Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series

Saros Series 108

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 108 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 0689 Jul 08. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 1969 Aug 27. The total duration of Saros series 108 is 1280.14 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  0689 Jul 08   09:04:39 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  1969 Aug 27   10:48:15 TD

                      Duration of Saros 108  =  1280.14 Years

Saros 108 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:

Lunar Eclipses of Saros 108
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PenumbralN 28 38.9%
PartialP 32 44.4%
TotalT 12 16.7%

The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 108 occur in the order of 20N 10P 12T 22P 8N which corresponds to:

                                    20  Penumbral
                                    10  Partial
                                    12  Total
                                    22  Partial
                                     8  Penumbral

The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 108 are as follows.

            Longest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:    1302 Jul 10      Duration = 01h45m57s
           Shortest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:    1428 Sep 23      Duration = 00h35m33s

            Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    1212 May 17      Duration = 03h28m28s
           Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    1050 Feb 09      Duration = 00h08m53s

          Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:    1032 Jan 30      Duration = 04h50m51s
         Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:    1969 Aug 27      Duration = 00h31m16s

The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 108 are:

            Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    1446 Oct 05      Magnitude = 0.9818
           Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    1050 Feb 09      Magnitude = 0.0013

Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 108 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.



Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 108

                          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  -34   0689 Jul 08  09:04:39   3887 -16209   Nb  t-   1.5561  0.0165 -1.0111   37.9    -      -  
 02  -33   0707 Jul 19  15:57:32   3726 -15986   N   t-   1.4877  0.1446 -0.8881  111.6    -      -  
 03  -32   0725 Jul 29  22:53:00   3566 -15763   N   t-   1.4218  0.2682 -0.7699  151.0    -      -  
 04  -31   0743 Aug 10  05:54:17   3410 -15540   N   t-   1.3608  0.3830 -0.6608  179.3    -      -  
 05  -30   0761 Aug 20  12:59:01   3256 -15317   N   t-   1.3031  0.4919 -0.5578  202.0    -      -  
 06  -29   0779 Aug 31  20:12:04   3105 -15094   N   t-   1.2523  0.5882 -0.4676  219.8    -      -  
 07  -28   0797 Sep 11  03:30:50   2957 -14871   N   t-   1.2065  0.6753 -0.3866  234.5    -      -  
 08  -27   0815 Sep 22  10:58:23   2813 -14648   N   t-   1.1683  0.7485 -0.3194  246.1    -      -  
 09  -26   0833 Oct 02  18:32:17   2671 -14425   N   t-   1.1356  0.8114 -0.2622  255.6    -      -  
 10  -25   0851 Oct 14  02:15:28   2534 -14202   N   t-   1.1107  0.8597 -0.2193  262.7    -      -  

 11  -24   0869 Oct 24  10:04:36   2400 -13979   N   t-   1.0909  0.8985 -0.1854  268.4    -      -  
 12  -23   0887 Nov 04  17:59:53   2271 -13756   N   t-   1.0765  0.9273 -0.1611  272.7    -      -  
 13  -22   0905 Nov 15  02:00:01   2146 -13533   N   t-   1.0662  0.9481 -0.1441  275.9    -      -  
 14  -21   0923 Nov 26  10:04:30   2024 -13310   N   t-   1.0602  0.9605 -0.1346  278.0    -      -  
 15  -20   0941 Dec 06  18:10:10   1908 -13087   N   t-   1.0551  0.9711 -0.1263  279.8    -      -  
 16  -19   0959 Dec 18  02:15:57   1795 -12864   N   t-   1.0504  0.9804 -0.1185  281.4    -      -  
 17  -18   0977 Dec 28  10:20:09   1688 -12641   N   t-   1.0448  0.9910 -0.1086  283.0    -      -  
 18  -17   0996 Jan 08  18:21:43   1585 -12418   Nx  t-   1.0376  1.0043 -0.0952  284.9    -      -  
 19  -16   1014 Jan 19  02:16:49   1486 -12195   Nx  t-   1.0254  1.0261 -0.0726  287.5    -      -  
 20  -15   1032 Jan 30  10:06:26   1392 -11972   Nx  t-   1.0092  1.0552 -0.0421  290.9    -      -  

