Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series

Saros Series 16

The periodicity and recurrence of lunar (and 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 15 centuries and contains 70 or more lunar eclipses.

Lunar eclipses of Saros 16 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on -2172 Apr 21. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -0874 Jun 08. The total duration of Saros series 16 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse = -2172 Apr 21   16:21:06 TD
                       Last Eclipse = -0874 Jun 08   20:34:39 TD

                      Duration of Saros  16  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 16 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:

Lunar Eclipses of Saros 16
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PenumbralN 17 23.3%
PartialP 45 61.6%
TotalT 11 15.1%

The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 16 occur in the order of 8N 24P 11T 21P 9N which corresponds to:

                                     8  Penumbral
                                    24  Partial
                                    11  Total
                                    21  Partial
                                     9  Penumbral

The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 16 are as follows.

            Longest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:   -1505 May 27      Duration = 01h46m28s
           Shortest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:   -1415 Jul 19      Duration = 00h33m06s

            Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -1397 Jul 30      Duration = 03h24m52s
           Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -2028 Jul 17      Duration = 00h16m09s

          Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:   -1018 Mar 14      Duration = 04h37m34s
         Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:   -0874 Jun 08      Duration = 00h30m22s

The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 16 are:

            Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -1613 Mar 23      Magnitude = 0.9552
           Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -2028 Jul 17      Magnitude = 0.0050

Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 16 are presented in the following catalog. For eclipses occurring between the years -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), the sequence number in the first column links to a eclipse geometry diagram and a map from Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.



Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 16

                          TD of                                                          Phase
Seq. Rel.    Calendar   Greatest          Luna  Ecl.               Pen.    Um.    ---- Durations ---- 
Num. Num.      Date      Eclipse     ΔT    Num  Type QSE  Gamma    Mag.    Mag.    Pen.   Par.  Total
                                      s                                              m      m      m

 01  -37  -2172 Apr 21  16:21:06  50747 -51598   Nb  a-   1.5356  0.0206 -0.9406   39.2    -      -  
 02  -36  -2154 May 02  23:35:50  50290 -51375   N   a-   1.4688  0.1442 -0.8188  102.9    -      -  
 03  -35  -2136 May 13  06:47:27  49834 -51152   N   a-   1.3999  0.2719 -0.6938  140.1    -      -  
 04  -34  -2118 May 24  13:57:20  49381 -50929   N   a-   1.3303  0.4012 -0.5677  168.8    -      -  
 05  -33  -2100 Jun 03  21:07:46  48929 -50706   N   a-   1.2615  0.5295 -0.4434  192.3    -      -  
 06  -32  -2082 Jun 15  04:19:27  48480 -50483   N   h-   1.1940  0.6556 -0.3218  212.2    -      -  
 07  -31  -2064 Jun 25  11:33:22  48033 -50260   N   h-   1.1290  0.7775 -0.2050  229.3    -      -  
 08  -30  -2046 Jul 06  18:51:13  47587 -50037   N   h-   1.0677  0.8927 -0.0954  243.9    -      -  
 09  -29  -2028 Jul 17  02:14:16  47144 -49814   P   h-   1.0114  0.9991  0.0050  256.4   16.2    -  
 10  -28  -2010 Jul 28  09:43:42  46703 -49591   P   h-   0.9608  1.0951  0.0947  267.0   69.5    -  

 11  -27  -1992 Aug 07  17:18:34  46264 -49368   P   h-   0.9154  1.1818  0.1748  276.1   93.7    -  
 12  -26  -1974 Aug 19  01:01:49  45827 -49145   P   h-   0.8775  1.2546  0.2410  283.5  109.3    -  
 13  -25  -1956 Aug 29  08:51:57  45392 -48922   P   h-   0.8463  1.3153  0.2951  289.7  120.4    -  
 14  -24  -1938 Sep 09  16:49:58  44960 -48699   P   h-   0.8221  1.3630  0.3362  294.8  128.1    -  
 15  -23  -1920 Sep 20  00:53:59  44529 -48476   P   h-   0.8037  1.3999  0.3668  298.9  133.6    -  
 16  -22  -1902 Oct 01  09:05:16  44100 -48253   P   h-   0.7919  1.4245  0.3856  302.0  137.0    -  
 17  -21  -1884 Oct 11  17:21:36  43674 -48030   P   h-   0.7849  1.4400  0.3956  304.5  139.0    -  
 18  -20  -1866 Oct 23  01:41:56  43249 -47807   P   h-   0.7822  1.4475  0.3983  306.3  139.8    -  
 19  -19  -1848 Nov 02  10:05:23  42827 -47584   P   h-   0.7827  1.4488  0.3953  307.6  139.7    -  
 20  -18  -1830 Nov 13  18:29:55  42407 -47361   P   h-   0.7849  1.4464  0.3895  308.6  139.2    -  

