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 103 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 Sep 03. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 1933 Feb 10. The total duration of Saros series 103 is 1460.44 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0472 Sep 03 12:30:19 TD
Last Eclipse = 1933 Feb 10 13:17:33 TD
Duration of Saros 103 = 1460.44 Years
Saros 103 is composed of 82 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 103 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 82 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 39 | 47.6% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 17.1% |
| Total | T | 29 | 35.4% |
The 82 lunar eclipses in Saros 103 occur in the order of 21N 7P 29T 7P 18N which corresponds to:
21 Penumbral
7 Partial
29 Total
7 Partial
18 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 103 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1103 Sep 17 Duration = 01h38m57s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1482 May 03 Duration = 00h11m29s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0959 Jun 23 Duration = 03h07m13s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1608 Jul 27 Duration = 00h50m30s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0833 Apr 08 Duration = 04h14m02s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1933 Feb 10 Duration = 00h39m34s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 103 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0959 Jun 23 Magnitude = 0.9426
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1608 Jul 27 Magnitude = 0.0520
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 103 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 Sep 03 12:30:19 5950 -18891 N t- -1.5287 0.0828 -0.9764 86.6 - -
02 -35 0490 Sep 14 19:57:05 5773 -18668 N t- -1.4826 0.1675 -0.8922 121.9 - -
03 -34 0508 Sep 25 03:35:20 5597 -18445 N h- -1.4447 0.2374 -0.8228 143.9 - -
04 -33 0526 Oct 06 11:21:56 5420 -18222 N h- -1.4128 0.2961 -0.7643 159.4 - -
05 -32 0544 Oct 16 19:19:38 5244 -17999 N h- -1.3888 0.3401 -0.7202 169.7 - -
06 -31 0562 Oct 28 03:24:31 5070 -17776 N a- -1.3698 0.3747 -0.6852 177.0 - -
07 -30 0580 Nov 07 11:37:22 4898 -17553 N a- -1.3563 0.3990 -0.6599 181.7 - -
08 -29 0598 Nov 18 19:55:27 4726 -17330 N a- -1.3461 0.4168 -0.6405 184.8 - -
09 -28 0616 Nov 29 04:19:10 4556 -17107 N a- -1.3394 0.4281 -0.6271 186.5 - -
10 -27 0634 Dec 10 12:44:10 4387 -16884 N a- -1.3332 0.4381 -0.6143 187.8 - -
11 -26 0652 Dec 20 21:10:19 4220 -16661 N a- -1.3269 0.4478 -0.6011 189.0 - -
12 -25 0671 Jan 01 05:35:08 4055 -16438 N a- -1.3188 0.4607 -0.5841 190.7 - -
13 -24 0689 Jan 11 13:58:39 3891 -16215 N a- -1.3085 0.4772 -0.5629 193.0 - -
