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 129 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 1103 Oct 03. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2528 Feb 21. The total duration of Saros series 129 is 1424.38 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1103 Oct 03 03:17:50 TD Last Eclipse = 2528 Feb 21 12:36:45 TD Duration of Saros 129 = 1424.38 Years
Saros 129 is composed of 80 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 129 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 80 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 39 | 48.8% |
| Annular | A | 29 | 36.2% |
| Total | T | 9 | 11.2% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 3.8% |
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 129 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 129 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 40 | 97.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.4% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 80 eclipses in Saros 129: 20P 29A 3H 9T 19P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 129 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 129 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1698 Oct 04 | 05m10s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1969 Mar 18 | 00m26s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 2131 Jun 25 | 03m43s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 2041 Apr 30 | 01m51s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 2023 Apr 20 | 01m16s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1987 Mar 29 | 00m08s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1446 Apr 26 | - | 0.91473 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2528 Feb 21 | - | 0.02182 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 129. 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 129.
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
07374 -32 1103 Oct 03 03:17:50 1064 -11085 Pb 1.5318 0.0556 71.7N 157.1W 0
07419 -31 1121 Oct 13 10:56:27 992 -10862 P 1.5060 0.1012 71.2N 74.2E 0
07464 -30 1139 Oct 24 18:42:07 925 -10639 P 1.4859 0.1369 70.6N 55.8W 0
07509 -29 1157 Nov 04 02:33:58 862 -10416 P 1.4710 0.1634 69.7N 173.3E 0
07554 -28 1175 Nov 15 10:31:20 803 -10193 P 1.4605 0.1821 68.7N 41.6E 0
07599 -27 1193 Nov 25 18:32:28 747 -9970 P 1.4531 0.1954 67.7N 90.3W 0
07644 -26 1211 Dec 07 02:36:45 695 -9747 P 1.4484 0.2039 66.6N 137.5E 0
07690 -25 1229 Dec 17 10:40:21 647 -9524 P 1.4431 0.2132 65.5N 6.1E 0
07735 -24 1247 Dec 28 18:44:27 601 -9301 P 1.4383 0.2213 64.5N 125.1W 0
07779 -23 1266 Jan 08 02:44:29 559 -9078 P 1.4301 0.2350 63.6N 105.2E 0
07822 -22 1284 Jan 19 10:41:02 519 -8855 P 1.4194 0.2525 62.8N 23.3W 0
