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 6 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -2673 Mar 27. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1393 May 03. The total duration of Saros series 6 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2673 Mar 27 20:31:11 TD
Last Eclipse = -1393 May 03 21:58:15 TD
Duration of Saros 6 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 6 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 6 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 22.2% |
| Annular | A | 47 | 65.3% |
| Total | T | 7 | 9.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 2 | 2.8% |
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 6 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 6 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 56 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 53 | 94.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 2 | 3.6% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 6: 7P 7T 2H 47A 9P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 6 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 6 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1646 Dec 03 | 09m36s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2385 Sep 16 | 00m03s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -2511 Jul 02 | 03m18s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -2439 Aug 14 | 01m40s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -2421 Aug 26 | 01m04s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -2403 Sep 05 | 00m30s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -2565 May 31 | - | 0.88566 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1393 May 03 | - | 0.04038 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 6. 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 6.
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
----- -37 -2673 Mar 27 20:31:11 64295 -57795 Pb -1.4782 0.0985 71.1S 107.1W 0
----- -36 -2655 Apr 07 03:58:32 63780 -57572 P -1.4150 0.2203 71.4S 125.2E 0
----- -35 -2637 Apr 18 11:22:10 63266 -57349 P -1.3490 0.3477 71.4S 1.7W 0
----- -34 -2619 Apr 28 18:41:50 62755 -57126 P -1.2800 0.4808 71.2S 127.6W 0
----- -33 -2601 May 10 01:59:13 62246 -56903 P -1.2094 0.6165 70.8S 107.4E 0
----- -32 -2583 May 20 09:15:36 61739 -56680 P -1.1384 0.7524 70.2S 16.9W 0
----- -31 -2565 May 31 16:32:39 61235 -56457 P -1.0682 0.8857 69.4S 140.9W 0
----- -30 -2547 Jun 10 23:51:42 60732 -56234 T- -1.0003 1.0134 68.6S 95.1E 0
----- -29 -2529 Jun 22 07:12:42 60231 -56011 T -0.9345 1.0405 47.4S 34.1W 20 386 03m15s
----- -28 -2511 Jul 02 14:38:50 59732 -55788 T -0.8736 1.0376 37.8S 153.3W 29 261 03m18s
----- -27 -2493 Jul 13 22:09:25 59236 -55565 T -0.8168 1.0334 30.9S 88.4E 35 195 03m06s
----- -26 -2475 Jul 24 05:46:29 58741 -55342 T -0.7663 1.0285 25.9S 30.7W 40 150 02m44s
----- -25 -2457 Aug 04 13:29:25 58249 -55119 T -0.7215 1.0229 22.6S 150.5W 44 112 02m14s
----- -24 -2439 Aug 14 21:20:29 57759 -54896 T -0.6839 1.0172 20.8S 88.0E 47 80 01m40s
----- -23 -2421 Aug 26 05:18:48 57270 -54673 H -0.6532 1.0112 20.4S 35.2W 49 50 01m04s
----- -22 -2403 Sep 05 13:24:05 56784 -54450 H -0.6288 1.0053 21.2S 159.9W 51 23 00m30s
----- -21 -2385 Sep 16 21:37:07 56300 -54227 A -0.6116 0.9995 23.1S 73.3E 52 2 00m03s
----- -20 -2367 Sep 27 05:56:38 55818 -54004 A -0.6007 0.9941 26.0S 55.1W 53 25 00m32s
----- -19 -2349 Oct 08 14:22:11 55338 -53781 A -0.5951 0.9890 29.7S 175.0E 53 47 00m58s
----- -18 -2331 Oct 18 22:50:28 54860 -53558 A -0.5925 0.9844 33.8S 44.5E 53 67 01m21s
----- -17 -2313 Oct 30 07:22:48 54384 -53335 A -0.5940 0.9804 38.4S 86.8W 53 85 01m40s
----- -16 -2295 Nov 09 15:55:23 53910 -53112 A -0.5966 0.9770 43.1S 142.4E 53 101 01m55s
----- -15 -2277 Nov 21 00:27:44 53438 -52889 A -0.5997 0.9743 47.8S 12.5E 53 114 02m07s
----- -14 -2259 Dec 01 08:56:19 52969 -52666 A -0.6008 0.9721 52.0S 115.3W 53 124 02m17s
----- -13 -2241 Dec 12 17:21:27 52501 -52443 A -0.5997 0.9706 55.7S 119.5E 53 132 02m25s