14 -23 0707 Jan 22 22:16:17 3730 -15992 N a- -1.2927 0.5034 -0.5314 196.9 - -
15 -22 0725 Feb 02 06:29:58 3571 -15769 N a- -1.2731 0.5366 -0.4926 201.8 - -
16 -21 0743 Feb 13 14:36:05 3414 -15546 N a- -1.2466 0.5823 -0.4409 208.4 - -
17 -20 0761 Feb 23 22:37:07 3260 -15323 N a- -1.2151 0.6369 -0.3801 215.8 - -
18 -19 0779 Mar 07 06:28:42 3109 -15100 N a- -1.1750 0.7072 -0.3034 224.8 - -
19 -18 0797 Mar 17 14:15:23 2961 -14877 N a- -1.1301 0.7865 -0.2178 234.1 - -
20 -17 0815 Mar 28 21:53:31 2816 -14654 N a- -1.0774 0.8800 -0.1181 244.1 - -
21 -16 0833 Apr 08 05:26:40 2675 -14431 N a- -1.0197 0.9828 -0.0092 254.0 - -
22 -15 0851 Apr 19 12:52:52 2538 -14208 P a- -0.9554 1.0980 0.1116 264.0 74.6 -
23 -14 0869 Apr 29 20:16:05 2404 -13985 P a- -0.8876 1.2197 0.2386 273.4 106.9 -
24 -13 0887 May 11 03:34:50 2274 -13762 P a- -0.8151 1.3503 0.3739 282.2 130.8 -
25 -12 0905 May 21 10:51:32 2149 -13539 P a- -0.7399 1.4862 0.5141 290.2 149.7 -
26 -11 0923 Jun 01 18:07:03 2028 -13316 P a- -0.6630 1.6256 0.6571 297.3 165.0 -
27 -10 0941 Jun 12 01:23:11 1911 -13093 P a- -0.5857 1.7657 0.8003 303.4 177.3 -
28 -09 0959 Jun 23 08:40:46 1798 -12870 P a- -0.5088 1.9056 0.9426 308.4 187.2 -
29 -08 0977 Jul 03 16:00:39 1691 -12647 T a- -0.4331 2.0437 1.0824 312.5 195.1 42.6
30 -07 0995 Jul 14 23:25:10 1587 -12424 T a- -0.3607 2.1760 1.2159 315.7 201.0 66.0
31 -06 1013 Jul 25 06:54:14 1489 -12201 T p- -0.2916 2.3024 1.3429 318.0 205.5 79.5
32 -05 1031 Aug 05 14:28:58 1395 -11978 T- p- -0.2270 2.4210 1.4616 319.6 208.6 88.0
33 -04 1049 Aug 15 22:10:32 1305 -11755 T- p- -0.1675 2.5304 1.5706 320.6 210.5 93.5
34 -03 1067 Aug 27 05:59:57 1220 -11532 T- p- -0.1142 2.6286 1.6680 321.1 211.7 96.7
35 -02 1085 Sep 06 13:57:40 1140 -11309 T- p- -0.0677 2.7144 1.7526 321.2 212.1 98.3
36 -01 1103 Sep 17 22:02:58 1064 -11086 T- pp -0.0272 2.7894 1.8262 321.1 212.1 98.9
37 00 1121 Sep 28 06:17:30 993 -10863 T+ pp 0.0058 2.8295 1.8648 320.8 211.9 98.9
38 01 1139 Oct 09 14:39:55 925 -10640 T+ pp 0.0327 2.7810 1.8147 320.5 211.4 98.5
39 02 1157 Oct 19 23:10:14 862 -10417 T+ pp 0.0532 2.7440 1.7763 320.1 211.0 97.9
40 03 1175 Oct 31 07:47:11 803 -10194 T+ pp 0.0685 2.7167 1.7476 319.8 210.5 97.4
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 04 1193 Nov 10 16:30:23 747 -9971 T+ -p 0.0789 2.6982 1.7279 319.6 210.2 96.9
42 05 1211 Nov 22 01:18:37 695 -9748 T+ -p 0.0853 2.6867 1.7157 319.4 209.9 96.6
43 06 1229 Dec 02 10:09:23 647 -9525 T+ -p 0.0900 2.6784 1.7070 319.2 209.7 96.3
44 07 1247 Dec 13 19:03:01 601 -9302 T+ -p 0.0924 2.6739 1.7025 319.0 209.6 96.2
45 08 1265 Dec 24 03:55:57 559 -9079 T+ -p 0.0958 2.6675 1.6966 318.9 209.5 96.0
46 09 1284 Jan 04 12:48:12 519 -8856 T+ -p 0.0995 2.6603 1.6903 318.7 209.4 95.9
47 10 1302 Jan 14 21:35:54 482 -8633 T+ -p 0.1072 2.6455 1.6768 318.5 209.3 95.6