07865 -21 1302 Jan 29 18:29:48 482 -8632 P 1.4025 0.2805 62.1N 149.7W 0
07907 -20 1320 Feb 10 02:13:16 448 -8409 P 1.3813 0.3154 61.5N 85.4E 0
07948 -19 1338 Feb 20 09:47:30 415 -8186 P 1.3524 0.3632 61.2N 37.0W 0
07989 -18 1356 Mar 02 17:13:18 385 -7963 P 1.3168 0.4225 60.9N 157.2W 0
08030 -17 1374 Mar 14 00:29:08 356 -7740 P 1.2731 0.4957 60.9N 85.1E 0
08072 -16 1392 Mar 24 07:36:47 329 -7517 P 1.2226 0.5809 60.9N 30.5W 0
08112 -15 1410 Apr 04 14:35:19 303 -7294 P 1.1642 0.6799 61.2N 143.9W 0
08152 -14 1428 Apr 14 21:25:47 279 -7071 P 1.0987 0.7916 61.6N 104.6E 0
08192 -13 1446 Apr 26 04:09:04 256 -6848 P 1.0268 0.9147 62.1N 5.2W 0
08232 -12 1464 May 06 10:46:58 235 -6625 A 0.9502 0.9367 71.2N 72.7W 18 771 04m17s
08272 -11 1482 May 17 17:19:00 214 -6402 A 0.8681 0.9420 73.4N 137.0W 29 434 04m14s
08312 -10 1500 May 27 23:48:31 195 -6179 A 0.7832 0.9461 71.5N 152.4E 38 320 04m13s
08354 -09 1518 Jun 08 06:15:24 177 -5956 A 0.6955 0.9496 67.0N 73.4E 46 259 04m13s
08395 -08 1536 Jun 18 12:43:21 161 -5733 A 0.6079 0.9523 61.0N 13.4W 52 220 04m17s
08436 -07 1554 Jun 29 19:10:40 146 -5510 A 0.5192 0.9546 54.0N 104.8W 58 195 04m22s
08477 -06 1572 Jul 10 01:42:42 134 -5287 A 0.4338 0.9562 46.6N 159.7E 64 177 04m30s
08518 -05 1590 Jul 31 08:17:39 123 -5064 A 0.3503 0.9574 38.8N 61.6E 69 166 04m38s
08559 -04 1608 Aug 10 15:00:06 109 -4841 A 0.2722 0.9581 31.0N 39.6W 74 158 04m46s
08603 -03 1626 Aug 21 21:47:42 84 -4618 A 0.1975 0.9584 23.1N 142.9W 78 154 04m54s
08648 -02 1644 Sep 01 04:45:28 57 -4395 A 0.1307 0.9584 15.4N 110.9E 82 152 05m00s
08693 -01 1662 Sep 12 11:50:45 32 -4172 A 0.0694 0.9581 7.9N 2.6E 86 153 05m05s
08739 00 1680 Sep 22 19:06:23 14 -3949 A 0.0160 0.9578 0.7N 108.2W 89 153 05m08s
08784 01 1698 Oct 04 02:31:25 8 -3726 A -0.0305 0.9573 6.2S 138.8E 88 155 05m10s
08829 02 1716 Oct 15 10:07:39 10 -3503 A -0.0687 0.9570 12.5S 23.5E 86 157 05m10s
08874 03 1734 Oct 26 17:53:28 11 -3280 A -0.0996 0.9567 18.2S 93.8W 84 159 05m08s
08920 04 1752 Nov 06 01:48:14 13 -3057 A -0.1239 0.9567 23.2S 147.4E 83 159 05m03s
08965 05 1770 Nov 17 09:51:53 16 -2834 A -0.1416 0.9571 27.3S 27.1E 82 158 04m56s
09011 06 1788 Nov 27 18:02:54 16 -2611 A -0.1542 0.9579 30.4S 94.3W 81 155 04m46s
09057 07 1806 Dec 10 02:19:40 12 -2388 A -0.1627 0.9591 32.4S 143.4E 80 151 04m32s
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
09102 08 1824 Dec 20 10:40:36 10 -2165 Am -0.1685 0.9610 33.3S 20.4E 80 144 04m15s
09146 09 1842 Dec 31 19:04:24 6 -1942 A -0.1727 0.9634 33.1S 103.2W 80 135 03m54s
09189 10 1861 Jan 11 03:29:23 8 -1719 A -0.1766 0.9664 31.8S 132.7E 80 123 03m30s
09231 11 1879 Jan 22 11:53:08 -5 -1496 A -0.1824 0.9700 29.8S 8.5E 79 110 03m03s
09273 12 1897 Feb 01 20:15:15 -6 -1273 A -0.1903 0.9742 27.1S 115.7W 79 94 02m34s