 21  -17  -1812 Nov 24  02:53:47  41988 -47138   P   h-   0.7871  1.4438  0.3841  309.5  138.8    -  
 22  -16  -1794 Dec 05  11:14:06  41572 -46915   P   h-   0.7871  1.4449  0.3831  310.7  139.0    -  
 23  -15  -1776 Dec 15  19:31:04  41158 -46692   P   t-   0.7851  1.4493  0.3860  312.0  139.9    -  
 24  -14  -1758 Dec 27  03:41:34  40746 -46469   P   t-   0.7791  1.4608  0.3967  313.7  142.0    -  
 25  -13  -1739 Jan 06  11:44:12  40336 -46246   P   t-   0.7671  1.4828  0.4185  316.2  145.7    -  
 26  -12  -1721 Jan 17  19:37:38  39928 -46023   P   t-   0.7485  1.5169  0.4526  319.4  151.2    -  
 27  -11  -1703 Jan 28  03:21:17  39522 -45800   P   t-   0.7227  1.5640  0.5002  323.4  158.1    -  
 28  -10  -1685 Feb 08  10:54:45  39118 -45577   P   t-   0.6894  1.6247  0.5616  328.0  166.4    -  
 29  -09  -1667 Feb 18  18:16:25  38717 -45354   P   t-   0.6476  1.7011  0.6387  333.3  175.7    -  
 30  -08  -1649 Mar 02  01:27:51  38317 -45131   P   t-   0.5981  1.7915  0.7299  339.1  185.4    -  

 31  -07  -1631 Mar 12  08:28:31  37920 -44908   P   t-   0.5405  1.8970  0.8361  345.0  195.3    -  
 32  -06  -1613 Mar 23  15:19:42  37524 -44685   P   t-   0.4757  2.0155  0.9552  350.9  204.7    -  
 33  -05  -1595 Apr 02  22:01:42  37131 -44462   T   t-   0.4040  2.1470  1.0868  356.6  213.5   47.2
 34  -04  -1577 Apr 14  04:36:26  36739 -44239   T   pp   0.3268  2.2886  1.2285  361.7  221.1   73.1
 35  -03  -1559 Apr 24  11:05:02  36350 -44016   T+  pp   0.2451  2.4388  1.3782  366.0  227.3   89.2
 36  -02  -1541 May 05  17:28:05  35963 -43793   T+  pp   0.1592  2.5967  1.5354  369.3  231.8   99.5
 37  -01  -1523 May 15  23:48:50  35578 -43570   T+  pp   0.0718  2.7578  1.6953  371.6  234.6  105.1
 38   00  -1505 May 27  06:07:39  35195 -43347   T-  pp  -0.0171  2.8588  1.7948  372.6  235.4  106.5
 39   01  -1487 Jun 06  12:28:06  34814 -43124   T-  pp  -0.1043  2.7000  1.6339  372.5  234.4  103.7
 40   02  -1469 Jun 17  18:48:43  34435 -42901   T-  pp  -0.1909  2.5422  1.4738  371.2  231.5   96.5


Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 16

                          TD of                                                          Phase
Seq. Rel.    Calendar   Greatest          Luna  Ecl.               Pen.    Um.    ---- Durations ---- 
Num. Num.      Date      Eclipse     ΔT    Num  Type QSE  Gamma    Mag.    Mag.    Pen.   Par.  Total
                                      s                                              m      m      m

