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 81 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 -0020 Feb 19. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 1296 Apr 19. The total duration of Saros series 81 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0020 Feb 19 20:49:27 TD
Last Eclipse = 1296 Apr 19 11:43:02 TD
Duration of Saros 81 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 81 is composed of 74 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 81 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 31 | 41.9% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 21.6% |
| Total | T | 27 | 36.5% |
The 74 lunar eclipses in Saros 81 occur in the order of 9N 7P 27T 9P 22N which corresponds to:
9 Penumbral
7 Partial
27 Total
9 Partial
22 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 81 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0611 Mar 04 Duration = 01h41m14s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0737 May 18 Duration = 00h45m47s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0250 Jul 31 Duration = 03h25m20s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0899 Aug 24 Duration = 00h18m29s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0124 May 16 Duration = 04h38m23s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0020 Feb 19 Duration = 00h37m07s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 81 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0250 Jul 31 Magnitude = 0.9900
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0899 Aug 24 Magnitude = 0.0071
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 81 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 -35 -0020 Feb 19 20:49:27 10736 -24983 Nb t- -1.5749 0.0141 -1.0771 37.1 - -
02 -34 -0002 Mar 02 04:02:22 10553 -24760 N t- -1.5311 0.0925 -0.9948 94.4 - -
03 -33 0016 Mar 12 11:08:18 10372 -24537 N t- -1.4812 0.1821 -0.9012 131.2 - -
04 -32 0034 Mar 23 18:02:46 10192 -24314 N t- -1.4215 0.2895 -0.7897 163.6 - -
05 -31 0052 Apr 03 00:51:56 10015 -24091 N t- -1.3568 0.4062 -0.6690 191.4 - -
06 -30 0070 Apr 14 07:31:58 9839 -23868 N t- -1.2844 0.5372 -0.5341 216.9 - -
07 -29 0088 Apr 24 14:07:46 9665 -23645 N t- -1.2075 0.6765 -0.3912 239.7 - -
08 -28 0106 May 05 20:37:37 9492 -23422 N t- -1.1249 0.8263 -0.2381 260.3 - -
09 -27 0124 May 16 03:06:14 9319 -23199 N t- -1.0404 0.9798 -0.0816 278.4 - -
10 -26 0142 May 27 09:32:47 9147 -22976 P t- -0.9533 1.1384 0.0797 294.3 68.4 -
11 -25 0160 Jun 06 15:59:27 8976 -22753 P t- -0.8651 1.2990 0.2425 308.1 116.4 -
12 -24 0178 Jun 17 22:27:50 8805 -22530 P t- -0.7776 1.4587 0.4040 319.8 146.3 -
13 -23 0196 Jun 28 05:00:01 8634 -22307 P t- -0.6924 1.6143 0.5610 329.4 167.8 -
14 -22 0214 Jul 09 11:36:52 8463 -22084 P t- -0.6100 1.7651 0.7128 337.2 184.0 -
15 -21 0232 Jul 19 18:19:51 8292 -21861 P t- -0.5317 1.9084 0.8567 343.3 196.2 -
16 -20 0250 Jul 31 01:10:55 8120 -21638 P t- -0.4591 2.0414 0.9900 348.0 205.3 -
17 -19 0268 Aug 10 08:10:56 7948 -21415 T t- -0.3933 2.1622 1.1108 351.3 212.0 52.2
18 -18 0286 Aug 21 15:19:30 7774 -21192 T t- -0.3336 2.2718 1.2203 353.6 216.7 70.8
19 -17 0304 Aug 31 22:38:34 7601 -20969 T p- -0.2817 2.3673 1.3155 355.0 220.0 81.6
20 -16 0322 Sep 12 06:08:06 7426 -20746 T- p- -0.2373 2.4489 1.3967 355.7 222.0 88.5
21 -15 0340 Sep 22 13:48:44 7250 -20523 T- p- -0.2015 2.5147 1.4623 355.9 223.2 92.7
22 -14 0358 Oct 03 21:38:14 7074 -20300 T- p- -0.1720 2.5689 1.5164 355.6 223.9 95.5
23 -13 0376 Oct 14 05:38:29 6897 -20077 T- p- -0.1505 2.6081 1.5559 355.1 224.0 97.1
24 -12 0394 Oct 25 13:47:02 6719 -19854 T- p- -0.1349 2.6365 1.5848 354.3 223.9 98.0
25 -11 0412 Nov 04 22:03:21 6541 -19631 T- p- -0.1249 2.6543 1.6037 353.3 223.6 98.4
26 -10 0430 Nov 16 06:24:52 6363 -19408 T- p- -0.1184 2.6655 1.6164 352.2 223.1 98.6
27 -09 0448 Nov 26 14:51:16 6184 -19185 T- p- -0.1150 2.6705 1.6237 351.0 222.6 98.7