09315 13 1915 Feb 14 04:33:20 17 -1050 A -0.2024 0.9789 24.0S 120.7E 78 77 02m04s
09358 14 1933 Feb 24 12:46:39 24 -827 A -0.2191 0.9841 20.8S 2.1W 77 58 01m32s
09400 15 1951 Mar 07 20:53:40 30 -604 A -0.2420 0.9896 17.7S 123.5W 76 38 00m59s
09440 16 1969 Mar 18 04:54:57 39 -381 A -0.2704 0.9954 14.8S 116.3E 74 16 00m26s
09480 17 1987 Mar 29 12:49:47 55 -158 H -0.3053 1.0013 12.3S 2.3W 72 5 00m08s
09519 18 2005 Apr 08 20:36:51 65 65 H -0.3473 1.0074 10.6S 119.0W 70 27 00m42s
09559 19 2023 Apr 20 04:17:56 73 288 H -0.3952 1.0132 9.6S 125.8E 67 49 01m16s
09599 20 2041 Apr 30 11:52:21 86 511 T -0.4492 1.0189 9.6S 12.2E 63 72 01m51s
09640 21 2059 May 11 19:22:16 112 734 T -0.5080 1.0242 10.7S 100.4W 59 95 02m23s
09681 22 2077 May 22 02:46:05 151 957 T -0.5725 1.0290 13.1S 148.3E 55 119 02m54s
09722 23 2095 Jun 02 10:07:40 192 1180 T -0.6396 1.0332 16.7S 37.2E 50 145 03m18s
09763 24 2113 Jun 13 17:26:00 235 1403 T -0.7097 1.0367 21.7S 73.8W 45 174 03m36s
09803 25 2131 Jun 25 00:43:16 280 1626 T -0.7813 1.0393 28.1S 174.7E 38 211 03m43s
09845 26 2149 Jul 05 07:59:34 327 1849 T -0.8544 1.0408 36.3S 62.4E 31 264 03m38s
09887 27 2167 Jul 16 15:17:48 366 2072 T -0.9262 1.0410 46.8S 52.4W 22 368 03m19s
09931 28 2185 Jul 26 22:38:16 407 2295 Ts -0.9967 1.0370 67.9S 178.5W 1 - 02m27s
09975 29 2203 Aug 08 06:01:56 450 2518 P -1.0650 0.8898 70.1S 57.0E 0
10019 30 2221 Aug 18 13:30:39 495 2741 P -1.1295 0.7673 70.9S 67.8W 0
10063 31 2239 Aug 29 21:05:15 543 2964 P -1.1897 0.6529 71.5S 165.5E 0
10108 32 2257 Sep 09 04:46:44 592 3187 P -1.2448 0.5480 71.9S 36.6E 0
10153 33 2275 Sep 20 12:34:54 643 3410 P -1.2949 0.4527 72.0S 94.3W 0
10199 34 2293 Sep 30 20:31:28 697 3633 P -1.3386 0.3697 72.0S 132.7E 0
10244 35 2311 Oct 13 04:36:09 752 3856 P -1.3762 0.2985 71.6S 2.1W 0
10289 36 2329 Oct 23 12:48:23 810 4079 P -1.4082 0.2383 71.1S 138.5W 0
10335 37 2347 Nov 03 21:09:19 870 4302 P -1.4337 0.1903 70.4S 83.4E 0
10380 38 2365 Nov 14 05:37:33 931 4525 P -1.4540 0.1526 69.5S 55.9W 0
10424 39 2383 Nov 25 14:13:32 995 4748 P -1.4683 0.1260 68.6S 163.5E 0
10468 40 2401 Dec 05 22:53:37 1061 4971 P -1.4797 0.1049 67.5S 22.4E 0
10511 41 2419 Dec 17 07:40:07 1129 5194 P -1.4865 0.0925 66.5S 119.7W 0
10554 42 2437 Dec 27 16:29:07 1199 5417 P -1.4920 0.0824 65.5S 98.1E 0
10597 43 2456 Jan 08 01:21:04 1271 5640 P -1.4954 0.0760 64.5S 44.5W 0
10639 44 2474 Jan 18 10:12:11 1345 5863 P -1.5000 0.0673 63.6S 173.5E 0
10681 45 2492 Jan 29 19:03:43 1422 6086 P -1.5046 0.0582 62.9S 31.6E 0
10723 46 2510 Feb 10 03:51:56 1500 6309 P -1.5123 0.0430 62.2S 109.1W 0
10764 47 2528 Feb 21 12:36:45 1580 6532 Pe -1.5232 0.0218 61.8S 111.1E 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)"