 21  -14   1050 Feb 09  17:47:23   1303 -11749   P   t-   0.9861  1.0966  0.0013  295.3    8.9    -  
 22  -13   1068 Feb 21  01:20:57   1218 -11526   P   t-   0.9572  1.1484  0.0555  300.5   57.8    -  
 23  -12   1086 Mar 03  08:43:45   1138 -11303   P   t-   0.9199  1.2155  0.1254  306.9   86.1    -  
 24  -11   1104 Mar 13  15:58:54   1062 -11080   P   t-   0.8762  1.2941  0.2070  313.8  109.3    -  
 25  -10   1122 Mar 24  23:03:27    991 -10857   P   t-   0.8240  1.3883  0.3044  321.4  130.7    -  
 26  -09   1140 Apr 04  05:59:42    924 -10634   P   t-   0.7647  1.4955  0.4147  329.2  150.0    -  
 27  -08   1158 Apr 15  12:47:06    860 -10411   P   t-   0.6979  1.6165  0.5388  337.1  167.7    -  
 28  -07   1176 Apr 25  19:28:08    801 -10188   P   t-   0.6255  1.7479  0.6732  344.6  183.3    -  
 29  -06   1194 May 07  02:03:17    746  -9965   P   t-   0.5479  1.8889  0.8169  351.5  196.8    -  
 30  -05   1212 May 17  08:32:49    694  -9742   P   t-   0.4652  2.0394  0.9699  357.6  208.5    -  

 31  -04   1230 May 28  15:00:09    645  -9519   T   t-   0.3801  2.1945  1.1271  362.6  217.9   56.8
 32  -03   1248 Jun 07  21:24:58    600  -9296   T   tp   0.2922  2.3548  1.2892  366.5  225.2   81.0
 33  -02   1266 Jun 19  03:50:18    558  -9073   T+  pp   0.2044  2.5153  1.4511  369.2  230.3   94.8
 34  -01   1284 Jun 29  10:16:00    518  -8850   T+  pp   0.1164  2.6763  1.6131  370.7  233.4  102.7
 35   00   1302 Jul 10  16:46:06    481  -8627   T+  pp   0.0313  2.8320  1.7694  371.0  234.5  105.9
 36   01   1320 Jul 20  23:20:21    447  -8404   T-  pp  -0.0510  2.7958  1.7335  370.2  233.9  105.3
 37   02   1338 Aug 01  06:00:25    414  -8181   T-  pp  -0.1292  2.6524  1.5901  368.4  231.8  101.4
 38   03   1356 Aug 11  12:47:57    384  -7958   T-  pp  -0.2017  2.5196  1.4568  365.9  228.4   94.4
 39   04   1374 Aug 22  19:44:13    355  -7735   T-  pp  -0.2675  2.3991  1.3358  362.9  224.2   84.8
 40   05   1392 Sep 02  02:49:46    328  -7512   T   -p  -0.3265  2.2910  1.2271  359.5  219.4   72.3


Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 108

                          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   06   1410 Sep 13  10:04:27    303  -7289   T   -p  -0.3788  2.1956  1.1308  355.9  214.2   56.6
 42   07   1428 Sep 23  17:29:54    279  -7066   T   -t  -0.4230  2.1148  1.0492  352.5  209.1   35.6
 43   08   1446 Oct 05  01:05:29    256  -6843   P   -t  -0.4596  2.0480  0.9818  349.2  204.4    -  
 44   09   1464 Oct 15  08:50:47    234  -6620   P   -t  -0.4889  1.9945  0.9280  346.2  200.2    -  
 45   10   1482 Oct 26  16:45:28    214  -6397   P   -t  -0.5111  1.9538  0.8871  343.6  196.7    -  
 46   11   1500 Nov 06  00:48:33    195  -6174   P   -t  -0.5272  1.9239  0.8577  341.4  193.9    -  
 47   12   1518 Nov 17  08:59:11    177  -5951   P   -t  -0.5379  1.9040  0.8385  339.5  191.9    -  
 48   13   1536 Nov 27  17:14:01    161  -5728   P   -t  -0.5457  1.8889  0.8249  337.8  190.3    -  
 49   14   1554 Dec 09  01:34:26    146  -5505   P   -t  -0.5496  1.8808  0.8188  336.3  189.3    -  
 50   15   1572 Dec 19  09:56:07    133  -5282   P   -h  -0.5525  1.8740  0.8148  334.8  188.5    -  

