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 4001 to 5000 ( 4001 CE to 5000 CE[2]), Earth will experience 2360 solar eclipses. The following table shows the number of eclipses of each type over this period.
| Solar Eclipses: 4001 - 5000 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 2360 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 828 | 35.1% |
| Annular | A | 821 | 34.8% |
| Total | T | 653 | 27.7% |
| Hybrid | H | 58 | 2.5% |
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 50th century CE 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 | 1474 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 1442 | 97.8% |
| Central (one limit) | 19 | 1.3% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 13 | 0.9% |
| Annular Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Annular Eclipses | 821 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 795 | 96.8% |
| Central (one limit) | 15 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 11 | 1.3% |
| Total Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Total Eclipses | 653 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 647 | 99.1% |
| Central (one limit) | 4 | 0.6% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 2 | 0.3% |
The longest central[3] solar eclipses of this period are:
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 4009 Aug 04 Duration = 07m12s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 4885 Jan 20 Duration = 11m08s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 4563 May 07 Duration = 01m38s
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
----- 4031 Nov 28 02:35:29 15091 25131 204 H 0.1148 1.0145 14.8S 157.6W 83 195 50 01m28s
----- 4068 Jun 13 10:42:43 15594 25583 209 H 0.4327 1.0131 48.6N 80.3E 64 169 50 01m07s
----- 4190 Nov 11 06:11:27 17340 27097 207 H -0.2897 1.0154 34.2S 151.9E 73 11 55 01m26s
----- 4227 May 29 14:58:58 17880 27549 212 H -0.2929 1.0129 4.6N 30.9E 73 357 47 01m26s
----- 4349 Oct 26 10:12:49 19746 29063 210 H3 0.4505 1.0159 11.8N 116.7E 63 205 60 01m32s
----- 4386 May 12 18:51:46 20321 29515 215 H 0.1248 1.0120 25.1N 21.4W 83 159 42 01m08s
----- 4545 Apr 25 22:25:51 22918 31481 218 H 0.0558 1.0106 16.8N 62.1W 87 167 37 01m05s
----- 4563 May 07 06:30:10 23222 31704 218 Hm 0.0897 1.0163 22.1N 177.8E 85 170 56 01m38s
----- 4712 Nov 04 19:01:26 25824 33553 235 H3 0.4688 1.0150 12.0N 3.9E 62 191 58 01m35s
----- 4722 Apr 21 09:54:58 25993 33670 221 H -0.2827 1.0143 3.1S 146.3E 74 335 51 01m22s
----- 4730 Nov 16 02:46:43 26147 33776 235 H 0.4215 1.0096 6.3N 113.0W 65 188 36 01m03s
----- 4881 Apr 03 13:02:02 28920 35636 224 H 0.4894 1.0123 33.8N 95.5E 60 160 48 01m06s
----- 4889 Oct 29 06:53:16 29083 35742 238 H -0.2628 1.0121 27.9S 172.8W 75 27 43 01m06s
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)"
