E 38 225 03m39s
07604 -09 1196 Mar 31 13:11:09 740 -9941 A -0.7326 0.9621 38.1S 1.4E 43 200 03m52s
07649 -08 1214 Apr 11 20:20:49 689 -9718 A -0.6751 0.9629 30.2S 110.8W 47 180 04m05s
07695 -07 1232 Apr 22 03:20:16 640 -9495 A -0.6097 0.9636 22.2S 140.3E 52 165 04m18s
07741 -06 1250 May 03 10:13:11 595 -9272 A -0.5397 0.9639 14.6S 33.6E 57 155 04m32s
07785 -05 1268 May 13 16:56:23 553 -9049 A -0.4622 0.9638 7.2S 69.9W 62 148 04m44s
07828 -04 1286 May 24 23:36:15 514 -8826 A -0.3825 0.9632 0.4S 171.9W 68 144 04m55s
07871 -03 1304 Jun 04 06:09:36 478 -8603 A -0.2977 0.9622 5.9N 88.6E 73 144 05m04s
07913 -02 1322 Jun 15 12:41:47 443 -8380 A -0.2127 0.9607 11.4N 9.8W 78 146 05m11s
07954 -01 1340 Jun 25 19:10:38 411 -8157 A -0.1253 0.9586 16.0N 106.7W 83 151 05m16s
07995 00 1358 Jul 07 01:41:45 381 -7934 Am -0.0404 0.9562 19.6N 156.6E 88 160 05m22s
08036 01 1376 Jul 17 08:13:14 352 -7711 A 0.0439 0.9533 22.2N 60.3E 87 171 05m30s
08077 02 1394 Jul 28 14:48:17 326 -7488 A 0.1249 0.9501 23.7N 36.5W 83 184 05m40s
08117 03 1412 Aug 07 21:27:46 300 -7265 A 0.2018 0.9465 24.4N 134.5W 78 201 05m55s
08157 04 1430 Aug 19 04:13:52 276 -7042 A 0.2729 0.9428 24.2N 125.7E 74 219 06m13s
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
08197 05 1448 Aug 29 11:07:05 254 -6819 A 0.3380 0.9389 23.4N 23.8E 70 239 06m37s
08237 06 1466 Sep 09 18:07:54 232 -6596 A 0.3966 0.9351 22.2N 80.5W 67 260 07m05s
08277 07 1484 Sep 20 01:17:55 212 -6373 A 0.4474 0.9313 20.8N 172.4E 63 283 07m39s
08318 08 1502 Oct 01 08:36:17 193 -6150 A 0.4913 0.9277 19.3N 62.8E 60 306 08m16s
08360 09 1520 Oct 11 16:03:20 175 -5927 A 0.5277 0.9244 17.8N 49.4W 58 329 08m57s
08401 10 1538 Oct 22 23:38:41 159 -5704 A 0.5572 0.9214 16.6N 164.1W 56 351 09m41s
08442 11 1556 Nov 02 07:22:13 145 -5481 A 0.5798 0.9190 15.5N 78.9E 54 370 10m24s
08483 12 1574 Nov 13 15:12:17 132 -5258 A 0.5970 0.9171 14.8N 40.0W 53 387 11m03s
08524 13 1592 Dec 03 23:07:16 122 -5035 A 0.6102 0.9159 14.5N 160.2W 52 401 11m36s
08564 14 1610 Dec 15 07:06:48 106 -4812 A 0.6195 0.9153 14.7N 78.2E 52 409 11m56s
08608 15 1628 Dec 25 15:08:47 81 -4589 A 0.6265 0.9153 15.4N 44.0W 51 413 12m02s
08653 16 1647 Jan 05 23:10:59 53 -4366 A 0.6336 0.9161 16.9N 166.5W 51 413 11m50s
08699 17 1665 Jan 16 07:11:51 29 -4143 A 0.6420 0.9174 19.1N 71.2E 50 409 11m24s
08745 18 1683 Jan 27 15:10:09 12 -3920 A 0.6526 0.9195 22.1N 50.6W 49 401 10m44s
08790 19 1701 Feb 07 23:04:53 8 -3697 A 0.6663 0.9219 25.9N 171.7W 48 393 09m55s
08835 20 1719 Feb 19 06:52:57 10 -3474 A 0.6856 0.9250 30.5N 68.6E 47 384 09m01s
08881 21 1737 Mar 01 14:35:17 11 -3251 A 0.7099 0.9283 36.0N 50.1W 45 378 08m04s
08927 22 1755 Mar 12 22:09:32 14 -3028 A 0.7413 0.9319 42.2N 167.4W 42 375 07m07s
08972 23 1773 Mar 23 05:36:58 16 -2805 A 0.7785 0.9357 49.3N 76.2E 39 378 06m13s
09018 24 1791 Apr 03 12:55:13 16 -2582 A 0.8236 0.9394 57.1N 39.5W 34 394 05m21s
09063 25 1809 Apr 14 20:07:11 12 -2359 A 0.8742 0.9429 65.8N 157.3W 29 435 04m35s
09108 26 1827 Apr 26 03:11:14 9 -2136 A 0.9316 0.9458 74.8N 73.4E 21 559 03m53s
09152 27 1845 May 06 10:09:00 6 -1913 An 0.9945 0.9462 73.4N 110.6W 4 - 03m15s
09195 28 1863 May 17 17:00:45 7 -1690 P 1.0627 0.8606 69.2N 126.8E 0
09237 29 1881 May 27 23:48:41 -5 -1467 P 1.1345 0.7370 68.2N 13.3E 0
09279 30 1899 Jun 08 06:33:43 -4 -1244 P 1.2089 0.6076 67.2N 98.9W 0
09321 31 1917 Jun 19 13:16:21 20 -1021 P 1.2857 0.4729 66.2N 150.1E 0
09364 32 1935 Jun 30 19:59:46 24 -798 P 1.3623 0.3375 65.2N 39.1E 0
09405 33 1953 Jul 11 02:44:14 30 -575 P 1.4388 0.2015 64.3N 71.7W 0
09445 34 1971 Jul 22 09:31:55 42 -352 Pe 1.5130 0.0689 63.5N 177.0E 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)"