 41   03  -1451 Jun 28  01:14:49  34058 -42678   T   pp  -0.2729  2.3931  1.3219  369.0  226.9   84.5
 42   04  -1433 Jul 09  07:44:17  33683 -42455   T   -t  -0.3520  2.2495  1.1754  365.8  220.7   65.7
 43   05  -1415 Jul 19  14:21:25  33311 -42232   T   -t  -0.4245  2.1180  1.0407  361.9  213.3   33.1
 44   06  -1397 Jul 30  21:04:42  32940 -42009   P   -t  -0.4917  1.9964  0.9157  357.5  204.9    -  
 45   07  -1379 Aug 10  03:58:27  32571 -41786   P   -t  -0.5503  1.8906  0.8065  353.1  196.1    -  
 46   08  -1361 Aug 21  11:00:37  32205 -41563   P   -t  -0.6021  1.7973  0.7099  348.6  187.0    -  
 47   09  -1343 Aug 31  18:12:52  31841 -41340   P   -t  -0.6458  1.7187  0.6281  344.4  178.3    -  
 48   10  -1325 Sep 12  01:34:37  31478 -41117   P   -t  -0.6817  1.6542  0.5606  340.6  170.2    -  
 49   11  -1307 Sep 22  09:06:57  31118 -40894   P   -t  -0.7091  1.6053  0.5092  337.6  163.5    -  
 50   12  -1289 Oct 03  16:47:30  30760 -40671   P   -t  -0.7302  1.5675  0.4694  335.0  157.8    -  

 51   13  -1271 Oct 14  00:36:23  30404 -40448   P   -t  -0.7448  1.5415  0.4418  333.0  153.7    -  
 52   14  -1253 Oct 25  08:31:39  30050 -40225   P   -t  -0.7547  1.5237  0.4233  331.5  150.7    -  
 53   15  -1235 Nov 04  16:33:11  29698 -40002   P   -t  -0.7598  1.5144  0.4139  330.4  149.0    -  
 54   16  -1217 Nov 16  00:36:42  29348 -39779   P   -t  -0.7635  1.5073  0.4076  329.4  147.8    -  
 55   17  -1199 Nov 26  08:43:21  29000 -39556   P   -t  -0.7650  1.5038  0.4057  328.5  147.3    -  
 56   18  -1181 Dec 07  16:48:20  28654 -39333   P   -t  -0.7680  1.4970  0.4013  327.3  146.4    -  
 57   19  -1163 Dec 18  00:52:30  28310 -39110   P   -t  -0.7722  1.4877  0.3952  325.8  145.2    -  
 58   20  -1145 Dec 29  08:50:45  27969 -38887   P   -t  -0.7815  1.4686  0.3801  323.5  142.4    -  
 59   21  -1126 Jan 08  16:45:55  27629 -38664   P   -t  -0.7936  1.4440  0.3601  320.6  138.8    -  
 60   22  -1108 Jan 20  00:33:13  27292 -38441   P   -t  -0.8121  1.4076  0.3289  316.8  133.0    -  

 61   23  -1090 Jan 30  08:13:51  26956 -38218   P   -t  -0.8367  1.3595  0.2864  311.8  124.6    -  
 62   24  -1072 Feb 10  15:45:37  26623 -37995   P   -t  -0.8689  1.2974  0.2303  305.5  112.4    -  
 63   25  -1054 Feb 20  23:10:32  26292 -37772   P   -t  -0.9073  1.2238  0.1630  297.9   95.2    -  
 64   26  -1036 Mar 03  06:27:18  25963 -37549   P   -t  -0.9527  1.1374  0.0828  288.7   68.4    -  
 65   27  -1018 Mar 14  13:36:34  25636 -37326   Nx  -t  -1.0048  1.0387 -0.0096  277.6    -      -  
 66   28  -1000 Mar 24  20:39:25  25311 -37103   N   -t  -1.0626  0.9294 -0.1128  264.4    -      -  
 67   29  -0982 Apr 05  03:36:57  24988 -36880   N   -t  -1.1257  0.8108 -0.2256  248.8    -      -  
 68   30  -0964 Apr 15  10:29:50  24667 -36657   N   -t  -1.1930  0.6845 -0.3463  230.5    -      -  
 69   31  -0946 Apr 26  17:19:24  24348 -36434   N   -t  -1.2635  0.5524 -0.4732  208.8    -      -  
 70   32  -0928 May 07  00:07:15  24031 -36211   N   -t  -1.3361  0.4169 -0.6040  182.9    -      -  

 71   33  -0910 May 18  06:55:07  23717 -35988   N   -t  -1.4092  0.2805 -0.7362  151.3    -      -  
 72   34  -0892 May 28  13:43:13  23404 -35765   N   -t  -1.4828  0.1436 -0.8694  109.1    -      -  
 73   35  -0874 Jun 08  20:34:39  23093 -35542   Ne  -t  -1.5543  0.0110 -0.9990   30.4    -      -  


Footnotes

[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]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when Moon passes closest to the axis of Earth's shadow.


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Acknowledgments

The Besselian elements used in the predictions were kindly provided by Jean Meeus. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Some of the information presented on this web site is based on data originally published in Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.

Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)"


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2009 Sep 29