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 122 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 1022 Aug 14. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 2338 Oct 29. The total duration of Saros series 122 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1022 Aug 14 14:51:42 TD
Last Eclipse = 2338 Oct 29 13:35:05 TD
Duration of Saros 122 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 122 is composed of 74 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 122 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 31 | 41.9% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.3% |
| Total | T | 28 | 37.8% |
The 74 lunar eclipses in Saros 122 occur in the order of 22N 8P 28T 7P 9N which corresponds to:
22 Penumbral
8 Partial
28 Total
7 Partial
9 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 122 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1707 Oct 11 Duration = 01h40m05s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1563 Jul 05 Duration = 00h23m22s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2068 May 17 Duration = 03h18m59s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1419 Apr 10 Duration = 00h42m58s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 2194 Aug 02 Duration = 04h29m39s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1022 Aug 14 Duration = 00h25m39s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 122 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2068 May 17 Magnitude = 0.9532
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1419 Apr 10 Magnitude = 0.0393
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 122 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 -38 1022 Aug 14 14:51:42 1441 -12089 Nb a- 1.5452 0.0087 -0.9639 25.6 - -
02 -37 1040 Aug 24 22:35:38 1349 -11866 N a- 1.4885 0.1128 -0.8599 91.2 - -
03 -36 1058 Sep 05 06:27:56 1262 -11643 N a- 1.4381 0.2055 -0.7676 121.8 - -
04 -35 1076 Sep 15 14:28:39 1179 -11420 N a- 1.3941 0.2866 -0.6871 142.5 - -
05 -34 1094 Sep 26 22:38:25 1101 -11197 N a- 1.3568 0.3555 -0.6191 157.4 - -
06 -33 1112 Oct 07 06:57:02 1028 -10974 N a- 1.3264 0.4118 -0.5637 168.2 - -
07 -32 1130 Oct 18 15:22:48 958 -10751 N a- 1.3014 0.4580 -0.5182 176.3 - -
08 -31 1148 Oct 28 23:56:59 893 -10528 N a- 1.2830 0.4920 -0.4848 181.8 - -
09 -30 1166 Nov 09 08:37:08 832 -10305 N a- 1.2696 0.5169 -0.4603 185.6 - -
10 -29 1184 Nov 19 17:23:21 774 -10082 N a- 1.2607 0.5332 -0.4440 187.9 - -
11 -28 1202 Dec 01 02:11:52 721 -9859 N a- 1.2534 0.5463 -0.4306 189.7 - -
12 -27 1220 Dec 11 11:03:49 670 -9636 N a- 1.2491 0.5538 -0.4222 190.6 - -
13 -26 1238 Dec 22 19:55:49 623 -9413 N a- 1.2449 0.5610 -0.4139 191.5 - -
14 -25 1257 Jan 02 04:47:00 580 -9190 N a- 1.2402 0.5688 -0.4043 192.4 - -
15 -24 1275 Jan 13 13:35:00 539 -8967 N a- 1.2330 0.5809 -0.3902 194.0 - -
16 -23 1293 Jan 23 22:19:22 500 -8744 N a- 1.2230 0.5981 -0.3706 196.3 - -
17 -22 1311 Feb 04 06:58:29 465 -8521 N a- 1.2089 0.6226 -0.3435 199.5 - -
18 -21 1329 Feb 14 15:30:42 431 -8298 N a- 1.1896 0.6565 -0.3066 204.0 - -
19 -20 1347 Feb 25 23:56:18 400 -8075 N a- 1.1650 0.7002 -0.2600 209.6 - -
20 -19 1365 Mar 08 08:14:22 370 -7852 N a- 1.1345 0.7547 -0.2025 216.2 - -
21 -18 1383 Mar 19 16:24:19 342 -7629 N a- 1.0974 0.8213 -0.1330 223.9 - -
22 -17 1401 Mar 30 00:26:41 316 -7406 N a- 1.0541 0.8993 -0.0523 232.3 - -
23 -16 1419 Apr 10 08:21:39 291 -7183 P a- 1.0048 0.9886 0.0393 241.3 43.0 -
24 -15 1437 Apr 20 16:10:28 268 -6960 P a- 0.9505 1.0873 0.1399 250.4 80.0 -
25 -14 1455 May 01 23:51:27 245 -6737 P a- 0.8897 1.1981 0.2522 259.7 105.8 -
26 -13 1473 May 12 07:28:21 224 -6514 P a- 0.8256 1.3153 0.3703 268.7 126.1 -
27 -12 1491 May 23 15:00:00 205 -6291 P a- 0.7569 1.4411 0.4965 277.4 143.5 -
