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 7 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 -2590 Apr 08. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1310 May 16. The total duration of Saros series 7 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2590 Apr 08 18:27:08 TD
Last Eclipse = -1310 May 16 03:52:19 TD
Duration of Saros 7 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 7 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 7 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.8% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 41.7% |
| Total | T | 21 | 29.2% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 6 | 8.3% |
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 7 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 7 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 98.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 7: 6P 30A 6H 21T 9P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 7 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 7 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -2212 Nov 20 | 09m57s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1959 Apr 21 | 00m14s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1472 Feb 08 | 02m01s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1671 Oct 11 | 00m43s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1851 Jun 25 | 01m34s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1941 May 02 | 00m12s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1454 Feb 18 | - | 0.98450 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1310 May 16 | - | 0.06128 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 7. 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 7.
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
----- -34 -2590 Apr 08 18:27:08 61939 -56768 Pb 1.5207 0.0694 60.5N 76.2E 0
----- -33 -2572 Apr 19 00:49:25 61433 -56545 P 1.4395 0.2092 60.5N 30.2W 0
----- -32 -2554 Apr 30 07:08:29 60930 -56322 P 1.3557 0.3536 60.7N 135.8W 0
----- -31 -2536 May 10 13:24:39 60428 -56099 P 1.2695 0.5018 60.9N 119.3E 0
----- -30 -2518 May 21 19:40:47 59929 -55876 P 1.1830 0.6501 61.4N 14.3E 0
----- -29 -2500 Jun 01 01:56:56 59431 -55653 P 1.0962 0.7985 61.9N 90.8W 0
----- -28 -2482 Jun 12 08:17:20 58936 -55430 A+ 1.0127 0.9405 62.6N 162.9E 0
----- -27 -2464 Jun 22 14:41:39 58443 -55207 A 0.9322 0.9363 76.2N 106.9E 21 667 04m19s
----- -26 -2446 Jul 03 21:11:51 57952 -54984 A 0.8564 0.9361 78.3N 51.6E 31 465 04m42s
----- -25 -2428 Jul 14 03:49:13 57463 -54761 A 0.7861 0.9350 75.3N 17.5W 38 395 05m08s
----- -24 -2410 Jul 25 10:35:27 56976 -54538 A 0.7229 0.9334 70.1N 104.5W 43 362 05m38s
----- -23 -2392 Aug 04 17:31:15 56491 -54315 A 0.6671 0.9315 64.3N 157.9E 48 346 06m09s
----- -22 -2374 Aug 16 00:36:22 56008 -54092 A 0.6186 0.9294 58.1N 53.7E 52 337 06m42s
----- -21 -2356 Aug 26 07:52:27 55527 -53869 A 0.5789 0.9275 52.1N 55.4W 54 334 07m16s
----- -20 -2338 Sep 06 15:18:42 55048 -53646 A 0.5471 0.9256 46.1N 168.4W 57 334 07m48s
----- -19 -2320 Sep 16 22:54:31 54572 -53423 A 0.5227 0.9241 40.3N 75.4E 58 334 08m18s
----- -18 -2302 Sep 28 06:39:25 54097 -53200 A 0.5054 0.9229 34.7N 43.6W 59 335 08m46s
----- -17 -2284 Oct 08 14:31:48 53624 -52977 A 0.4936 0.9222 29.5N 164.8W 60 335 09m09s
----- -16 -2266 Oct 19 22:31:09 53154 -52754 A 0.4874 0.9220 24.6N 72.2E 61 335 09m30s
----- -15 -2248 Oct 30 06:33:32 52686 -52531 A 0.4831 0.9226 20.1N 51.7W 61 331 09m45s
----- -14 -2230 Nov 10 14:40:19 52219 -52308 A 0.4819 0.9237 16.1N 176.7W 61 326 09m55s
----- -13 -2212 Nov 20 22:46:45 51755 -52085 A 0.4796 0.9256 12.5N 58.4E 61 318 09m57s
----- -12 -2194 Dec 02 06:53:13 51293 -51862 A 0.4771 0.9282 9.4N 66.5W 61 306 09m49s
----- -11 -2176 Dec 12 14:54:59 50833 -51639 A 0.4699 0.9315 6.6N 170.0E 62 290 09m29s
----- -10 -2158 Dec 23 22:54:02 50375 -51416 A 0.4600 0.9355 4.3N 47.2E 63 270 08m56s
----- -09 -2139 Jan 03 06:46:33 49919 -51193 A 0.4435 0.9401 2.4N 73.7W 64 248 08m12s
