The periodicity and recurrence of 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 13 centuries and contains 70 or more eclipses. Every saros series begins with a number of partial eclipses near one of Earth's polar regions. The series will then produce several dozen central[2] eclipses before ending with a group of partial eclipses near the opposite pole. For more information, see Periodicity of Solar Eclipses.
Solar eclipses of Saros 5 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -2720 Apr 04. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1422 May 24. The total duration of Saros series 5 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2720 Apr 04 23:46:28 TD
Last Eclipse = -1422 May 24 15:11:38 TD
Duration of Saros 5 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 5 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 5 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.2% |
| Annular | A | 11 | 15.1% |
| Total | T | 44 | 60.3% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.5% |
Umbral eclipses (annular, total and hybrid) 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 in Saros series 5 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 5 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 59 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 59 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 5: 7P 44T 4H 11A 7P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 5 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 5 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1548 Mar 09 | 01m08s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1729 Nov 22 | 00m12s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -2017 Jun 01 | 06m40s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -2594 Jun 20 | 00m52s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1801 Oct 09 | 00m58s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1747 Nov 10 | 00m00s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -2612 Jun 08 | - | 0.90696 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -2720 Apr 04 | - | 0.01827 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 5. A description or explanation of each parameter listed in the catalog can be found in Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.
Several fields in the catalog link to web pages or files containing additional information for each eclipse (for the years -1999 through +3000). The following gives a brief explanation of each link.
For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Animation of Saros 5.
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat Long Alt Width Dur.
s ° ° ° km
----- -36 -2720 Apr 04 23:46:28 65647 -58376 Pb 1.5364 0.0183 60.5N 15.2E 0
----- -35 -2702 Apr 16 06:41:48 65126 -58153 P 1.4572 0.1600 60.5N 99.5W 0
----- -34 -2684 Apr 26 13:35:05 64608 -57930 P 1.3750 0.3089 60.6N 146.3E 0
----- -33 -2666 May 07 20:29:56 64091 -57707 P 1.2926 0.4595 60.8N 31.6E 0
----- -32 -2648 May 18 03:25:58 63577 -57484 P 1.2100 0.6115 61.2N 83.4W 0
