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 20 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 -1948 Apr 05. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -0668 May 12. The total duration of Saros series 20 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1948 Apr 05 03:37:38 TD
Last Eclipse = -0668 May 12 22:07:14 TD
Duration of Saros 20 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 20 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 20 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 16 | 22.2% |
| Partial | P | 31 | 43.1% |
| Total | T | 25 | 34.7% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 20 occur in the order of 7N 9P 25T 22P 9N which corresponds to:
7 Penumbral
9 Partial
25 Total
22 Partial
9 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 20 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -1335 Apr 07 Duration = 01h42m22s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -1660 Sep 24 Duration = 00h09m17s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -1678 Sep 14 Duration = 03h24m11s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0830 Feb 04 Duration = 00h43m34s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1840 Jun 08 Duration = 04h47m01s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0668 May 12 Duration = 01h24m09s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 20 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -1678 Sep 14 Magnitude = 0.9611
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0830 Feb 04 Magnitude = 0.0405
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 20 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.
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 -34 -1948 Apr 05 03:37:38 45210 -48828 N t- 1.5198 0.1056 -0.9667 100.5 - -
02 -33 -1930 Apr 16 10:00:50 44778 -48605 N t- 1.4404 0.2505 -0.8199 152.6 - -
03 -32 -1912 Apr 26 16:19:27 44348 -48382 N t- 1.3567 0.4031 -0.6657 190.8 - -
04 -31 -1894 May 07 22:35:43 43920 -48159 N t- 1.2706 0.5607 -0.5070 221.6 - -
05 -30 -1876 May 18 04:50:52 43495 -47936 N t- 1.1826 0.7217 -0.3451 247.3 - -
06 -29 -1858 May 29 11:07:47 43071 -47713 N t- 1.0952 0.8818 -0.1847 268.7 - -
07 -28 -1840 Jun 08 17:26:00 42649 -47490 Nx t- 1.0079 1.0420 -0.0245 287.0 - -
08 -27 -1822 Jun 19 23:49:58 42230 -47267 P t- 0.9244 1.1955 0.1286 302.1 86.8 -
09 -26 -1804 Jun 30 06:19:06 41813 -47044 P t- 0.8438 1.3437 0.2761 314.6 124.3 -
10 -25 -1786 Jul 11 12:57:00 41397 -46821 P t- 0.7696 1.4804 0.4119 324.7 148.5 -
11 -24 -1768 Jul 21 19:42:06 40984 -46598 P t- 0.7003 1.6081 0.5384 332.9 166.2 -
12 -23 -1750 Aug 02 02:38:15 40573 -46375 P t- 0.6390 1.7213 0.6503 339.2 179.0 -
13 -22 -1732 Aug 12 09:43:34 40164 -46152 P t- 0.5841 1.8227 0.7502 344.1 188.6 -
14 -21 -1714 Aug 23 16:59:56 39757 -45929 P t- 0.5377 1.9086 0.8349 347.7 195.6 -
15 -20 -1696 Sep 03 00:26:30 39352 -45706 P t- 0.4987 1.9807 0.9057 350.3 200.7 -
16 -19 -1678 Sep 14 08:04:12 38949 -45483 P t- 0.4683 2.0370 0.9611 351.9 204.2 -
17 -18 -1660 Sep 24 15:51:52 38548 -45260 T t- 0.4451 2.0798 1.0033 352.8 206.5 9.3
18 -17 -1642 Oct 05 23:47:30 38149 -45037 T h- 0.4277 2.1118 1.0352 353.1 208.0 30.1
19 -16 -1624 Oct 16 07:51:51 37753 -44814 T a- 0.4167 2.1317 1.0555 352.9 208.7 37.5
20 -15 -1606 Oct 27 16:02:01 37358 -44591 T a- 0.4101 2.1433 1.0682 352.3 208.9 41.3
21 -14 -1588 Nov 07 00:17:20 36965 -44368 T a- 0.4066 2.1488 1.0755 351.4 208.8 43.2
22 -13 -1570 Nov 18 08:34:21 36575 -44145 T a- 0.4040 2.1524 1.0816 350.3 208.6 44.8
23 -12 -1552 Nov 28 16:53:31 36187 -43922 T a- 0.4022 2.1541 1.0866 349.1 208.3 45.9
24 -11 -1534 Dec 10 01:11:25 35800 -43699 T a- 0.3985 2.1587 1.0952 347.9 208.3 47.9
25 -10 -1516 Dec 20 09:26:54 35416 -43476 T a- 0.3922 2.1679 1.1091 346.7 208.5 51.0
26 -09 -1498 Dec 31 17:38:01 35034 -43253 T a- 0.3816 2.1849 1.1313 345.7 209.1 55.4
27 -08 -1479 Jan 11 01:44:18 34654 -43030 T a- 0.3661 2.2102 1.1624 344.9 210.1 60.9
