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 127 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 1275 Jul 09. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 2555 Sep 02. The total duration of Saros series 127 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1275 Jul 09 14:25:50 TD
Last Eclipse = 2555 Sep 02 15:45:57 TD
Duration of Saros 127 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 127 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 127 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 18 | 25.0% |
| Partial | P | 38 | 52.8% |
| Total | T | 16 | 22.2% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 127 occur in the order of 11N 18P 16T 20P 7N which corresponds to:
11 Penumbral
18 Partial
16 Total
20 Partial
7 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 127 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1888 Jul 23 Duration = 01h41m46s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 2068 Nov 09 Duration = 00h18m21s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1780 May 18 Duration = 03h15m48s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1473 Nov 04 Duration = 00h11m41s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1455 Oct 25 Duration = 04h45m08s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1275 Jul 09 Duration = 00h24m57s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 127 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2086 Nov 20 Magnitude = 0.9865
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1473 Nov 04 Magnitude = 0.0023
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 127 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 -34 1275 Jul 09 14:25:50 538 -8961 Nb t- -1.5731 0.0064 -1.0631 25.0 - -
02 -33 1293 Jul 19 20:55:18 499 -8738 N t- -1.4918 0.1560 -0.9143 121.2 - -
03 -32 1311 Jul 31 03:29:38 464 -8515 N t- -1.4136 0.3000 -0.7713 165.8 - -
04 -31 1329 Aug 10 10:10:57 430 -8292 N t- -1.3403 0.4352 -0.6374 197.1 - -
05 -30 1347 Aug 21 16:59:59 399 -8069 N t- -1.2725 0.5603 -0.5137 220.8 - -
06 -29 1365 Aug 31 23:57:40 369 -7846 N t- -1.2107 0.6745 -0.4012 239.4 - -
07 -28 1383 Sep 12 07:04:45 342 -7623 N t- -1.1559 0.7760 -0.3013 253.9 - -
08 -27 1401 Sep 22 14:22:16 315 -7400 N t- -1.1084 0.8639 -0.2150 265.2 - -
09 -26 1419 Oct 03 21:50:05 291 -7177 N t- -1.0687 0.9374 -0.1428 273.8 - -
10 -25 1437 Oct 14 05:26:54 267 -6954 N t- -1.0354 0.9990 -0.0824 280.4 - -
11 -24 1455 Oct 25 13:13:24 245 -6731 Nx t- -1.0093 1.0475 -0.0348 285.1 - -
12 -23 1473 Nov 04 21:08:23 224 -6508 P t- -0.9890 1.0849 0.0023 288.5 11.7 -
13 -22 1491 Nov 16 05:10:39 204 -6285 P t- -0.9741 1.1121 0.0298 290.6 41.7 -
14 -21 1509 Nov 26 13:18:02 186 -6062 P h- -0.9625 1.1329 0.0514 291.9 54.5 -
15 -20 1527 Dec 07 21:30:05 169 -5839 P h- -0.9540 1.1478 0.0678 292.6 62.3 -
16 -19 1545 Dec 18 05:45:01 153 -5616 P h- -0.9470 1.1596 0.0818 292.9 68.2 -
17 -18 1563 Dec 29 13:59:52 139 -5393 P h- -0.9392 1.1722 0.0975 293.1 74.1 -
18 -17 1582 Jan 08 22:14:15 128 -5170 P a- -0.9304 1.1866 0.1155 293.5 80.2 -
19 -16 1600 Jan 30 06:25:29 118 -4947 P a- -0.9183 1.2067 0.1399 294.2 87.7 -
20 -15 1618 Feb 09 14:33:24 97 -4724 P a- -0.9027 1.2327 0.1709 295.4 96.3 -
21 -14 1636 Feb 20 22:34:50 70 -4501 P a- -0.8810 1.2699 0.2135 297.3 106.7 -
22 -13 1654 Mar 03 06:31:30 43 -4278 P a- -0.8544 1.3156 0.2650 299.8 117.6 -
23 -12 1672 Mar 13 14:20:48 21 -4055 P a- -0.8210 1.3738 0.3293 303.0 129.5 -
24 -11 1690 Mar 24 22:03:03 9 -3832 P a- -0.7809 1.4443 0.4062 306.7 141.7 -
25 -10 1708 Apr 05 05:37:46 9 -3609 P a- -0.7337 1.5276 0.4959 310.9 154.0 -
26 -09 1726 Apr 16 13:06:31 10 -3386 P a- -0.6806 1.6220 0.5966 315.2 165.7 -