28 -11 1509 Jun 02 22:29:18 186 -6068 P a- 0.6866 1.5702 0.6253 285.4 158.0 -
29 -10 1527 Jun 14 05:54:52 169 -5845 P a- 0.6134 1.7051 0.7593 293.0 170.6 -
30 -09 1545 Jun 24 13:21:01 153 -5622 P a- 0.5409 1.8389 0.8916 299.6 181.0 -
31 -08 1563 Jul 05 20:46:26 140 -5399 T a- 0.4678 1.9741 1.0245 305.6 189.7 23.4
32 -07 1581 Jul 16 04:13:15 128 -5176 T p- 0.3965 2.1064 1.1541 310.7 196.9 56.5
33 -06 1599 Aug 06 11:42:06 119 -4953 T p- 0.3272 2.2353 1.2794 315.1 202.6 73.1
34 -05 1617 Aug 16 19:15:10 97 -4730 T+ p- 0.2621 2.3568 1.3970 318.8 207.0 83.7
35 -04 1635 Aug 28 02:53:01 71 -4507 T+ p- 0.2013 2.4706 1.5064 321.9 210.2 90.8
36 -03 1653 Sep 07 10:35:26 44 -4284 T+ pp 0.1448 2.5766 1.6076 324.4 212.6 95.4
37 -02 1671 Sep 18 18:25:15 22 -4061 T+ pp 0.0951 2.6705 1.6963 326.5 214.2 98.1
38 -01 1689 Sep 29 02:21:15 9 -3838 T+ pp 0.0509 2.7541 1.7747 328.2 215.2 99.5
39 00 1707 Oct 11 10:24:59 9 -3615 T+ pp 0.0139 2.8249 1.8400 329.7 215.8 100.1
40 01 1725 Oct 21 18:34:41 10 -3392 T- pp -0.0177 2.8206 1.8302 331.0 216.1 100.1
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 02 1743 Nov 02 02:52:32 12 -3169 T- pp -0.0421 2.7785 1.7829 332.3 216.4 99.7
42 03 1761 Nov 12 11:15:47 15 -2946 T- -p -0.0614 2.7457 1.7449 333.5 216.6 99.3
43 04 1779 Nov 23 19:44:47 17 -2723 T- -p -0.0752 2.7227 1.7172 334.8 216.8 98.9
44 05 1797 Dec 04 04:17:57 14 -2500 T- -p -0.0850 2.7070 1.6971 336.0 217.0 98.6
45 06 1815 Dec 16 12:55:06 12 -2277 T- -p -0.0906 2.6987 1.6850 337.2 217.4 98.4
46 07 1833 Dec 26 21:32:54 6 -2054 T- -p -0.0951 2.6920 1.6749 338.4 217.8 98.3
47 08 1852 Jan 07 06:10:44 7 -1831 T- -p -0.0991 2.6863 1.6663 339.6 218.2 98.3
48 09 1870 Jan 17 14:46:33 1 -1608 T- -p -0.1037 2.6789 1.6566 340.7 218.7 98.2
49 10 1888 Jan 28 23:20:01 -6 -1385 T- -p -0.1095 2.6692 1.6452 341.8 219.1 98.1
50 11 1906 Feb 09 07:46:58 5 -1162 T- -p -0.1199 2.6507 1.6254 342.8 219.4 97.8
51 12 1924 Feb 20 16:08:55 24 -939 T- -p -0.1338 2.6256 1.5995 343.6 219.7 97.1
52 13 1942 Mar 03 00:21:54 25 -716 T- -p -0.1545 2.5879 1.5612 344.3 219.7 95.9
53 14 1960 Mar 13 08:28:21 33 -493 T- -p -0.1799 2.5415 1.5145 344.8 219.4 94.0
54 15 1978 Mar 24 16:23:11 49 -270 T- -p -0.2140 2.4790 1.4518 344.9 218.5 90.7
55 16 1996 Apr 04 00:10:47 62 -47 T- -p -0.2534 2.4068 1.3795 344.7 217.1 85.8
56 17 2014 Apr 15 07:46:48 69 176 T -a -0.3017 2.3182 1.2907 343.9 214.7 77.8
57 18 2032 Apr 25 15:14:51 79 399 T -a -0.3558 2.2192 1.1913 342.4 211.2 65.5
58 19 2050 May 06 22:32:02 94 622 T -h -0.4181 2.1052 1.0767 340.0 206.0 43.2
59 20 2068 May 17 05:42:17 131 845 P -t -0.4851 1.9826 0.9532 336.6 199.0 -
60 21 2086 May 28 12:43:47 171 1068 P -t -0.5585 1.8486 0.8180 332.0 189.4 -
61 22 2104 Jun 08 19:38:40 213 1291 P -t -0.6362 1.7069 0.6746 325.9 176.8 -
62 23 2122 Jun 20 02:27:47 257 1514 P -t -0.7177 1.5584 0.5240 318.3 160.2 -
63 24 2140 Jun 30 09:13:17 303 1737 P -t -0.8012 1.4064 0.3695 308.9 138.2 -
64 25 2158 Jul 11 15:55:51 346 1960 P -t -0.8859 1.2525 0.2126 297.8 107.6 -
65 26 2176 Jul 21 22:36:52 386 2183 P -t -0.9707 1.0986 0.0553 284.6 56.3 -
66 27 2194 Aug 02 05:18:42 428 2406 N -t -1.0539 0.9479 -0.0993 269.6 - -
67 28 2212 Aug 13 12:02:09 472 2629 N -t -1.1349 0.8015 -0.2499 252.6 - -
68 29 2230 Aug 24 18:48:09 519 2852 N -t -1.2127 0.6610 -0.3950 233.5 - -
69 30 2248 Sep 04 01:38:56 567 3075 N -t -1.2857 0.5294 -0.5314 212.4 - -
70 31 2266 Sep 15 08:35:37 617 3298 N -t -1.3530 0.4086 -0.6573 189.3 - -
71 32 2284 Sep 25 15:39:31 670 3521 N -t -1.4139 0.2994 -0.7716 164.2 - -
72 33 2302 Oct 07 22:49:32 724 3744 N -t -1.4691 0.2007 -0.8754 136.1 - -
73 34 2320 Oct 18 06:08:39 781 3967 N -t -1.5163 0.1166 -0.9645 104.8 - -
74 35 2338 Oct 29 13:35:05 839 4190 N -t -1.5569 0.0446 -1.0414 65.4 - -
[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)"
