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 172 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 2758 May 15. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 4002 Jun 08. The total duration of Saros series 172 is 1244.08 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2758 May 15 07:26:11 TD
Last Eclipse = 4002 Jun 08 18:48:16 TD
Duration of Saros 172 = 1244.08 Years
Saros 172 is composed of 70 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 172 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 70 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 30 | 42.9% |
| Partial | P | 17 | 24.3% |
| Total | T | 23 | 32.9% |
The 70 lunar eclipses in Saros 172 occur in the order of 8N 9P 23T 8P 22N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
9 Partial
23 Total
8 Partial
22 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 172 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 3371 May 21 Duration = 01h45m56s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 3064 Nov 16 Duration = 00h09m41s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 3479 Jul 26 Duration = 03h25m15s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 3605 Oct 10 Duration = 00h25m47s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 3623 Oct 21 Duration = 04h27m48s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 2758 May 15 Duration = 00h45m25s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 172 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 3479 Jul 26 Magnitude = 0.9609
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 3605 Oct 10 Magnitude = 0.0116
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 172 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 2758 May 15 07:26:11 2789 9379 Nb t- 1.5528 0.0238 -1.0064 45.4 - -
02 -33 2776 May 25 14:39:01 2898 9602 N t- 1.4962 0.1282 -0.9027 104.7 - -
03 -32 2794 Jun 05 21:43:55 3009 9825 N t- 1.4333 0.2441 -0.7880 143.4 - -
04 -31 2812 Jun 16 04:41:48 3122 10048 N t- 1.3655 0.3693 -0.6642 175.0 - -
05 -30 2830 Jun 27 11:33:31 3238 10271 N t- 1.2930 0.5032 -0.5321 202.5 - -
06 -29 2848 Jul 07 18:21:12 3355 10494 N t- 1.2176 0.6427 -0.3949 226.5 - -
07 -28 2866 Jul 19 01:05:56 3474 10717 N t- 1.1399 0.7866 -0.2538 247.9 - -
08 -27 2884 Jul 29 07:47:55 3595 10940 N t- 1.0605 0.9340 -0.1094 267.1 - -
09 -26 2902 Aug 10 14:30:31 3719 11163 P t- 0.9817 1.0803 0.0332 283.9 43.9 -
10 -25 2920 Aug 20 21:13:30 3844 11386 P t- 0.9038 1.2254 0.1743 298.7 98.8 -
11 -24 2938 Sep 01 04:00:13 3972 11609 P t- 0.8291 1.3646 0.3093 311.4 129.3 -
12 -23 2956 Sep 11 10:48:39 4102 11832 P t- 0.7562 1.5006 0.4407 322.6 151.6 -
13 -22 2974 Sep 22 17:44:13 4233 12055 P t- 0.6893 1.6258 0.5610 332.0 168.2 -
14 -21 2992 Oct 03 00:44:12 4367 12278 P t- 0.6264 1.7438 0.6740 340.1 181.3 -
15 -20 3010 Oct 15 07:52:30 4503 12501 P t- 0.5707 1.8485 0.7737 346.7 191.3 -
16 -19 3028 Oct 25 15:06:58 4641 12724 P t- 0.5203 1.9435 0.8638 352.2 199.2 -
17 -18 3046 Nov 05 22:31:16 4781 12947 P t- 0.4782 2.0231 0.9387 356.6 205.1 -
18 -17 3064 Nov 16 06:02:14 4923 13170 T t- 0.4416 2.0925 1.0035 360.3 209.8 9.7
19 -16 3082 Nov 27 13:40:57 5067 13393 T t- 0.4117 2.1496 1.0564 363.2 213.3 38.5
20 -15 3100 Dec 08 21:26:18 5214 13616 T t- 0.3873 2.1962 1.0993 365.5 215.9 50.4
21 -14 3118 Dec 20 05:18:43 5362 13839 T p- 0.3694 2.2306 1.1307 367.3 217.8 57.2
22 -13 3136 Dec 30 13:15:01 5512 14062 T p- 0.3543 2.2594 1.1570 368.7 219.2 62.2
23 -12 3155 Jan 10 21:14:57 5665 14285 T p- 0.3426 2.2818 1.1778 369.8 220.4 65.7
24 -11 3173 Jan 21 05:16:31 5819 14508 T p- 0.3324 2.3011 1.1961 370.6 221.3 68.6
25 -10 3191 Feb 01 13:19:16 5976 14731 T p- 0.3233 2.3177 1.2125 371.2 222.2 71.0
