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 71 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -0472 Jun 04. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0808 Jul 11. The total duration of Saros series 71 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0472 Jun 04 16:30:04 TD
Last Eclipse = 0808 Jul 11 14:27:06 TD
Duration of Saros 71 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 71 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 71 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 20 | 27.8% |
| Partial | P | 41 | 56.9% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.3% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 71 occur in the order of 12N 20P 11T 21P 8N which corresponds to:
12 Penumbral
20 Partial
11 Total
21 Partial
8 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 71 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0177 Jun 28 Duration = 01h46m29s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0285 Sep 01 Duration = 00h44m00s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0303 Sep 12 Duration = 03h29m37s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0256 Oct 12 Duration = 00h26m52s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0682 Apr 27 Duration = 04h30m06s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0472 Jun 04 Duration = 00h15m03s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 71 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0087 May 06 Magnitude = 0.9917
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0256 Oct 12 Magnitude = 0.0132
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 71 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 -36 -0472 Jun 04 16:30:04 16625 -30570 Nb a- -1.5485 0.0029 -0.9699 15.0 - -
02 -35 -0454 Jun 15 23:40:04 16320 -30347 N h- -1.4798 0.1307 -0.8459 99.6 - -
03 -34 -0436 Jun 26 06:51:03 16022 -30124 N h- -1.4124 0.2566 -0.7243 138.6 - -
04 -33 -0418 Jul 07 14:04:09 15733 -29901 N h- -1.3476 0.3781 -0.6077 167.0 - -
05 -32 -0400 Jul 17 21:20:54 15451 -29678 N h- -1.2860 0.4938 -0.4974 189.7 - -
06 -31 -0382 Jul 29 04:41:11 15176 -29455 N h- -1.2281 0.6030 -0.3941 208.3 - -
07 -30 -0364 Aug 08 12:07:55 14908 -29232 N h- -1.1762 0.7013 -0.3020 223.5 - -
08 -29 -0346 Aug 19 19:40:19 14646 -29009 N h- -1.1298 0.7897 -0.2200 236.2 - -
09 -28 -0328 Aug 30 03:19:32 14390 -28786 N h- -1.0896 0.8667 -0.1494 246.7 - -
10 -27 -0310 Sep 10 11:05:38 14139 -28563 N h- -1.0558 0.9320 -0.0908 255.4 - -
11 -26 -0292 Sep 20 18:59:25 13895 -28340 N h- -1.0290 0.9845 -0.0447 262.2 - -
12 -25 -0274 Oct 02 03:00:27 13655 -28117 Nx h- -1.0091 1.0243 -0.0112 267.6 - -
13 -24 -0256 Oct 12 11:06:48 13421 -27894 P h- -0.9942 1.0546 0.0132 271.9 26.9 -
14 -23 -0238 Oct 23 19:20:15 13191 -27671 P h- -0.9857 1.0730 0.0261 274.9 37.8 -
15 -22 -0220 Nov 03 03:37:42 12966 -27448 P h- -0.9809 1.0843 0.0325 277.2 42.2 -
16 -21 -0202 Nov 14 11:59:07 12746 -27225 P h- -0.9801 1.0878 0.0317 278.6 41.9 -
17 -20 -0184 Nov 24 20:20:37 12530 -27002 P h- -0.9799 1.0900 0.0303 279.9 41.0 -
18 -19 -0166 Dec 06 04:43:36 12317 -26779 P t- -0.9816 1.0884 0.0257 280.7 37.9 -
19 -18 -0148 Dec 16 13:03:46 12109 -26556 P t- -0.9813 1.0901 0.0251 281.8 37.6 -
20 -17 -0130 Dec 27 21:20:49 11905 -26333 P t- -0.9792 1.0947 0.0281 283.1 39.9 -
21 -16 -0111 Jan 07 05:31:43 11704 -26110 P t- -0.9726 1.1074 0.0398 285.2 47.5 -
22 -15 -0093 Jan 18 13:36:32 11506 -25887 P t- -0.9618 1.1275 0.0595 288.0 58.1 -
23 -14 -0075 Jan 28 21:32:19 11312 -25664 P t- -0.9442 1.1597 0.0918 291.8 72.0 -
24 -13 -0057 Feb 09 05:19:04 11120 -25441 P t- -0.9199 1.2040 0.1365 296.6 87.5 -
25 -12 -0039 Feb 19 12:55:29 10932 -25218 P t- -0.8878 1.2626 0.1958 302.5 104.1 -
26 -11 -0021 Mar 02 20:22:17 10746 -24995 P t- -0.8485 1.3343 0.2683 309.2 120.9 -
