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 96 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 0432 May 01. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 1694 Jun 07. The total duration of Saros series 96 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0432 May 01 14:00:49 TD
Last Eclipse = 1694 Jun 07 18:08:12 TD
Duration of Saros 96 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 96 is composed of 71 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 96 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 18 | 25.4% |
| Partial | P | 33 | 46.5% |
| Total | T | 20 | 28.2% |
The 71 lunar eclipses in Saros 96 occur in the order of 7N 13P 20T 20P 11N which corresponds to:
7 Penumbral
13 Partial
20 Total
20 Partial
11 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 96 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1027 Apr 23 Duration = 01h43m54s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0792 Dec 03 Duration = 00h03m08s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0774 Nov 23 Duration = 03h28m08s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1496 Jan 30 Duration = 00h22m46s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0540 Jul 05 Duration = 04h40m49s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0432 May 01 Duration = 01h19m33s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 96 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0774 Nov 23 Magnitude = 0.9875
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1496 Jan 30 Magnitude = 0.0107
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 96 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 -33 0432 May 01 14:00:49 6348 -19390 Nb t- 1.5387 0.0671 -0.9973 79.6 - -
02 -32 0450 May 12 20:31:53 6170 -19167 N t- 1.4616 0.2085 -0.8559 138.7 - -
03 -31 0468 May 23 02:58:54 5992 -18944 N t- 1.3810 0.3565 -0.7083 179.3 - -
04 -30 0486 Jun 03 09:21:48 5815 -18721 N t- 1.2971 0.5110 -0.5546 211.9 - -
05 -29 0504 Jun 13 15:44:17 5639 -18498 N t- 1.2125 0.6668 -0.3999 238.7 - -
06 -28 0522 Jun 24 22:06:12 5462 -18275 N t- 1.1271 0.8243 -0.2440 261.6 - -
07 -27 0540 Jul 05 04:31:16 5286 -18052 N t- 1.0439 0.9779 -0.0922 280.8 - -
08 -26 0558 Jul 16 10:57:54 5112 -17829 P t- 0.9616 1.1301 0.0577 297.4 59.0 -
09 -25 0576 Jul 26 17:31:30 4939 -17606 P t- 0.8844 1.2729 0.1980 311.0 107.1 -
10 -24 0594 Aug 07 00:10:03 4767 -17383 P t- 0.8107 1.4095 0.3318 322.5 135.9 -
11 -23 0612 Aug 17 06:57:52 4596 -17160 P t- 0.7443 1.5328 0.4524 331.8 155.8 -
12 -22 0630 Aug 28 13:52:42 4427 -16937 P t- 0.6831 1.6466 0.5631 339.5 170.7 -
13 -21 0648 Sep 07 20:58:42 4260 -16714 P t- 0.6304 1.7447 0.6583 345.4 181.6 -
14 -20 0666 Sep 19 04:13:04 4094 -16491 P t- 0.5841 1.8311 0.7419 350.1 189.9 -
15 -19 0684 Sep 29 11:37:19 3930 -16268 P t- 0.5455 1.9032 0.8115 353.7 196.0 -
16 -18 0702 Oct 10 19:10:42 3768 -16045 P t- 0.5139 1.9623 0.8684 356.3 200.5 -
17 -17 0720 Oct 21 02:53:28 3608 -15822 P t- 0.4900 2.0071 0.9114 358.0 203.6 -
18 -16 0738 Nov 01 10:43:51 3451 -15599 P t- 0.4715 2.0416 0.9447 359.2 205.8 -
19 -15 0756 Nov 11 18:40:07 3296 -15376 P t- 0.4577 2.0673 0.9699 359.8 207.2 -
20 -14 0774 Nov 23 02:42:09 3145 -15153 P t- 0.4481 2.0848 0.9875 359.9 208.1 -
21 -13 0792 Dec 03 10:47:42 2996 -14930 T t- 0.4413 2.0967 1.0004 359.7 208.7 3.1
22 -12 0810 Dec 14 18:54:29 2850 -14707 T t- 0.4350 2.1075 1.0128 359.4 209.1 18.5
23 -11 0828 Dec 25 03:01:14 2708 -14484 T t- 0.4284 2.1184 1.0261 358.9 209.6 26.2
24 -10 0847 Jan 05 11:06:14 2570 -14261 T t- 0.4197 2.1327 1.0437 358.4 210.3 33.7
25 -09 0865 Jan 15 19:08:25 2435 -14038 T t- 0.4083 2.1517 1.0667 358.0 211.3 41.3
