Eclipses of the Sun can only occur during the New Moon phase. It is then possible for the Moon's penumbral, umbral or antumbral shadows to sweep across Earth's surface thereby producing an eclipse. Not all New Moons result in a solar eclipse because the Moon's orbit is tilted about 5 degrees to Earth's about the Sun. Consequently, the Moon's shadows miss Earth at most New Moon's. Nevertheless, there are 2 to 5 solar eclipses every calendar year. There are four types of solar eclipses: partial, annular, total and hybrid[1]. For more information, see Basic Solar Eclipse Geometry.
During the 10 century period -0999 to 0000 ( 1000 BCE to 1 BCE[2]), Earth experienced 2373 solar eclipses. The following table shows the number of eclipses of each type over this period.
| Solar Eclipses: -0999 - 0000 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 2373 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 857 | 36.1% |
| Annular | A | 764 | 32.2% |
| Total | T | 622 | 26.2% |
| Hybrid | H | 130 | 5.5% |
Annular and total eclipses can be further classified as either: 1) Central (two limits), 2) Central (one limit) or 3) Non-Central (one limit). The statistical distribution of these classes during the 1st century BCE appears in the following three tables (no Hybrids are included since all are central with two limits).
| Annular and Total Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All | 1386 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 1352 | 97.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 14 | 1.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 20 | 1.4% |
| Annular Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Annular Eclipses | 764 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 743 | 97.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 10 | 1.3% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 11 | 1.4% |
| Total Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Total Eclipses | 622 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 609 | 97.9% |
| Central (one limit) | 4 | 0.6% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 9 | 1.4% |
The longest central[3] solar eclipses of this period are:
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0743 Jun 15 Duration = 07m28s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0177 Dec 22 Duration = 12m08s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0979 Aug 13 Duration = 01m48s
Long Hybrid Solar Eclipses are relatively rare. The following catalog lists concise details and local circumstances for all Hybrid Solar Eclipses with durations exceeding 01m 00s. The Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipses contains a detailed description and explanation of each item listed in the catalog. For eclipses from -1999 to +3000, the Catalog Number in the first column serves as a link to a global map of Earth showing the geographic visibility of each eclipse. The date and time of the eclipse are given at the instant of greatest eclipse[4] in Terrestrial Dynamical Time. The Saros Number in the sixth column links to a table listing all eclipses in the Saros series. The Key to Solar Eclipse Maps explains the features plotted on each map.
The data presented here are based in part on the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.
TD of
Catalog Calendar Greatest Luna Saros Ecl. Ecl. Sun Sun Path Central
Number Date Eclipse ΔT Num Num Type Gamma Mag. Lat. Long. Alt Azm Width Dur.
s ° ° ° ° km
02448 -0979 Aug 13 02:47:53 24145 -36838 39 H3 -0.2387 1.0168 4.5N 123.0W 76 10 59 01m48s
02489 -0961 Aug 24 10:31:09 23834 -36615 39 H -0.2836 1.0100 1.2S 118.5E 74 13 36 01m05s
02531 -0942 Feb 27 12:29:02 23518 -36386 44 H -0.4016 1.0118 34.7S 102.5E 66 342 44 01m05s
02806 -0820 Jul 26 06:32:15 21477 -34872 42 H3 0.3561 1.0161 41.8N 179.2E 69 200 59 01m24s
02889 -0783 Feb 09 15:39:19 20886 -34420 47 H 0.2535 1.0125 3.4S 31.3E 75 158 44 01m14s
03183 -0661 Jul 09 10:36:00 18910 -32906 45 H3 -0.4659 1.0146 4.3S 100.3E 62 358 56 01m38s
03275 -0624 Jan 23 18:26:58 18315 -32454 50 H -0.0754 1.0131 25.5S 16.0W 86 354 45 01m18s
03677 -0465 Jan 05 20:54:17 15936 -30488 53 H -0.1117 1.0141 29.8S 63.5W 83 349 49 01m20s
03748 -0437 Dec 17 10:19:56 15537 -30130 54 H3 0.1286 1.0173 16.2S 91.0E 83 190 60 01m45s
03791 -0419 Dec 27 19:00:22 15293 -29907 54 H 0.1333 1.0160 16.2S 39.4W 82 185 55 01m39s
03833 -0400 Jan 08 03:36:41 15052 -29684 54 H 0.1409 1.0152 15.1S 168.9W 82 180 53 01m35s