28 -08 0466 Dec 07 23:20:07 6006 -18962 T- p- -0.1130 2.6729 1.6288 349.7 222.1 98.6
29 -07 0484 Dec 18 07:49:08 5829 -18739 T- p- -0.1102 2.6762 1.6356 348.3 221.6 98.7
30 -06 0502 Dec 29 16:17:46 5653 -18516 T- p- -0.1063 2.6813 1.6447 347.0 221.2 98.8
31 -05 0521 Jan 09 00:43:42 5476 -18293 T- p- -0.0994 2.6917 1.6598 345.5 220.9 99.1
32 -04 0539 Jan 20 09:05:32 5300 -18070 T- p- -0.0884 2.7093 1.6825 344.1 220.6 99.5
33 -03 0557 Jan 30 17:21:29 5126 -17847 T- pp -0.0718 2.7370 1.7158 342.7 220.4 100.1
34 -02 0575 Feb 11 01:32:10 4952 -17624 T- pp -0.0499 2.7742 1.7589 341.2 220.2 100.7
35 -01 0593 Feb 21 09:36:13 4781 -17401 T- pp -0.0214 2.8233 1.8141 339.7 219.9 101.2
36 00 0611 Mar 04 17:32:31 4610 -17178 T+ pp 0.0143 2.8331 1.8302 338.1 219.5 101.2
37 01 0629 Mar 15 01:22:20 4441 -16955 T+ pp 0.0562 2.7533 1.7565 336.2 218.7 100.5
38 02 0647 Mar 26 09:05:04 4273 -16732 T+ pp 0.1048 2.6610 1.6703 334.0 217.4 98.7
39 03 0665 Apr 05 16:42:03 4107 -16509 T+ pp 0.1591 2.5585 1.5736 331.4 215.4 95.3
40 04 0683 Apr 17 00:12:10 3943 -16286 T+ -p 0.2200 2.4439 1.4645 328.3 212.5 89.5
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 05 0701 Apr 27 07:38:50 3781 -16063 T -p 0.2846 2.3227 1.3485 324.6 208.5 80.9
42 06 0719 May 08 15:01:04 3621 -15840 T -p 0.3534 2.1942 1.2245 320.1 203.3 67.6
43 07 0737 May 18 22:20:50 3464 -15617 T -a 0.4250 2.0609 1.0952 314.9 196.6 45.8
44 08 0755 May 30 05:39:02 3309 -15394 P -a 0.4985 1.9242 0.9620 308.9 188.4 -
45 09 0773 Jun 09 12:57:21 3157 -15171 P -a 0.5723 1.7873 0.8280 302.1 178.5 -
46 10 0791 Jun 20 20:17:03 3008 -14948 P -a 0.6455 1.6520 0.6948 294.5 166.7 -
47 11 0809 Jul 01 03:37:57 2862 -14725 P -a 0.7181 1.5179 0.5623 286.2 152.9 -
48 12 0827 Jul 12 11:03:38 2720 -14502 P -a 0.7871 1.3909 0.4362 277.5 137.0 -
49 13 0845 Jul 22 18:33:10 2581 -14279 P -a 0.8531 1.2696 0.3152 268.3 118.3 -
50 14 0863 Aug 03 02:09:34 2446 -14056 P -a 0.9140 1.1579 0.2033 259.0 96.4 -
51 15 0881 Aug 13 09:51:22 2315 -13833 P -a 0.9707 1.0542 0.0988 249.5 68.0 -
52 16 0899 Aug 24 17:42:20 2188 -13610 P -a 1.0204 0.9636 0.0071 240.6 18.5 -
53 17 0917 Sep 04 01:40:03 2066 -13387 N -a 1.0648 0.8829 -0.0751 232.0 - -
54 18 0935 Sep 15 09:46:31 1947 -13164 N -a 1.1025 0.8147 -0.1450 224.3 - -
55 19 0953 Sep 25 18:00:31 1834 -12941 N -a 1.1343 0.7571 -0.2045 217.3 - -
56 20 0971 Oct 07 02:23:49 1724 -12718 N -a 1.1592 0.7124 -0.2511 211.7 - -
57 21 0989 Oct 17 10:53:56 1620 -12495 N -a 1.1786 0.6779 -0.2876 207.1 - -
58 22 1007 Oct 28 19:31:01 1520 -12272 N -a 1.1928 0.6527 -0.3145 203.7 - -
59 23 1025 Nov 08 04:13:54 1424 -12049 N -a 1.2025 0.6356 -0.3331 201.3 - -
60 24 1043 Nov 19 13:02:16 1333 -11826 N -a 1.2084 0.6255 -0.3444 199.9 - -
61 25 1061 Nov 29 21:52:57 1247 -11603 N -a 1.2125 0.6183 -0.3523 198.9 - -
62 26 1079 Dec 11 06:46:01 1165 -11380 N -a 1.2149 0.6140 -0.3570 198.3 - -
63 27 1097 Dec 21 15:38:35 1088 -11157 N -a 1.2181 0.6081 -0.3629 197.5 - -
64 28 1116 Jan 02 00:31:03 1015 -10934 N -a 1.2216 0.6015 -0.3690 196.6 - -
65 29 1134 Jan 12 09:18:53 946 -10711 N -a 1.2292 0.5871 -0.3826 194.6 - -
66 30 1152 Jan 23 18:04:09 882 -10488 N -a 1.2392 0.5682 -0.4002 191.8 - -
67 31 1170 Feb 03 02:42:29 821 -10265 N -a 1.2550 0.5384 -0.4285 187.3 - -
68 32 1188 Feb 14 11:15:29 764 -10042 N -a 1.2752 0.5006 -0.4647 181.4 - -
69 33 1206 Feb 24 19:39:20 711 -9819 N -a 1.3030 0.4487 -0.5149 172.7 - -
70 34 1224 Mar 07 03:57:05 662 -9596 N -a 1.3356 0.3878 -0.5739 161.6 - -
71 35 1242 Mar 18 12:05:32 615 -9373 N -a 1.3760 0.3129 -0.6473 146.4 - -
72 36 1260 Mar 28 20:06:05 572 -9150 N -a 1.4225 0.2270 -0.7318 125.8 - -
73 37 1278 Apr 09 03:58:00 532 -8927 N -a 1.4755 0.1292 -0.8286 95.9 - -
74 38 1296 Apr 19 11:43:02 494 -8704 Ne -a 1.5337 0.0221 -0.9349 40.1 - -
[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)"