27 -08 1744 Apr 26 20:29:07 12 -3163 P a- -0.6212 1.7278 0.7086 319.6 176.8 -
28 -07 1762 May 08 03:45:37 15 -2940 P a- -0.5557 1.8449 0.8317 323.8 186.9 -
29 -06 1780 May 18 10:58:18 17 -2717 P a- -0.4862 1.9696 0.9620 327.5 195.8 -
30 -05 1798 May 29 18:07:26 14 -2494 T a- -0.4129 2.1015 1.0990 330.7 203.4 48.0
31 -04 1816 Jun 10 01:14:25 12 -2271 T a- -0.3368 2.2387 1.2410 333.2 209.5 71.3
32 -03 1834 Jun 21 08:19:45 6 -2048 T- p- -0.2583 2.3806 1.3871 335.0 214.2 85.6
33 -02 1852 Jul 01 15:26:13 7 -1825 T- p- -0.1799 2.5227 1.5330 335.9 217.4 94.6
34 -01 1870 Jul 12 22:34:23 0 -1602 T- pp -0.1023 2.6636 1.6769 336.0 219.1 99.7
35 00 1888 Jul 23 05:44:47 -6 -1379 T- pp -0.0256 2.8030 1.8189 335.3 219.5 101.8
36 01 1906 Aug 04 13:00:10 6 -1156 T+ pp 0.0477 2.7615 1.7793 333.9 218.7 101.2
37 02 1924 Aug 14 20:20:30 24 -933 T+ pp 0.1175 2.6326 1.6519 332.0 216.9 98.2
38 03 1942 Aug 26 03:48:25 26 -710 T+ pp 0.1818 2.5142 1.5344 329.5 214.2 93.4
39 04 1960 Sep 05 11:21:51 33 -487 T+ -p 0.2422 2.4031 1.4239 326.7 210.8 86.7
40 05 1978 Sep 16 19:05:01 49 -264 T -p 0.2951 2.3060 1.3268 323.8 207.2 78.6
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 1996 Sep 27 02:55:24 62 -41 T -p 0.3426 2.2188 1.2395 320.9 203.3 69.2
42 07 2014 Oct 08 10:55:44 69 182 T -p 0.3826 2.1456 1.1659 318.1 199.5 58.8
43 08 2032 Oct 18 19:03:40 79 405 T -p 0.4169 2.0830 1.1028 315.4 195.9 47.1
44 09 2050 Oct 30 03:21:47 95 628 T -p 0.4435 2.0345 1.0538 313.1 192.9 34.5
45 10 2068 Nov 09 11:47:00 132 851 T -p 0.4645 1.9962 1.0149 311.2 190.2 18.4
46 11 2086 Nov 20 20:19:42 172 1074 P -p 0.4799 1.9679 0.9865 309.5 188.1 -
47 12 2104 Dec 02 04:58:11 214 1297 P -a 0.4910 1.9476 0.9661 308.2 186.5 -
48 13 2122 Dec 13 13:42:41 258 1520 P -a 0.4979 1.9349 0.9536 307.1 185.4 -
49 14 2140 Dec 23 22:29:48 304 1743 P -a 0.5028 1.9255 0.9450 306.2 184.6 -
50 15 2159 Jan 04 07:19:20 347 1966 P -a 0.5061 1.9189 0.9394 305.4 183.9 -
51 16 2177 Jan 14 16:08:55 387 2189 P -a 0.5099 1.9112 0.9333 304.6 183.3 -
52 17 2195 Jan 26 00:58:49 429 2412 P -a 0.5139 1.9028 0.9269 303.7 182.7 -
53 18 2213 Feb 06 09:44:33 474 2635 P -a 0.5218 1.8872 0.9137 302.6 181.6 -
54 19 2231 Feb 17 18:27:46 520 2858 P -a 0.5321 1.8669 0.8961 301.3 180.3 -
55 20 2249 Feb 28 03:04:45 568 3081 P -a 0.5480 1.8362 0.8685 299.5 178.2 -
56 21 2267 Mar 11 11:37:14 619 3304 P -a 0.5679 1.7981 0.8336 297.4 175.5 -
57 22 2285 Mar 21 20:01:07 671 3527 P -a 0.5954 1.7459 0.7847 294.6 171.7 -
58 23 2303 Apr 03 04:19:40 726 3750 P -a 0.6276 1.6851 0.7273 291.2 166.8 -
59 24 2321 Apr 13 12:29:34 782 3973 P -a 0.6671 1.6109 0.6562 287.1 160.3 -
60 25 2339 Apr 24 20:32:43 841 4196 P -a 0.7125 1.5262 0.5746 282.1 151.9 -
61 26 2357 May 05 04:27:44 902 4419 P -a 0.7646 1.4292 0.4802 275.9 140.9 -
62 27 2375 May 16 12:17:12 965 4642 P -a 0.8213 1.3240 0.3774 268.7 126.9 -
63 28 2393 May 26 20:00:14 1030 4865 P -a 0.8834 1.2091 0.2643 260.2 108.0 -
64 29 2411 Jun 07 03:37:47 1097 5088 P -a 0.9498 1.0866 0.1431 250.0 80.8 -
65 30 2429 Jun 17 11:11:33 1166 5311 P -a 1.0191 0.9591 0.0164 238.3 27.8 -
66 31 2447 Jun 28 18:42:11 1237 5534 N -a 1.0906 0.8279 -0.1147 224.6 - -
67 32 2465 Jul 09 02:10:48 1310 5757 N -a 1.1635 0.6943 -0.2489 208.7 - -
68 33 2483 Jul 20 09:38:03 1385 5980 N -a 1.2373 0.5595 -0.3848 190.1 - -
69 34 2501 Jul 31 17:06:36 1463 6203 N -a 1.3097 0.4276 -0.5184 168.6 - -
70 35 2519 Aug 12 00:36:43 1542 6426 N -a 1.3801 0.2995 -0.6489 143.1 - -
71 36 2537 Aug 22 08:09:08 1624 6649 N -a 1.4483 0.1758 -0.7756 111.1 - -
72 37 2555 Sep 02 15:45:57 1707 6872 Ne -a 1.5126 0.0596 -0.8952 65.5 - -
[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)"
