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 76 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 -0255 Apr 07. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 1043 May 26. The total duration of Saros series 76 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0255 Apr 07 04:28:52 TD
Last Eclipse = 1043 May 26 17:28:50 TD
Duration of Saros 76 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 76 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 76 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 17 | 23.3% |
| Partial | P | 39 | 53.4% |
| Total | T | 17 | 23.3% |
The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 76 occur in the order of 8N 19P 17T 20P 9N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
19 Partial
17 Total
20 Partial
9 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 76 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0412 May 12 Duration = 01h40m38s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0232 Jan 25 Duration = 00h11m02s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0538 Jul 27 Duration = 03h10m09s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0881 Feb 18 Duration = 00h17m28s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0899 Mar 01 Duration = 04h35m18s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0255 Apr 07 Duration = 00h17m09s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 76 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0214 Jan 13 Magnitude = 0.9818
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0881 Feb 18 Magnitude = 0.0053
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 76 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 -37 -0255 Apr 07 04:28:52 13415 -27888 Nb a- 1.5485 0.0038 -0.9710 17.2 - -
02 -36 -0237 Apr 18 11:55:04 13185 -27665 N a- 1.4822 0.1230 -0.8468 95.6 - -
03 -35 -0219 Apr 28 19:18:20 12960 -27442 N a- 1.4127 0.2482 -0.7172 133.7 - -
04 -34 -0201 May 10 02:37:30 12740 -27219 N a- 1.3390 0.3816 -0.5799 163.2 - -
05 -33 -0183 May 20 09:56:45 12524 -26996 N a- 1.2643 0.5169 -0.4412 186.9 - -
06 -32 -0165 May 31 17:15:02 12312 -26773 N a- 1.1880 0.6557 -0.2998 207.0 - -
07 -31 -0147 Jun 11 00:34:33 12104 -26550 N a- 1.1117 0.7946 -0.1589 224.1 - -
08 -30 -0129 Jun 22 07:56:30 11899 -26327 N a- 1.0367 0.9316 -0.0205 238.6 - -
09 -29 -0111 Jul 02 15:22:15 11698 -26104 P a- 0.9640 1.0646 0.1132 250.9 72.9 -
10 -28 -0093 Jul 13 22:52:38 11501 -25881 P a- 0.8947 1.1917 0.2404 261.3 104.1 -
11 -27 -0075 Jul 24 06:27:59 11307 -25658 P a- 0.8291 1.3123 0.3605 270.0 125.1 -
12 -26 -0057 Aug 04 14:10:32 11115 -25435 P a- 0.7690 1.4230 0.4702 277.3 140.4 -
13 -25 -0039 Aug 14 22:00:16 10927 -25212 P a- 0.7145 1.5238 0.5696 283.2 151.9 -
14 -24 -0021 Aug 26 05:57:19 10741 -24989 P a- 0.6660 1.6137 0.6577 288.1 160.8 -
15 -23 -0003 Sep 05 14:03:00 10558 -24766 P a- 0.6245 1.6909 0.7329 291.9 167.5 -
16 -22 0015 Sep 16 22:17:02 10376 -24543 P a- 0.5899 1.7555 0.7953 294.9 172.5 -
17 -21 0033 Sep 27 06:39:46 10197 -24320 P a- 0.5624 1.8071 0.8446 297.2 176.2 -
18 -20 0051 Oct 08 15:08:47 10020 -24097 P a- 0.5398 1.8496 0.8849 299.1 178.9 -
19 -19 0069 Oct 18 23:46:12 9844 -23874 P a- 0.5243 1.8791 0.9123 300.3 180.7 -
20 -18 0087 Oct 30 08:28:59 9669 -23651 P a- 0.5134 1.9000 0.9314 301.2 182.0 -
21 -17 0105 Nov 09 17:17:35 9496 -23428 P a- 0.5072 1.9121 0.9421 301.8 182.6 -
22 -16 0123 Nov 21 02:08:23 9324 -23205 P a- 0.5030 1.9204 0.9493 302.3 183.1 -
23 -15 0141 Dec 01 11:02:25 9152 -22982 P a- 0.5016 1.9234 0.9516 302.5 183.3 -
24 -14 0159 Dec 12 19:56:04 8981 -22759 P a- 0.4999 1.9265 0.9545 302.8 183.5 -
25 -13 0177 Dec 23 04:48:32 8810 -22536 P a- 0.4978 1.9304 0.9585 303.0 183.9 -
26 -12 0196 Jan 03 13:37:39 8639 -22313 P a- 0.4931 1.9387 0.9675 303.5 184.6 -
27 -11 0214 Jan 13 22:22:45 8468 -22090 P a- 0.4855 1.9521 0.9818 304.2 185.6 -