26 -08 0883 Jan 27 03:04:51 2305 -13815 T t- 0.3916 2.1800 1.0995 357.7 212.8 49.8
27 -07 0901 Feb 06 10:56:34 2178 -13592 T t- 0.3704 2.2164 1.1410 357.5 214.5 58.4
28 -06 0919 Feb 17 18:40:56 2056 -13369 T t- 0.3425 2.2647 1.1949 357.5 216.7 67.4
29 -05 0937 Feb 28 02:18:08 1938 -13146 T p- 0.3079 2.3251 1.2612 357.6 219.2 76.1
30 -04 0955 Mar 11 09:47:24 1825 -12923 T+ p- 0.2660 2.3990 1.3412 357.8 221.7 84.3
31 -03 0973 Mar 21 17:09:47 1716 -12700 T+ p- 0.2176 2.4846 1.4330 357.8 224.1 91.5
32 -02 0991 Apr 02 00:25:28 1611 -12477 T+ pp 0.1630 2.5819 1.5363 357.6 226.0 97.4
33 -01 1009 Apr 12 07:33:32 1512 -12254 T+ pp 0.1011 2.6924 1.6529 357.1 227.4 101.7
34 00 1027 Apr 23 14:37:01 1417 -12031 T+ pp 0.0345 2.8117 1.7780 356.0 227.9 103.9
35 01 1045 May 03 21:35:07 1326 -11808 T- pp -0.0376 2.8033 1.7750 354.2 227.3 103.8
36 02 1063 May 15 04:31:01 1240 -11585 T- pp -0.1122 2.6637 1.6405 351.6 225.5 100.9
37 03 1081 May 25 11:23:33 1159 -11362 T- pp -0.1905 2.5177 1.4992 348.2 222.2 94.7
38 04 1099 Jun 05 18:17:13 1082 -11139 T- pp -0.2690 2.3716 1.3572 344.0 217.4 84.5
39 05 1117 Jun 16 01:10:59 1009 -10916 T -p -0.3485 2.2239 1.2133 338.8 211.1 68.5
40 06 1135 Jun 27 08:07:45 941 -10693 T -t -0.4264 2.0793 1.0717 332.9 203.3 41.4
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 07 1153 Jul 07 15:07:34 877 -10470 P -t -0.5027 1.9381 0.9331 326.2 194.0 -
42 08 1171 Jul 18 22:13:16 816 -10247 P -t -0.5751 1.8042 0.8013 319.0 183.3 -
43 09 1189 Jul 29 05:24:59 760 -10024 P -h -0.6435 1.6779 0.6766 311.3 171.5 -
44 10 1207 Aug 09 12:43:42 707 -9801 P -h -0.7071 1.5606 0.5604 303.5 158.5 -
45 11 1225 Aug 19 20:10:52 658 -9578 P -a -0.7646 1.4547 0.4552 295.7 144.7 -
46 12 1243 Aug 31 03:46:51 612 -9355 P -a -0.8158 1.3606 0.3616 288.1 130.4 -
47 13 1261 Sep 10 11:32:15 569 -9132 P -a -0.8598 1.2796 0.2808 281.1 115.9 -
48 14 1279 Sep 21 19:26:50 528 -8909 P -a -0.8971 1.2112 0.2123 274.7 101.5 -
49 15 1297 Oct 02 03:30:53 491 -8686 P -a -0.9276 1.1553 0.1565 269.2 87.6 -
50 16 1315 Oct 13 11:44:11 456 -8463 P -a -0.9511 1.1121 0.1132 264.6 74.7 -
51 17 1333 Oct 23 20:04:51 423 -8240 P -a -0.9693 1.0787 0.0800 260.8 62.9 -
52 18 1351 Nov 04 04:34:08 392 -8017 P -a -0.9811 1.0568 0.0584 258.1 53.8 -
53 19 1369 Nov 14 13:09:02 363 -7794 P -a -0.9887 1.0426 0.0449 256.0 47.1 -
54 20 1387 Nov 25 21:50:13 335 -7571 P -a -0.9921 1.0358 0.0392 254.7 44.0 -
55 21 1405 Dec 06 06:33:13 309 -7348 P -a -0.9946 1.0304 0.0353 253.5 41.7 -
56 22 1423 Dec 17 15:20:01 285 -7125 P -a -0.9947 1.0293 0.0362 252.7 42.1 -
57 23 1441 Dec 28 00:06:08 262 -6902 P -a -0.9956 1.0263 0.0358 251.8 41.8 -
58 24 1460 Jan 08 08:51:51 240 -6679 P -a -0.9976 1.0211 0.0335 250.6 40.3 -
59 25 1478 Jan 18 17:33:33 219 -6456 P -a -1.0033 1.0090 0.0249 248.8 34.7 -
60 26 1496 Jan 30 02:12:22 200 -6233 P -a -1.0120 0.9911 0.0107 246.4 22.8 -
61 27 1514 Feb 09 10:45:15 182 -6010 N -a -1.0259 0.9636 -0.0127 243.0 - -
62 28 1532 Feb 20 19:11:57 165 -5787 N -a -1.0452 0.9260 -0.0461 238.5 - -
63 29 1550 Mar 03 03:31:35 150 -5564 N -a -1.0707 0.8771 -0.0907 232.7 - -
64 30 1568 Mar 13 11:44:28 136 -5341 N -a -1.1021 0.8171 -0.1462 225.5 - -
65 31 1586 Apr 03 19:49:08 125 -5118 N -a -1.1405 0.7445 -0.2146 216.4 - -
66 32 1604 Apr 14 03:47:06 114 -4895 N -a -1.1848 0.6613 -0.2938 205.2 - -
67 33 1622 Apr 25 11:37:48 91 -4672 N -a -1.2352 0.5669 -0.3845 191.4 - -
68 34 1640 May 05 19:23:35 63 -4449 N -a -1.2899 0.4649 -0.4833 174.8 - -
69 35 1658 May 17 03:01:54 37 -4226 N -a -1.3510 0.3513 -0.5941 153.4 - -
70 36 1676 May 27 10:37:28 17 -4003 N -a -1.4146 0.2337 -0.7095 126.3 - -
71 37 1694 Jun 07 18:08:12 8 -3780 N -a -1.4823 0.1085 -0.8331 87.0 - -
[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)"