27 -10 -0003 Mar 13 03:37:06 10562 -24772 P t- -0.8000 1.4228 0.3577 316.8 138.1 -
28 -09 0015 Mar 24 10:43:00 10381 -24549 P t- -0.7449 1.5236 0.4593 324.7 154.4 -
29 -08 0033 Apr 03 17:37:53 10202 -24326 P t- -0.6813 1.6399 0.5764 332.8 170.1 -
30 -07 0051 Apr 15 00:25:55 10025 -24103 P t- -0.6122 1.7664 0.7034 340.8 184.4 -
31 -06 0069 Apr 25 07:03:32 9849 -23880 P t- -0.5351 1.9077 0.8449 348.5 197.6 -
32 -05 0087 May 06 13:37:09 9674 -23657 P t- -0.4551 2.0546 0.9917 355.4 208.7 -
33 -04 0105 May 16 20:03:52 9501 -23434 T t- -0.3700 2.2110 1.1477 361.4 218.2 60.7
34 -03 0123 May 28 02:29:02 9328 -23211 T pp -0.2837 2.3698 1.3057 366.4 225.6 82.7
35 -02 0141 Jun 07 08:50:20 9157 -22988 T- pp -0.1944 2.5341 1.4688 370.2 231.1 96.1
36 -01 0159 Jun 18 15:13:26 8985 -22765 T- pp -0.1069 2.6956 1.6287 372.8 234.5 103.5
37 00 0177 Jun 28 21:36:29 8814 -22542 T- pp -0.0198 2.8563 1.7874 374.2 235.9 106.5
38 01 0195 Jul 10 04:03:03 8643 -22319 T+ pp 0.0641 2.7762 1.7051 374.4 235.6 105.5
39 02 0213 Jul 20 10:33:28 8472 -22096 T+ pp 0.1446 2.6299 1.5560 373.7 233.6 100.8
40 03 0231 Jul 31 17:10:42 8301 -21873 T+ pp 0.2192 2.4944 1.4178 372.1 230.2 92.7
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 04 0249 Aug 10 23:54:59 8129 -21650 T pp 0.2879 2.3699 1.2902 369.8 225.8 81.1
42 05 0267 Aug 22 06:47:02 7957 -21427 T -t 0.3501 2.2574 1.1746 367.1 220.7 65.5
43 06 0285 Sep 01 13:48:43 7784 -21204 T -t 0.4042 2.1596 1.0737 364.2 215.2 44.0
44 07 0303 Sep 12 20:59:20 7610 -20981 P -t 0.4510 2.0753 0.9864 361.3 209.6 -
45 08 0321 Sep 23 04:19:55 7435 -20758 P -t 0.4898 2.0054 0.9137 358.5 204.4 -
46 09 0339 Oct 04 11:49:32 7260 -20535 P -t 0.5214 1.9487 0.8545 356.0 199.6 -
47 10 0357 Oct 14 19:29:06 7084 -20312 P -t 0.5453 1.9059 0.8097 353.9 195.7 -
48 11 0375 Oct 26 03:16:29 6906 -20089 P -t 0.5630 1.8742 0.7765 352.2 192.6 -
49 12 0393 Nov 05 11:10:42 6729 -19866 P -t 0.5755 1.8517 0.7531 350.8 190.2 -
50 13 0411 Nov 16 19:10:51 6551 -19643 P -t 0.5835 1.8370 0.7382 349.6 188.6 -
51 14 0429 Nov 27 03:15:32 6372 -19420 P -t 0.5886 1.8275 0.7293 348.6 187.5 -
52 15 0447 Dec 08 11:21:40 6194 -19197 P -t 0.5926 1.8195 0.7226 347.5 186.5 -
53 16 0465 Dec 18 19:28:13 6016 -18974 P -t 0.5967 1.8108 0.7160 346.3 185.6 -
54 17 0483 Dec 30 03:33:13 5839 -18751 P -t 0.6026 1.7984 0.7067 344.8 184.4 -
55 18 0502 Jan 09 11:36:08 5663 -18528 P -t 0.6109 1.7814 0.6933 342.9 182.7 -
56 19 0520 Jan 20 19:32:49 5485 -18305 P -t 0.6247 1.7540 0.6703 340.3 180.0 -
57 20 0538 Jan 31 03:25:09 5310 -18082 P -t 0.6425 1.7187 0.6399 337.2 176.4 -
58 21 0556 Feb 11 11:09:19 5135 -17859 P -t 0.6675 1.6701 0.5967 333.1 171.2 -
59 22 0574 Feb 21 18:47:51 4962 -17636 P -t 0.6978 1.6116 0.5440 328.3 164.5 -
60 23 0592 Mar 04 02:16:44 4790 -17413 P -t 0.7367 1.5372 0.4757 322.1 155.1 -
61 24 0610 Mar 15 09:40:14 4619 -17190 P -t 0.7808 1.4533 0.3978 314.9 143.2 -
62 25 0628 Mar 25 16:54:58 4450 -16967 P -t 0.8324 1.3554 0.3061 306.2 127.0 -
63 26 0646 Apr 06 00:04:06 4282 -16744 P -t 0.8895 1.2476 0.2044 296.0 105.1 -
64 27 0664 Apr 16 07:06:19 4116 -16521 P -t 0.9527 1.1287 0.0913 284.0 71.1 -
65 28 0682 Apr 27 14:04:47 3952 -16298 Nx -t 1.0196 1.0031 -0.0287 270.1 - -
66 29 0700 May 07 20:59:22 3790 -16075 N -t 1.0904 0.8706 -0.1560 254.0 - -
67 30 0718 May 19 03:51:17 3630 -15852 N -t 1.1639 0.7333 -0.2885 235.3 - -
68 31 0736 May 29 10:42:35 3472 -15629 N -t 1.2382 0.5947 -0.4228 213.9 - -
69 32 0754 Jun 09 17:34:32 3317 -15406 N -t 1.3124 0.4568 -0.5569 189.1 - -
70 33 0772 Jun 20 00:28:23 3165 -15183 N -t 1.3856 0.3207 -0.6896 159.8 - -
71 34 0790 Jul 01 07:25:17 3016 -14960 N -t 1.4568 0.1886 -0.8190 123.5 - -
72 35 0808 Jul 11 14:27:06 2870 -14737 Ne -t 1.5247 0.0629 -0.9426 71.8 - -
[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)"