----- -31 -2630 May 29 10:26:50 63065 -57261 P 1.1296 0.7603 61.7N 160.3E 0
----- -30 -2612 Jun 08 17:30:49 62554 -57038 P 1.0507 0.9070 62.4N 43.0E 0
----- -29 -2594 Jun 20 00:42:44 62046 -56815 T 0.9769 1.0164 71.5N 55.2W 12 281 00m52s
----- -28 -2576 Jun 30 08:00:57 61540 -56592 T 0.9076 1.0212 79.0N 127.3W 24 175 01m13s
----- -27 -2558 Jul 11 15:27:53 61036 -56369 T 0.8446 1.0240 79.6N 163.3E 32 154 01m28s
----- -26 -2540 Jul 21 23:03:07 60534 -56146 T 0.7875 1.0256 75.9N 76.6E 38 142 01m38s
----- -25 -2522 Aug 02 06:48:25 60034 -55923 T 0.7380 1.0266 70.7N 27.9W 42 135 01m47s
----- -24 -2504 Aug 12 14:43:22 59536 -55700 T 0.6961 1.0270 64.9N 142.1W 46 128 01m53s
----- -23 -2486 Aug 23 22:47:11 59041 -55477 T 0.6610 1.0272 59.1N 98.0E 48 123 01m58s
----- -22 -2468 Sep 03 07:01:16 58547 -55254 T 0.6341 1.0271 53.3N 26.4W 50 119 02m02s
----- -21 -2450 Sep 14 15:23:58 58055 -55031 T 0.6139 1.0270 47.7N 154.1W 52 116 02m06s
----- -20 -2432 Sep 24 23:55:26 57566 -54808 T 0.6005 1.0270 42.3N 75.4E 53 114 02m10s
----- -19 -2414 Oct 06 08:32:55 57078 -54585 T 0.5918 1.0273 37.2N 57.2W 53 114 02m15s
----- -18 -2396 Oct 16 17:17:12 56593 -54362 T 0.5883 1.0278 32.5N 168.4E 54 116 02m22s
----- -17 -2378 Oct 28 02:04:56 56109 -54139 T 0.5873 1.0287 28.2N 32.8E 54 119 02m31s
----- -16 -2360 Nov 07 10:55:34 55628 -53916 T 0.5883 1.0302 24.3N 103.5W 54 125 02m44s
----- -15 -2342 Nov 18 19:46:38 55149 -53693 T 0.5892 1.0321 20.8N 120.0E 54 133 02m59s
----- -14 -2324 Nov 29 04:37:34 54672 -53470 T 0.5894 1.0346 17.8N 16.5W 54 144 03m16s
----- -13 -2306 Dec 10 13:24:51 54197 -53247 T 0.5865 1.0376 15.1N 152.1W 54 156 03m37s
----- -12 -2288 Dec 20 22:08:25 53724 -53024 T 0.5802 1.0410 12.9N 73.4E 54 169 03m59s
----- -11 -2269 Jan 01 06:46:00 53253 -52801 T 0.5687 1.0449 11.0N 59.6W 55 182 04m21s
----- -10 -2251 Jan 11 15:18:09 52784 -52578 T 0.5522 1.0491 9.4N 169.0E 56 195 04m43s
----- -09 -2233 Jan 22 23:40:58 52317 -52355 T 0.5278 1.0536 8.2N 40.1E 58 208 05m03s
----- -08 -2215 Feb 02 07:57:16 51853 -52132 T 0.4978 1.0581 7.3N 86.9W 60 219 05m20s
----- -07 -2197 Feb 13 16:04:00 51390 -51909 T 0.4597 1.0625 6.8N 148.8E 63 229 05m34s
----- -06 -2179 Feb 24 00:04:31 50930 -51686 T 0.4161 1.0668 6.7N 26.4E 65 238 05m46s
----- -05 -2161 Mar 07 07:54:50 50471 -51463 T 0.3640 1.0707 6.8N 93.1W 69 245 05m55s
----- -04 -2143 Mar 17 15:40:07 50015 -51240 T 0.3072 1.0741 7.3N 148.8E 72 251 06m03s
----- -03 -2125 Mar 28 23:17:08 49560 -51017 T 0.2436 1.0769 7.9N 33.1E 76 256 06m10s
----- -02 -2107 Apr 08 06:50:25 49108 -50794 T 0.1766 1.0790 8.7N 81.4W 80 259 06m17s
----- -01 -2089 Apr 19 14:17:26 48658 -50571 T 0.1042 1.0803 9.3N 165.8E 84 260 06m23s
----- 00 -2071 Apr 29 21:43:15 48210 -50348 Tm 0.0309 1.0807 9.7N 53.5E 88 260 06m30s
----- 01 -2053 May 11 05:05:51 47764 -50125 T -0.0450 1.0802 9.7N 58.0W 87 259 06m35s
----- 02 -2035 May 21 12:28:11 47320 -49902 T -0.1211 1.0788 9.2N 169.4W 83 256 06m39s
----- 03 -2017 Jun 01 19:50:19 46878 -49679 T -0.1968 1.0764 8.0N 79.1E 79 252 06m40s
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat Long Alt Width Dur.