03834 -0400 Jul 02 08:43:41 15046 -29678 59 H -0.1015 1.0092 18.0N 111.6E 84 356 32 01m01s
03875 -0382 Jan 18 12:05:58 14815 -29461 54 H 0.1538 1.0147 12.9S 63.2E 81 176 51 01m33s
03876 -0382 Jul 13 15:50:17 14809 -29455 59 Hm -0.1735 1.0107 13.0N 4.0E 80 1 38 01m12s
03883 -0379 May 13 05:25:04 14772 -29420 51 H3 -0.4803 1.0155 9.8S 169.2E 61 338 60 01m34s
03916 -0364 Jan 29 20:27:34 14581 -29238 54 H 0.1722 1.0144 9.5S 63.3W 80 172 50 01m31s
03917 -0364 Jul 23 23:05:36 14575 -29232 59 H -0.2391 1.0118 7.6N 106.3W 76 5 42 01m19s
03924 -0361 May 24 12:23:59 14539 -29197 51 H -0.5616 1.0115 12.8S 63.5E 56 341 47 01m12s
03955 -0346 Feb 09 04:40:17 14351 -29015 54 H 0.1973 1.0142 5.1S 172.0E 79 169 50 01m30s
03956 -0346 Aug 04 06:28:34 14345 -29009 59 H -0.2990 1.0123 1.9N 140.8E 73 8 44 01m22s
03995 -0328 Feb 20 12:44:07 14124 -28792 54 H 0.2290 1.0141 0.1N 48.9E 77 166 50 01m29s
03996 -0328 Aug 14 14:00:58 14118 -28786 59 H -0.3519 1.0126 4.1S 25.1E 69 12 46 01m21s
04004 -0325 Dec 08 14:25:47 14076 -28745 56 H 0.3213 1.0123 4.3S 25.4E 71 192 45 01m16s
04023 -0316 Jul 04 10:53:21 13970 -28639 70 H3 -0.5847 1.0137 12.0S 69.4E 54 8 58 01m30s
04029 -0314 Nov 07 18:59:06 13941 -28610 57 H3 -0.3363 1.0168 34.7S 54.9W 70 15 61 01m30s
04036 -0310 Mar 02 20:37:22 13900 -28569 54 H 0.2687 1.0139 6.2N 72.0W 74 164 49 01m26s
04037 -0310 Aug 25 21:42:10 13894 -28563 59 H -0.3981 1.0124 10.2S 93.1W 66 14 47 01m18s
04045 -0307 Dec 18 23:08:59 13853 -28522 56 H 0.3218 1.0156 5.0S 106.6W 71 188 57 01m38s
04070 -0296 Nov 18 03:41:28 13719 -28387 57 H -0.3389 1.0133 38.3S 175.0E 70 11 49 01m11s
04078 -0292 Mar 13 04:21:15 13679 -28346 54 H 0.3154 1.0134 13.0N 169.1E 72 162 48 01m22s
04079 -0292 Sep 05 05:33:58 13673 -28340 59 H -0.4363 1.0123 16.2S 145.9E 64 17 47 01m14s
04111 -0277 May 24 23:12:00 13495 -28158 62 H 0.0249 1.0093 21.4N 114.0W 88 173 32 01m00s
04118 -0274 Mar 24 11:55:07 13461 -28123 54 H 0.3695 1.0126 20.3N 52.3E 68 161 47 01m15s
04119 -0274 Sep 16 13:35:23 13455 -28117 59 H -0.4671 1.0120 22.2S 22.5E 62 19 46 01m09s
04151 -0259 Jun 04 06:07:27 13279 -27935 62 Hm 0.1047 1.0130 28.1N 141.2E 84 176 45 01m21s
04158 -0256 Apr 03 19:20:53 13246 -27900 54 H 0.4293 1.0114 28.2N 62.6W 64 160 43 01m05s
04159 -0256 Sep 26 21:45:25 13240 -27894 59 H -0.4915 1.0119 27.9S 102.8W 60 20 47 01m06s
04192 -0241 Jun 15 13:05:26 13066 -27712 62 H2 0.1836 1.0160 34.0N 36.8E 79 181 56 01m34s
04200 -0238 Oct 08 06:05:19 13027 -27671 59 H -0.5085 1.0118 33.4S 129.9E 59 21 47 01m03s
04241 -0220 Oct 18 14:32:51 12818 -27448 59 H -0.5201 1.0122 38.6S 1.3E 58 21 49 01m03s
04282 -0202 Oct 29 23:07:46 12611 -27225 59 H -0.5261 1.0129 43.3S 128.1W 58 20 52 01m05s
04323 -0184 Nov 09 07:46:40 12406 -27002 59 H -0.5296 1.0140 47.6S 102.6E 58 17 57 01m08s
04393 -0155 Oct 20 21:16:23 12083 -26644 60 H 0.5448 1.0130 19.8N 76.3W 57 209 53 01m10s
04479 -0118 May 07 03:35:48 11683 -26192 65 Hm -0.1145 1.0125 9.7N 175.8E 83 337 43 01m15s
04522 -0100 May 17 10:37:31 11489 -25969 65 H2 -0.1912 1.0170 8.4N 70.5E 79 340 59 01m44s
04684 -0034 May 09 05:47:57 10796 -25153 76 H -0.5697 1.0131 17.7S 143.3E 55 348 55 01m23s
04731 -0016 May 19 12:49:09 10611 -24930 76 H -0.4948 1.0112 10.1S 34.3E 60 352 44 01m15s
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.
[1] Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. (See: Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses)
[2] The terms BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions )
[3] Central solar eclipses are eclipses in which the central axis of the Moon's shadow strikes the Earth's surface. All partial (penumbral) eclipses are non-central eclipses since the shadow axis misses Earth. However, umbral eclipses (total, annular and hybrid) may be either central (usually) or non-central (rarely).
[4] Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to the Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is virtually identical to the instants of greatest magnitude and greatest duration. However, for annular eclipses, the instant of greatest duration may occur at either the time of greatest eclipse or near the sunrise and sunset points of the eclipse path.
Special thanks to Dan McGlaun for extracting the individual eclipse maps from the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 for use in this catalog.
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 Solar 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)"