----- -08 -2121 Jan 14 14:32:33 49465 -50970 A 0.4210 0.9453 0.9N 167.2E 65 222 07m18s
----- -07 -2103 Jan 24 22:10:31 49013 -50747 A 0.3908 0.9508 0.3S 50.3E 67 195 06m19s
----- -06 -2085 Feb 05 05:41:18 48563 -50524 A 0.3537 0.9568 1.0S 64.5W 69 168 05m19s
----- -05 -2067 Feb 15 13:03:49 48116 -50301 A 0.3089 0.9629 1.4S 177.0W 72 140 04m21s
----- -04 -2049 Feb 26 20:18:44 47670 -50078 A 0.2565 0.9692 1.4S 72.7E 75 114 03m27s
----- -03 -2031 Mar 09 03:26:36 47227 -49855 A 0.1971 0.9754 1.2S 35.6W 79 89 02m38s
----- -02 -2013 Mar 20 10:28:58 46785 -49632 A 0.1322 0.9815 0.7S 142.4W 82 66 01m55s
00011 -01 -1995 Mar 30 17:24:52 46346 -49409 A 0.0609 0.9873 0.2S 112.7E 87 45 01m17s
00054 00 -1977 Apr 11 00:17:50 45908 -49186 A -0.0139 0.9927 0.4N 8.5E 89 26 00m44s
00096 01 -1959 Apr 21 07:07:29 45473 -48963 A -0.0923 0.9977 0.6N 94.7W 85 8 00m14s
00139 02 -1941 May 02 13:57:20 45040 -48740 Hm -0.1717 1.0021 0.5N 161.9E 80 7 00m12s
00182 03 -1923 May 12 20:45:04 44609 -48517 H -0.2538 1.0059 0.2S 59.1E 75 21 00m36s
00226 04 -1905 May 24 03:36:37 44180 -48294 H -0.3336 1.0090 1.6S 45.0W 71 33 00m56s
00270 05 -1887 Jun 03 10:29:53 43753 -48071 H -0.4126 1.0115 3.7S 149.8W 66 43 01m13s
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
00316 06 -1869 Jun 14 17:29:24 43328 -47848 H -0.4875 1.0133 6.6S 103.4E 61 52 01m26s
00363 07 -1851 Jun 25 00:33:02 42905 -47625 H2 -0.5598 1.0145 10.4S 5.0W 56 60 01m34s
00409 08 -1833 Jul 06 07:46:09 42485 -47402 T -0.6253 1.0151 14.7S 116.4W 51 66 01m37s
00454 09 -1815 Jul 16 15:06:20 42066 -47179 T -0.6856 1.0151 19.6S 129.8E 47 71 01m35s
00500 10 -1797 Jul 27 22:35:52 41649 -46956 T -0.7391 1.0147 25.0S 12.9E 42 75 01m30s
00546 11 -1779 Aug 07 06:14:34 41235 -46733 T -0.7859 1.0139 30.8S 107.0W 38 77 01m21s
00591 12 -1761 Aug 18 14:04:01 40822 -46510 T -0.8246 1.0130 36.6S 129.7E 34 79 01m12s
00636 13 -1743 Aug 28 22:03:23 40412 -46287 T -0.8559 1.0120 42.3S 3.2E 31 80 01m02s
00682 14 -1725 Sep 09 06:11:45 40004 -46064 T -0.8805 1.0111 47.8S 126.2W 28 81 00m54s
00728 15 -1707 Sep 19 14:30:13 39598 -45841 T -0.8974 1.0105 52.9S 101.4E 26 82 00m48s
00772 16 -1689 Sep 30 22:56:52 39193 -45618 T -0.9084 1.0102 57.6S 33.2W 24 84 00m44s
00816 17 -1671 Oct 11 07:30:53 38791 -45395 T -0.9140 1.0104 61.8S 169.6W 23 89 00m43s
00857 18 -1653 Oct 22 16:10:27 38391 -45172 T -0.9157 1.0111 65.9S 53.0E 23 96 00m44s
00898 19 -1635 Nov 02 00:55:01 37993 -44949 T -0.9140 1.0124 69.8S 84.7W 23 106 00m47s
00939 20 -1617 Nov 13 09:42:09 37597 -44726 T -0.9108 1.0143 73.8S 137.8E 24 120 00m52s
00980 21 -1599 Nov 23 18:30:08 37204 -44503 T -0.9075 1.0167 78.0S 1.3E 24 138 00m59s
01021 22 -1581 Dec 05 03:18:02 36812 -44280 T -0.9051 1.0196 82.3S 132.7W 25 160 01m08s
01062 23 -1563 Dec 15 12:03:55 36422 -44057 T -0.9053 1.0228 86.7S 103.4E 25 186 01m18s
01102 24 -1545 Dec 26 20:45:32 36035 -43834 T -0.9094 1.0265 88.0S 94.2E 24 220 01m28s
01142 25 -1526 Jan 06 05:22:05 35649 -43611 T -0.9184 1.0302 83.6S 12.6W 23 263 01m39s
01182 26 -1508 Jan 17 13:52:29 35266 -43388 T -0.9330 1.0340 78.9S 137.2W 21 326 01m49s
01222 27 -1490 Jan 27 22:16:48 34884 -43165 T -0.9536 1.0375 74.1S 99.0E 17 431 01m58s
01262 28 -1472 Feb 08 06:32:03 34505 -42942 T -0.9820 1.0401 68.6S 17.3W 10 771 02m01s
01302 29 -1454 Feb 18 14:40:46 34128 -42719 P -1.0164 0.9845 61.9S 130.7W 0
01343 30 -1436 Feb 29 22:40:19 33753 -42496 P -1.0586 0.9059 61.3S 98.9E 0
01384 31 -1418 Mar 12 06:33:44 33380 -42273 P -1.1062 0.8159 61.0S 29.9W 0
01425 32 -1400 Mar 22 14:18:16 33009 -42050 P -1.1615 0.7103 60.7S 156.3W 0
01466 33 -1382 Apr 02 21:58:15 32640 -41827 P -1.2208 0.5962 60.7S 78.4E 0
01508 34 -1364 Apr 13 05:31:40 32273 -41604 P -1.2855 0.4709 60.8S 45.3W 0
01550 35 -1346 Apr 24 13:01:27 31908 -41381 P -1.3532 0.3390 61.0S 168.0W 0
01593 36 -1328 May 04 20:27:22 31545 -41158 P -1.4242 0.2007 61.4S 70.1E 0
01636 37 -1310 May 16 03:52:19 31185 -40935 Pe -1.4957 0.0613 61.9S 51.7W 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)"