 51   16   1591 Jan 09  18:19:22    123  -5059   P   -h  -0.5552  1.8674  0.8116  333.3  187.7    -  
 52   17   1609 Jan 20  02:39:41    108  -4836   P   -h  -0.5607  1.8552  0.8034  331.4  186.5    -  
 53   18   1627 Jan 31  10:59:17     84  -4613   P   -h  -0.5675  1.8404  0.7932  329.4  185.2    -  
 54   19   1645 Feb 10  19:13:47     56  -4390   P   -h  -0.5789  1.8168  0.7748  326.8  183.1    -  
 55   20   1663 Feb 22  03:23:34     31  -4167   P   -h  -0.5950  1.7845  0.7481  323.8  180.2    -  
 56   21   1681 Mar 04  11:26:33     13  -3944   P   -h  -0.6173  1.7406  0.7101  320.1  176.2    -  
 57   22   1699 Mar 15  19:23:52      8  -3721   P   -h  -0.6453  1.6862  0.6619  315.7  171.0    -  
 58   23   1717 Mar 27  03:13:41     10  -3498   P   -h  -0.6800  1.6192  0.6013  310.4  164.1    -  
 59   24   1735 Apr 07  10:56:51     11  -3275   P   -h  -0.7210  1.5408  0.5292  304.2  155.3    -  
 60   25   1753 Apr 17  18:33:18     13  -3052   P   -h  -0.7683  1.4508  0.4454  297.0  143.9    -  

 61   26   1771 Apr 29  02:04:10     16  -2829   P   -h  -0.8211  1.3509  0.3515  288.5  129.3    -  
 62   27   1789 May 09  09:28:39     16  -2606   P   -h  -0.8799  1.2401  0.2465  278.7  109.6    -  
 63   28   1807 May 21  16:49:32     12  -2383   P   -h  -0.9423  1.1229  0.1346  267.4   82.0    -  
 64   29   1825 Jun 01  00:06:18     10  -2160   P   -h  -1.0089  0.9983  0.0149  254.4   27.6    -  
 65   30   1843 Jun 12  07:22:16      6  -1937   N   -h  -1.0767  0.8717 -0.1073  240.0    -      -  
 66   31   1861 Jun 22  14:35:14      8  -1714   N   -a  -1.1476  0.7397 -0.2355  223.2    -      -  
 67   32   1879 Jul 03  21:50:28     -5  -1491   N   -a  -1.2172  0.6103 -0.3618  204.6    -      -  
 68   33   1897 Jul 14  05:05:19     -5  -1268   N   -a  -1.2879  0.4792 -0.4902  183.0    -      -  
 69   34   1915 Jul 26  12:24:39     18  -1045   N   -a  -1.3553  0.3545 -0.6129  158.7    -      -  
 70   35   1933 Aug 05  19:46:05     24   -822   N   -a  -1.4216  0.2322 -0.7338  129.5    -      -  

 71   36   1951 Aug 17  03:14:39     30   -599   N   -a  -1.4828  0.1195 -0.8456   93.6    -      -  
 72   37   1969 Aug 27  10:48:15     40   -376   Ne  -a  -1.5407  0.0131 -0.9516   31.3    -      -  


Footnotes

[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.


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Acknowledgments

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)"


Return to: Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series

Return to: Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses

2009 Sep 29