48 11 1320 Jan 26 06:20:48 448 -8410 T+ -p 0.1171 2.6265 1.6594 318.3 209.2 95.2
49 12 1338 Feb 05 14:59:11 415 -8187 T+ -p 0.1328 2.5967 1.6315 318.0 208.9 94.5
50 13 1356 Feb 16 23:31:22 385 -7964 T+ -p 0.1535 2.5578 1.5946 317.6 208.5 93.3
51 14 1374 Feb 27 07:55:14 356 -7741 T+ -p 0.1809 2.5063 1.5452 317.0 207.8 91.3
52 15 1392 Mar 09 16:12:14 329 -7518 T+ -p 0.2141 2.4444 1.4854 316.1 206.7 88.4
53 16 1410 Mar 21 00:20:45 303 -7295 T+ -p 0.2544 2.3696 1.4125 315.0 205.0 83.9
54 17 1428 Mar 31 08:21:15 279 -7072 T -p 0.3013 2.2826 1.3273 313.4 202.5 77.2
55 18 1446 Apr 11 16:14:02 256 -6849 T -p 0.3545 2.1841 1.2303 311.3 199.1 67.0
56 19 1464 Apr 22 00:00:10 235 -6626 T -a 0.4130 2.0764 1.1235 308.5 194.6 50.8
57 20 1482 May 03 07:39:00 214 -6403 T -a 0.4772 1.9582 1.0059 305.0 188.5 11.5
58 21 1500 May 13 15:12:36 195 -6180 P -a 0.5457 1.8326 0.8802 300.5 180.6 -
59 22 1518 May 24 22:40:54 177 -5957 P -a 0.6180 1.7002 0.7473 295.0 170.5 -
60 23 1536 Jun 04 06:06:33 161 -5734 P -a 0.6920 1.5650 0.6109 288.5 157.9 -
61 24 1554 Jun 15 13:27:59 146 -5511 P -a 0.7688 1.4250 0.4691 280.7 141.8 -
62 25 1572 Jun 25 20:49:39 134 -5288 P -a 0.8446 1.2872 0.3288 271.9 121.5 -
63 26 1590 Jul 17 04:09:55 123 -5065 P -a 0.9206 1.1493 0.1879 261.7 93.9 -
64 27 1608 Jul 27 11:33:02 109 -4842 P -a 0.9936 1.0172 0.0520 250.7 50.5 -
65 28 1626 Aug 07 18:56:24 84 -4619 N -a 1.0655 0.8874 -0.0820 238.2 - -
66 29 1644 Aug 18 02:25:18 57 -4396 N -a 1.1319 0.7679 -0.2062 225.2 - -
67 30 1662 Aug 29 09:57:01 32 -4173 N -a 1.1951 0.6546 -0.3247 211.1 - -
68 31 1680 Sep 08 17:35:19 14 -3950 N -a 1.2521 0.5527 -0.4320 196.8 - -
69 32 1698 Sep 20 01:18:39 8 -3727 N -a 1.3043 0.4598 -0.5308 181.8 - -
70 33 1716 Oct 01 09:10:11 10 -3504 N -a 1.3494 0.3802 -0.6163 167.3 - -
71 34 1734 Oct 12 17:08:05 11 -3281 N -a 1.3883 0.3117 -0.6908 153.1 - -
72 35 1752 Oct 23 01:12:56 13 -3058 N -a 1.4211 0.2545 -0.7539 139.7 - -
73 36 1770 Nov 03 09:24:30 16 -2835 N -a 1.4478 0.2085 -0.8057 127.5 - -
74 37 1788 Nov 13 17:42:36 16 -2612 N -a 1.4689 0.1725 -0.8471 116.8 - -
75 38 1806 Nov 26 02:05:38 12 -2389 N -a 1.4853 0.1450 -0.8797 107.8 - -
76 39 1824 Dec 06 10:32:41 10 -2166 N -a 1.4980 0.1241 -0.9053 100.3 - -
77 40 1842 Dec 17 19:02:29 6 -1943 N -a 1.5078 0.1082 -0.9253 94.1 - -
78 41 1860 Dec 28 03:33:54 8 -1720 N -a 1.5159 0.0950 -0.9419 88.7 - -
79 42 1879 Jan 08 12:04:10 -5 -1497 N -a 1.5243 0.0812 -0.9587 82.3 - -
80 43 1897 Jan 18 20:33:07 -6 -1274 N -a 1.5332 0.0659 -0.9763 74.5 - -
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
81 44 1915 Jan 31 04:57:42 17 -1051 N -a 1.5450 0.0451 -0.9989 62.0 - -
82 45 1933 Feb 10 13:17:33 24 -828 N -a 1.5600 0.0182 -1.0270 39.6 - -
[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)"