26 -09 3209 Feb 11 21:18:46 6135 14954 T p- 0.3119 2.3384 1.2338 371.8 223.2 74.0
27 -08 3227 Feb 23 05:16:33 6295 15177 T p- 0.2991 2.3613 1.2579 372.2 224.2 77.0
28 -07 3245 Mar 05 13:08:23 6458 15400 T p- 0.2814 2.3927 1.2914 372.8 225.6 80.9
29 -06 3263 Mar 16 20:55:51 6623 15623 T+ p- 0.2601 2.4304 1.3317 373.3 227.1 85.0
30 -05 3281 Mar 27 04:34:26 6790 15846 T+ pp 0.2316 2.4813 1.3856 373.8 228.9 89.8
31 -04 3299 Apr 07 12:07:28 6959 16069 T+ pp 0.1982 2.5407 1.4486 374.3 230.6 94.4
32 -03 3317 Apr 18 19:31:02 7130 16292 T+ pp 0.1570 2.6145 1.5262 374.7 232.4 98.8
33 -02 3335 Apr 30 02:47:04 7303 16515 T+ pp 0.1091 2.7002 1.6161 374.8 233.9 102.5
34 -01 3353 May 10 09:54:12 7478 16738 T+ pp 0.0535 2.8001 1.7201 374.7 234.9 105.1
35 00 3371 May 21 16:54:55 7656 16961 T- pp -0.0078 2.8819 1.8061 373.9 235.1 105.9
36 01 3389 May 31 23:48:27 7835 17184 T- pp -0.0753 2.7559 1.6842 372.5 234.2 104.5
37 02 3407 Jun 13 06:35:49 8017 17407 T- pp -0.1484 2.6199 1.5521 370.3 232.0 100.1
38 03 3425 Jun 23 13:18:38 8200 17630 T- pp -0.2257 2.4761 1.4120 367.1 228.3 91.7
39 04 3443 Jul 04 19:57:48 8386 17853 T pp -0.3067 2.3258 1.2651 362.7 222.7 77.8
40 05 3461 Jul 15 02:34:43 8574 18076 T -t -0.3897 2.1719 1.1143 357.2 215.1 53.7
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 3479 Jul 26 09:10:34 8763 18299 P -t -0.4740 2.0159 0.9609 350.5 205.3 -
42 07 3497 Aug 05 15:47:56 8955 18522 P -t -0.5576 1.8613 0.8086 342.7 193.1 -
43 08 3515 Aug 17 22:27:38 9149 18745 P -t -0.6399 1.7093 0.6586 333.8 178.4 -
44 09 3533 Aug 28 05:10:30 9345 18968 P -t -0.7201 1.5614 0.5121 323.8 160.7 -
45 10 3551 Sep 08 11:59:06 9543 19191 P -t -0.7960 1.4216 0.3734 313.2 139.8 -
46 11 3569 Sep 18 18:53:38 9743 19414 P -t -0.8676 1.2899 0.2425 302.0 114.6 -
47 12 3587 Sep 30 01:56:27 9945 19637 P -t -0.9331 1.1694 0.1224 290.5 82.6 -
48 13 3605 Oct 10 09:06:19 10150 19860 P -t -0.9936 1.0583 0.0116 278.9 25.8 -
49 14 3623 Oct 21 16:26:32 10356 20083 N -t -1.0464 0.9614 -0.0853 267.8 - -
50 15 3641 Oct 31 23:55:27 10564 20306 N -t -1.0928 0.8763 -0.1704 257.2 - -
51 16 3659 Nov 12 07:34:29 10775 20529 N -t -1.1315 0.8052 -0.2415 247.6 - -
52 17 3677 Nov 22 15:22:45 10987 20752 N -t -1.1635 0.7467 -0.3001 239.2 - -
53 18 3695 Dec 03 23:20:25 11202 20975 N -t -1.1885 0.7005 -0.3460 232.0 - -
54 19 3713 Dec 15 07:26:33 11419 21198 N -h -1.2074 0.6656 -0.3804 226.3 - -
55 20 3731 Dec 26 15:38:59 11637 21421 N -h -1.2219 0.6386 -0.4065 221.5 - -
56 21 3750 Jan 05 23:58:48 11858 21644 N -h -1.2310 0.6213 -0.4226 218.2 - -
57 22 3768 Jan 17 08:22:43 12081 21867 N -h -1.2369 0.6095 -0.4326 215.7 - -
58 23 3786 Jan 27 16:50:46 12306 22090 N -h -1.2406 0.6016 -0.4381 213.7 - -
59 24 3804 Feb 09 01:19:03 12533 22313 N -a -1.2445 0.5930 -0.4438 211.6 - -
60 25 3822 Feb 19 09:49:06 12762 22536 N -a -1.2476 0.5854 -0.4479 209.7 - -
61 26 3840 Mar 01 18:16:58 12993 22759 N -a -1.2531 0.5735 -0.4558 207.0 - -
62 27 3858 Mar 13 02:42:30 13227 22982 N -a -1.2610 0.5566 -0.4682 203.4 - -
63 28 3876 Mar 23 11:03:23 13462 23205 N -a -1.2733 0.5315 -0.4884 198.5 - -
64 29 3894 Apr 03 19:20:11 13699 23428 N -a -1.2899 0.4985 -0.5161 192.1 - -
65 30 3912 Apr 15 03:30:33 13939 23651 N -a -1.3121 0.4549 -0.5540 183.5 - -
66 31 3930 Apr 26 11:34:54 14181 23874 N -a -1.3397 0.4013 -0.6020 172.5 - -
67 32 3948 May 06 19:32:26 14424 24097 N -a -1.3736 0.3363 -0.6612 158.2 - -
68 33 3966 May 18 03:24:22 14670 24320 N -a -1.4125 0.2619 -0.7299 140.0 - -
69 34 3984 May 28 11:08:36 14918 24543 N -a -1.4583 0.1751 -0.8111 115.0 - -
70 35 4002 Jun 08 18:48:16 15167 24766 N -a -1.5081 0.0810 -0.8999 78.5 - -
[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)"