28 -10 0232 Jan 25 07:01:26 8296 -21867 T a- 0.4729 1.9745 1.0055 305.2 187.3 11.0
29 -09 0250 Feb 04 15:33:17 8125 -21644 T p- 0.4551 2.0065 1.0390 306.6 189.4 29.1
30 -08 0268 Feb 15 23:57:16 7952 -21421 T p- 0.4311 2.0497 1.0836 308.4 192.1 42.2
31 -07 0286 Feb 26 08:13:46 7779 -21198 T p- 0.4015 2.1033 1.1387 310.4 195.2 53.5
32 -06 0304 Mar 08 16:20:17 7605 -20975 T p- 0.3638 2.1717 1.2086 312.8 198.7 64.3
33 -05 0322 Mar 20 00:19:18 7431 -20752 T p- 0.3203 2.2511 1.2891 315.3 202.4 73.9
34 -04 0340 Mar 30 08:09:22 7255 -20529 T+ p- 0.2695 2.3438 1.3827 317.9 206.0 82.4
35 -03 0358 Apr 10 15:52:56 7079 -20306 T+ p- 0.2138 2.4458 1.4851 320.3 209.3 89.5
36 -02 0376 Apr 20 23:27:30 6902 -20083 T+ pp 0.1510 2.5610 1.6003 322.6 212.1 95.1
37 -01 0394 May 02 06:57:39 6724 -19860 T+ pp 0.0850 2.6825 1.7213 324.5 214.2 98.9
38 00 0412 May 12 14:21:02 6546 -19637 T+ pp 0.0135 2.8142 1.8519 325.9 215.5 100.6
39 01 0430 May 23 21:41:13 6367 -19414 T- pp -0.0599 2.7298 1.7659 326.7 215.7 100.1
40 02 0448 Jun 03 04:56:53 6189 -19191 T- -p -0.1365 2.5905 1.6242 326.9 214.6 96.8
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 0466 Jun 14 12:12:10 6011 -18968 T- -p -0.2126 2.4523 1.4831 326.3 212.3 90.5
42 04 0484 Jun 24 19:26:05 5834 -18745 T -p -0.2892 2.3137 1.3407 324.9 208.7 80.4
43 05 0502 Jul 06 02:40:41 5658 -18522 T -a -0.3643 2.1778 1.2008 322.9 203.8 64.9
44 06 0520 Jul 16 09:57:30 5481 -18299 T -a -0.4368 2.0473 1.0655 320.2 197.5 38.7
45 07 0538 Jul 27 17:17:25 5305 -18076 P -a -0.5058 1.9232 0.9363 317.0 190.2 -
46 08 0556 Aug 07 00:41:59 5130 -17853 P -a -0.5701 1.8082 0.8156 313.5 181.8 -
47 09 0574 Aug 18 08:10:53 4957 -17630 P -a -0.6298 1.7016 0.7030 309.7 172.5 -
48 10 0592 Aug 28 15:47:05 4785 -17407 P -a -0.6828 1.6075 0.6026 306.0 162.9 -
49 11 0610 Sep 08 23:29:23 4615 -17184 P -a -0.7301 1.5240 0.5127 302.4 152.9 -
50 12 0628 Sep 19 07:19:11 4445 -16961 P -a -0.7702 1.4536 0.4359 299.2 143.1 -
51 13 0646 Sep 30 15:15:57 4278 -16738 P -a -0.8039 1.3949 0.3709 296.5 133.7 -
52 14 0664 Oct 10 23:20:38 4112 -16515 P -a -0.8303 1.3496 0.3196 294.5 125.4 -
53 15 0682 Oct 22 07:31:05 3947 -16292 P -a -0.8513 1.3140 0.2781 293.1 118.1 -
54 16 0700 Nov 01 15:46:52 3785 -16069 P -a -0.8673 1.2874 0.2461 292.2 111.9 -
55 17 0718 Nov 13 00:07:06 3625 -15846 P -a -0.8788 1.2687 0.2226 291.9 107.1 -
56 18 0736 Nov 23 08:31:02 3468 -15623 P -a -0.8861 1.2575 0.2071 292.1 103.8 -
57 19 0754 Dec 04 16:55:33 3313 -15400 P -a -0.8924 1.2476 0.1936 292.4 100.9 -
58 20 0772 Dec 15 01:20:14 3161 -15177 P -a -0.8978 1.2394 0.1824 292.7 98.4 -
59 21 0790 Dec 26 09:42:21 3012 -14954 P -a -0.9044 1.2283 0.1691 292.8 95.2 -
60 22 0809 Jan 05 18:01:57 2866 -14731 P -a -0.9123 1.2147 0.1538 292.5 91.2 -
61 23 0827 Jan 17 02:14:19 2724 -14508 P -a -0.9251 1.1918 0.1298 291.4 84.3 -
62 24 0845 Jan 27 10:21:40 2585 -14285 P -h -0.9412 1.1625 0.1000 289.5 74.5 -
63 25 0863 Feb 07 18:19:18 2450 -14062 P -h -0.9644 1.1199 0.0573 286.2 56.9 -
64 26 0881 Feb 18 02:09:41 2319 -13839 P -h -0.9928 1.0677 0.0053 281.8 17.5 -
65 27 0899 Mar 01 09:48:18 2192 -13616 N -t -1.0300 0.9993 -0.0627 275.3 - -
66 28 0917 Mar 11 17:18:47 2069 -13393 N -t -1.0729 0.9202 -0.1412 267.0 - -
67 29 0935 Mar 23 00:37:35 1951 -13170 N -t -1.1244 0.8255 -0.2353 256.0 - -
68 30 0953 Apr 02 07:47:11 1837 -12947 N -t -1.1824 0.7187 -0.3415 241.9 - -
69 31 0971 Apr 13 14:46:11 1727 -12724 N -t -1.2481 0.5979 -0.4619 223.8 - -
70 32 0989 Apr 23 21:37:46 1622 -12501 N -t -1.3188 0.4681 -0.5914 200.9 - -
71 33 1007 May 05 04:21:00 1522 -12278 N -t -1.3951 0.3281 -0.7315 170.8 - -
72 34 1025 May 15 10:57:37 1427 -12055 N -t -1.4754 0.1809 -0.8790 128.8 - -
73 35 1043 May 26 17:28:50 1336 -11832 Ne -t -1.5590 0.0279 -1.0329 51.4 - -
[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)"