----- -12 -2223 Dec 23 01:39:37 52036 -52220 A -0.5939 0.9696 58.2S 2.0W 53 136 02m30s
----- -11 -2204 Jan 03 09:50:09 51572 -51997 A -0.5827 0.9691 59.2S 120.0W 54 137 02m35s
----- -10 -2186 Jan 13 17:51:29 51111 -51774 A -0.5650 0.9690 58.4S 124.7E 55 136 02m39s
----- -09 -2168 Jan 25 01:43:38 50652 -51551 A -0.5409 0.9692 55.8S 10.7E 57 132 02m43s
----- -08 -2150 Feb 04 09:24:06 50195 -51328 A -0.5079 0.9696 51.6S 102.3W 59 127 02m47s
----- -07 -2132 Feb 15 16:54:35 49739 -51105 A -0.4674 0.9701 46.1S 145.2E 62 122 02m52s
----- -06 -2114 Feb 26 00:13:39 49286 -50882 A -0.4184 0.9706 39.5S 33.8E 65 116 02m57s
----- -05 -2096 Mar 08 07:23:38 48835 -50659 A -0.3629 0.9709 32.3S 76.5W 69 112 03m04s
----- -04 -2078 Mar 19 14:21:35 48386 -50436 A -0.2981 0.9710 24.5S 175.3E 73 109 03m12s
----- -03 -2060 Mar 29 21:12:36 47940 -50213 A -0.2285 0.9707 16.3S 68.4E 77 108 03m22s
----- -02 -2042 Apr 10 03:54:13 47495 -49990 A -0.1516 0.9701 7.7S 36.5W 81 109 03m33s
----- -01 -2024 Apr 20 10:31:12 47052 -49767 Am -0.0718 0.9690 0.9N 140.3W 86 112 03m45s
----- 00 -2006 May 01 17:00:43 46612 -49544 A 0.0134 0.9673 9.7N 117.9E 89 118 03m58s
00027 01 -1988 May 11 23:28:58 46173 -49321 A 0.0987 0.9652 18.3N 16.8E 84 126 04m11s
00070 02 -1970 May 23 05:53:04 45736 -49098 A 0.1869 0.9625 26.8N 82.7W 79 138 04m23s
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
00113 03 -1952 Jun 02 12:18:03 45302 -48875 A 0.2734 0.9595 34.9N 178.5E 74 153 04m34s
00156 04 -1934 Jun 13 18:42:52 44870 -48652 A 0.3594 0.9558 42.5N 81.0E 69 173 04m44s
00200 05 -1916 Jun 24 01:12:09 44439 -48429 A 0.4409 0.9519 49.4N 15.9W 64 197 04m53s
00244 06 -1898 Jul 05 07:45:10 44011 -48206 A 0.5188 0.9476 55.2N 111.5W 58 226 05m02s
00289 07 -1880 Jul 15 14:24:03 43585 -47983 A 0.5912 0.9430 59.7N 154.2E 53 262 05m12s
00335 08 -1862 Jul 26 21:10:21 43161 -47760 A 0.6570 0.9383 62.4N 60.2E 49 304 05m24s
00381 09 -1844 Aug 06 04:04:34 42739 -47537 A 0.7161 0.9335 63.3N 35.0W 44 355 05m37s
00427 10 -1826 Aug 17 11:07:52 42319 -47314 A 0.7672 0.9289 62.6N 133.7W 40 414 05m53s
00472 11 -1808 Aug 27 18:20:00 41901 -47091 A 0.8110 0.9244 60.9N 123.0E 36 482 06m12s
00519 12 -1790 Sep 08 01:42:19 41486 -46868 A 0.8463 0.9202 58.7N 14.4E 32 558 06m33s
00564 13 -1772 Sep 18 09:13:28 41072 -46645 A 0.8744 0.9165 56.3N 98.7W 29 641 06m57s
00609 14 -1754 Sep 29 16:52:56 40660 -46422 A 0.8956 0.9133 54.1N 144.1E 26 725 07m23s
00654 15 -1736 Oct 10 00:40:09 40251 -46199 A 0.9103 0.9108 52.1N 23.5E 24 802 07m50s
00701 16 -1718 Oct 21 08:33:49 39843 -45976 A 0.9195 0.9091 50.2N 100.1W 23 861 08m18s
00746 17 -1700 Oct 31 16:31:53 39438 -45753 A 0.9254 0.9081 48.5N 134.6E 22 905 08m44s
00790 18 -1682 Nov 12 00:32:11 39034 -45530 A 0.9295 0.9078 47.1N 8.3E 21 936 09m08s
00832 19 -1664 Nov 22 08:33:54 38633 -45307 A 0.9323 0.9083 46.1N 118.5W 21 955 09m26s
00873 20 -1646 Dec 03 16:35:07 38234 -45084 A 0.9353 0.9095 45.6N 114.7E 20 971 09m36s
00914 21 -1628 Dec 14 00:32:53 37837 -44861 A 0.9413 0.9113 46.1N 11.0W 19 1006 09m33s
00955 22 -1610 Dec 25 08:26:41 37442 -44638 A 0.9505 0.9134 47.8N 135.9W 18 1076 09m18s
00996 23 -1591 Jan 04 16:14:07 37049 -44415 A 0.9652 0.9160 51.3N 100.6E 15 1258 08m45s
01037 24 -1573 Jan 15 23:55:57 36658 -44192 An 0.9847 0.9183 57.7N 22.6W 9 - 07m57s
01078 25 -1555 Jan 26 07:28:19 36269 -43969 A+ 1.0120 0.9351 67.8N 148.3W 0
01118 26 -1537 Feb 06 14:54:09 35882 -43746 P 1.0448 0.8815 68.8N 87.0E 0
01158 27 -1519 Feb 16 22:10:22 35498 -43523 P 1.0857 0.8139 69.7N 35.9W 0
01198 28 -1501 Feb 28 05:19:15 35115 -43300 P 1.1329 0.7347 70.5N 157.5W 0
01238 29 -1483 Mar 10 12:19:02 34735 -43077 P 1.1879 0.6414 71.1N 82.6E 0
01278 30 -1465 Mar 21 19:13:02 34356 -42854 P 1.2478 0.5385 71.5N 36.2W 0
01318 31 -1447 Apr 01 02:00:26 33980 -42631 P 1.3133 0.4249 71.7N 153.6W 0
01359 32 -1429 Apr 12 08:42:37 33605 -42408 P 1.3832 0.3025 71.6N 90.4E 0
01400 33 -1411 Apr 22 15:21:18 33233 -42185 P 1.4562 0.1736 71.2N 24.6W 0
01441 34 -1393 May 03 21:58:15 32863 -41962 Pe 1.5310 0.0404 70.7N 138.7W 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)"