28 -07 -1461 Jan 22 09:43:29 34276 -42807 T a- 0.3440 2.2476 1.2061 344.3 211.5 67.5
29 -06 -1443 Feb 01 17:35:40 33900 -42584 T p- 0.3153 2.2970 1.2620 343.9 213.3 74.5
30 -05 -1425 Feb 13 01:20:22 33526 -42361 T p- 0.2797 2.3590 1.3307 343.6 215.4 81.5
31 -04 -1407 Feb 23 08:58:18 33154 -42138 T+ p- 0.2378 2.4325 1.4109 343.3 217.4 87.9
32 -03 -1389 Mar 06 16:27:21 32784 -41915 T+ p- 0.1875 2.5214 1.5065 343.0 219.2 93.8
33 -02 -1371 Mar 16 23:50:58 32417 -41692 T+ pp 0.1319 2.6202 1.6118 342.4 220.7 98.3
34 -01 -1353 Mar 28 07:07:31 32051 -41469 T+ pp 0.0693 2.7319 1.7297 341.4 221.5 101.3
35 00 -1335 Apr 07 14:21:05 31688 -41246 T+ pp 0.0034 2.8499 1.8534 340.0 221.4 102.4
36 01 -1317 Apr 18 21:28:33 31326 -41023 T- pp -0.0685 2.7277 1.7367 337.9 220.3 101.2
37 02 -1299 Apr 29 04:36:07 30967 -40800 T- pp -0.1414 2.5915 1.6053 335.2 218.1 97.4
38 03 -1281 May 10 11:40:59 30609 -40577 T- pp -0.2179 2.4491 1.4671 331.7 214.5 90.5
39 04 -1263 May 20 18:47:46 30254 -40354 T -p -0.2935 2.3084 1.3300 327.5 209.7 79.9
40 05 -1245 Jun 01 01:54:31 29901 -40131 T -p -0.3702 2.1662 1.1909 322.6 203.4 63.5
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 06 -1227 Jun 11 09:06:01 29550 -39908 T -a -0.4439 2.0298 1.0569 317.0 196.0 36.0
42 07 -1209 Jun 22 16:20:50 29201 -39685 P -a -0.5156 1.8972 0.9261 310.9 187.3 -
43 08 -1191 Jul 02 23:41:28 28854 -39462 P -a -0.5834 1.7722 0.8022 304.4 177.6 -
44 09 -1173 Jul 14 07:08:15 28509 -39239 P -a -0.6469 1.6556 0.6862 297.7 167.0 -
45 10 -1155 Jul 24 14:43:07 28166 -39016 P -a -0.7043 1.5500 0.5808 291.0 155.9 -
46 11 -1137 Aug 04 22:26:00 27826 -38793 P -a -0.7557 1.4559 0.4864 284.5 144.4 -
47 12 -1119 Aug 15 06:17:14 27487 -38570 P -a -0.8007 1.3736 0.4034 278.4 132.8 -
48 13 -1101 Aug 26 14:17:42 27150 -38347 P -a -0.8389 1.3039 0.3329 272.9 121.7 -
49 14 -1083 Sep 05 22:27:19 26816 -38124 P -a -0.8703 1.2469 0.2749 268.1 111.2 -
50 15 -1065 Sep 17 06:45:25 26483 -37901 P -a -0.8951 1.2019 0.2287 264.1 102.0 -
51 16 -1047 Sep 27 15:12:18 26153 -37678 P -a -0.9134 1.1688 0.1947 261.0 94.3 -
52 17 -1029 Oct 08 23:46:52 25825 -37455 P -a -0.9259 1.1463 0.1713 258.7 88.6 -
53 18 -1011 Oct 19 08:28:43 25498 -37232 P -a -0.9331 1.1335 0.1579 257.3 85.1 -
54 19 -0993 Oct 30 17:14:48 25174 -37009 P -a -0.9375 1.1255 0.1496 256.3 82.9 -
55 20 -0975 Nov 10 02:05:51 24852 -36786 P -a -0.9383 1.1240 0.1483 255.9 82.4 -
56 21 -0957 Nov 21 10:58:45 24532 -36563 P -a -0.9377 1.1247 0.1496 255.6 82.7 -
57 22 -0939 Dec 01 19:52:36 24214 -36340 P -a -0.9370 1.1255 0.1514 255.4 83.1 -
58 23 -0921 Dec 13 04:44:21 23898 -36117 P -a -0.9383 1.1225 0.1499 254.9 82.6 -
59 24 -0903 Dec 23 13:34:06 23585 -35894 P -a -0.9414 1.1158 0.1451 254.0 81.3 -
60 25 -0884 Jan 03 22:19:25 23273 -35671 P -a -0.9483 1.1019 0.1335 252.6 78.1 -
61 26 -0866 Jan 14 06:58:44 22963 -35448 P -a -0.9602 1.0788 0.1130 250.3 72.0 -
62 27 -0848 Jan 25 15:31:28 22656 -35225 P -a -0.9776 1.0455 0.0824 247.2 61.8 -
63 28 -0830 Feb 04 23:56:43 22350 -35002 P -a -1.0012 1.0006 0.0405 242.8 43.6 -
64 29 -0812 Feb 16 08:14:04 22047 -34779 N -a -1.0314 0.9439 -0.0134 237.1 - -
65 30 -0794 Feb 26 16:22:40 21745 -34556 N -a -1.0687 0.8740 -0.0806 229.8 - -
66 31 -0776 Mar 09 00:23:47 21446 -34333 N -a -1.1122 0.7929 -0.1591 220.7 - -
67 32 -0758 Mar 20 08:17:06 21149 -34110 N -a -1.1621 0.7003 -0.2495 209.5 - -
68 33 -0740 Mar 30 16:02:13 20854 -33887 N -a -1.2187 0.5956 -0.3525 195.3 - -
69 34 -0722 Apr 10 23:41:15 20561 -33664 N -a -1.2801 0.4822 -0.4647 177.8 - -
70 35 -0704 Apr 21 07:14:14 20269 -33441 N -a -1.3465 0.3601 -0.5861 155.6 - -
71 36 -0686 May 02 14:43:22 19981 -33218 N -a -1.4155 0.2333 -0.7127 126.9 - -
72 37 -0668 May 12 22:07:14 19694 -32995 Ne -a -1.4885 0.0998 -0.8469 84.1 - -
[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.
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.
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)"