s ° ° ° km
00001 04 -1999 Jun 12 03:14:51 46438 -49456 T -0.2701 1.0733 6.0N 33.3W 74 247 06m37s
00044 05 -1981 Jun 23 10:42:06 46000 -49233 T -0.3407 1.0693 3.3N 146.8W 70 240 06m28s
00087 06 -1963 Jul 03 18:12:59 45565 -49010 T -0.4077 1.0646 0.1S 98.3E 66 231 06m12s
00130 07 -1945 Jul 15 01:49:25 45131 -48787 T -0.4692 1.0593 4.1S 18.5W 62 221 05m48s
00173 08 -1927 Jul 25 09:31:57 44700 -48564 T -0.5249 1.0535 8.6S 137.3W 58 208 05m16s
00217 09 -1909 Aug 05 17:20:50 44270 -48341 T -0.5746 1.0475 13.5S 101.7E 55 193 04m38s
00261 10 -1891 Aug 16 01:16:58 43843 -48118 T -0.6177 1.0412 18.6S 21.6W 52 175 03m57s
00306 11 -1873 Aug 27 09:20:55 43418 -47895 T -0.6537 1.0348 23.9S 147.1W 49 154 03m15s
00353 12 -1855 Sep 06 17:32:50 42994 -47672 T -0.6822 1.0286 29.2S 85.1E 47 132 02m35s
00399 13 -1837 Sep 18 01:51:07 42573 -47449 T -0.7050 1.0226 34.4S 44.4W 45 108 01m58s
00444 14 -1819 Sep 28 10:17:02 42154 -47226 T -0.7208 1.0171 39.5S 175.6W 44 84 01m26s
00490 15 -1801 Oct 09 18:49:02 41737 -47003 H3 -0.7313 1.0119 44.5S 52.0E 43 60 00m58s
00537 16 -1783 Oct 20 03:26:05 41322 -46780 H -0.7370 1.0075 49.4S 81.1W 42 38 00m35s
00582 17 -1765 Oct 31 12:05:53 40909 -46557 H -0.7400 1.0034 54.1S 146.0E 42 18 00m16s
00627 18 -1747 Nov 10 20:47:50 40498 -46334 H -0.7406 1.0001 58.7S 13.8E 42 1 00m00s
00673 19 -1729 Nov 22 05:30:00 40090 -46111 A -0.7405 0.9973 63.0S 116.5W 42 14 00m12s
00720 20 -1711 Dec 02 14:09:37 39683 -45888 A -0.7421 0.9951 67.0S 116.2E 42 26 00m21s
00764 21 -1693 Dec 13 22:46:18 39278 -45665 A -0.7455 0.9933 70.3S 6.8W 41 36 00m28s
00808 22 -1675 Dec 24 07:17:15 38876 -45442 A -0.7531 0.9920 72.6S 124.5W 41 43 00m34s
00848 23 -1656 Jan 04 15:41:43 38475 -45219 A -0.7653 0.9909 73.4S 122.3E 40 50 00m37s
00889 24 -1638 Jan 14 23:57:02 38077 -44996 A -0.7844 0.9901 72.8S 11.7E 38 56 00m41s
00930 25 -1620 Jan 26 08:04:19 37681 -44773 A -0.8094 0.9893 71.1S 99.3W 36 64 00m43s
00971 26 -1602 Feb 05 16:01:25 37286 -44550 A -0.8424 0.9884 68.8S 149.9E 32 76 00m47s
01012 27 -1584 Feb 16 23:47:55 36894 -44327 A -0.8833 0.9871 66.6S 40.7E 28 97 00m51s
01053 28 -1566 Feb 27 07:24:03 36504 -44104 A -0.9317 0.9851 64.7S 64.6W 21 145 00m57s
01094 29 -1548 Mar 09 14:50:24 36116 -43881 A -0.9874 0.9813 62.9S 156.9W 8 462 01m08s
01134 30 -1530 Mar 20 22:07:07 35730 -43658 P -1.0501 0.8949 60.6S 100.3E 0
01173 31 -1512 Mar 31 05:13:52 35346 -43435 P -1.1200 0.7695 60.5S 16.7W 0
01213 32 -1494 Apr 11 12:13:12 34965 -43212 P -1.1948 0.6354 60.6S 131.8W 0
01253 33 -1476 Apr 21 19:05:07 34585 -42989 P -1.2741 0.4936 60.8S 114.9E 0
01293 34 -1458 May 03 01:51:20 34207 -42766 P -1.3569 0.3463 61.1S 3.0E 0
01334 35 -1440 May 13 08:32:40 33832 -42543 P -1.4422 0.1952 61.6S 107.8W 0
01375 36 -1422 May 24 15:11:38 33458 -42320 Pe -1.5278 0.0446 62.2S 141.8E 0
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] 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]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).
[3]Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. For more information, see Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses .
[4]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is nearly equal 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.
The information presented on this web page is based on data published in Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. The individual global maps appearing in links (both GIF an animation) were extracted from full page plates appearing in Five Millennium Canon by Dan McGlaun. The Besselian elements were provided by Jean Meeus. Fred Espenak assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all eclipse calculations.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)"
