Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 8

Introduction

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.


Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 8

Solar eclipses of Saros 8 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 -2579 Mar 07. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1281 Apr 26. The total duration of Saros series 8 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -2579 Mar 07   20:26:02 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -1281 Apr 26   12:27:53 TD

                      Duration of Saros   8  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 8 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 8
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PartialP 17 23.3%
AnnularA 10 13.7%
TotalT 45 61.6%
Hybrid[3]H 1 1.4%

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 8 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 8
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 56100.0%
Central (two limits) 55 98.2%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 1.8%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 8: 7P 45T 1H 10A 10P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 8 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 8
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -1480 Dec 2802m20s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -1624 Oct 0200m02s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -1912 Apr 1206m48s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -1660 Sep 1000m47s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1642 Sep 2100m22s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1642 Sep 2100m22s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1443 Jan 18 - 0.94252
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1281 Apr 26 - 0.04709

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 8

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 8. 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 8.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 8

                         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 -2579 Mar 07  20:26:02  61633 -56633   Pb  -1.5074  0.0719  70.3S  93.7W   0             
----- -35 -2561 Mar 19  03:38:00  61128 -56410   P   -1.4420  0.1880  71.0S 142.9E   0             
----- -34 -2543 Mar 29  10:44:21  60626 -56187   P   -1.3708  0.3162  71.4S  20.6E   0             
----- -33 -2525 Apr 09  17:48:18  60126 -55964   P   -1.2962  0.4520  71.6S 101.4W   0             
----- -32 -2507 Apr 20  00:49:40  59628 -55741   P   -1.2183  0.5954  71.5S 137.3E   0             
----- -31 -2489 May 01  07:49:49  59131 -55518   P   -1.1382  0.7442  71.3S  16.3E   0             
----- -30 -2471 May 11  14:50:59  58637 -55295   P   -1.0577  0.8949  70.8S 104.5W   0             
----- -29 -2453 May 22  21:54:09  58145 -55072   T   -0.9775  1.0220  60.7S 119.1E  11  375  01m35s
----- -28 -2435 Jun 02  05:01:28  57655 -54849   T   -0.8996  1.0286  45.4S   4.4W  26  223  02m23s
----- -27 -2417 Jun 13  12:12:21  57168 -54626   T   -0.8238  1.0330  34.8S 120.8W  34  196  03m00s

----- -26 -2399 Jun 23  19:30:49  56682 -54403   T   -0.7530  1.0359  26.5S 123.3E  41  184  03m27s
----- -25 -2381 Jul 05  02:55:16  56198 -54180   T   -0.6861  1.0380  19.8S   7.2E  47  175  03m46s
----- -24 -2363 Jul 15  10:28:24  55717 -53957   T   -0.6255  1.0392  14.7S 110.2W  51  168  03m55s
----- -23 -2345 Jul 26  18:09:16  55237 -53734   T   -0.5706  1.0398  10.9S 131.1E  55  162  03m57s
----- -22 -2327 Aug 06  02:00:49  54759 -53511   T   -0.5238  1.0399   8.6S  10.2E  58  156  03m53s
----- -21 -2309 Aug 17  10:01:08  54284 -53288   T   -0.4836  1.0396   7.7S 112.7W  61  151  03m45s
----- -20 -2291 Aug 27  18:10:54  53811 -53065   T   -0.4505  1.0391   8.0S 122.3E  63  146  03m35s
----- -19 -2273 Sep 08  02:29:55  53339 -52842   T   -0.4247  1.0384   9.4S   5.1W  65  141  03m25s
----- -18 -2255 Sep 18  10:58:02  52870 -52619   T   -0.4062  1.0378  11.9S 134.8W  66  138  03m16s
----- -17 -2237 Sep 29  19:33:10  52403 -52396   T   -0.3930  1.0373  15.2S  93.7E  67  135  03m08s

----- -16 -2219 Oct 10  04:14:52  51938 -52173   T   -0.3852  1.0371  19.1S  39.5W  67  134  03m02s
----- -15 -2201 Oct 21  13:01:25  51475 -51950   T   -0.3810  1.0372  23.4S 173.8W  67  134  03m00s
----- -14 -2183 Oct 31  21:52:24  51014 -51727   T   -0.3803  1.0377  28.0S  51.1E  67  136  02m59s
----- -13 -2165 Nov 12  06:43:55  50555 -51504   T   -0.3800  1.0388  32.4S  83.7W  67  140  03m02s
----- -12 -2147 Nov 22  15:37:11  50099 -51281   T   -0.3809  1.0403  36.6S 141.8E  67  146  03m08s
----- -11 -2129 Dec 04  00:27:43  49644 -51058   T   -0.3796  1.0424  40.2S   8.8E  67  153  03m16s
----- -10 -2111 Dec 14  09:16:25  49191 -50835   T   -0.3764  1.0449  43.0S 122.7W  68  162  03m28s
----- -09 -2093 Dec 25  17:58:40  48741 -50612   T   -0.3678  1.0479  44.6S 108.2E  68  171  03m43s
----- -08 -2074 Jan 05  02:37:15  48292 -50389   T   -0.3559  1.0512  44.8S  19.4W  69  182  04m00s
----- -07 -2056 Jan 16  11:07:36  47846 -50166   T   -0.3375  1.0548  43.5S 145.2W  70  192  04m20s

----- -06 -2038 Jan 26  19:31:17  47401 -49943   T   -0.3130  1.0585  40.8S  90.1E  72  203  04m42s
----- -05 -2020 Feb 07  03:45:43  46959 -49720   T   -0.2809  1.0621  36.7S  33.5W  73  213  05m05s
----- -04 -2002 Feb 17  11:53:01  46519 -49497   T   -0.2427  1.0658  31.5S 156.3W  76  222  05m29s
00036 -03 -1984 Feb 28  19:51:38  46081 -49274   T   -0.1975  1.0690  25.5S  81.9E  78  229  05m53s
00079 -02 -1966 Mar 11  03:42:14  45645 -49051   T   -0.1456  1.0719  18.7S  38.7W  82  236  06m14s
00122 -01 -1948 Mar 21  11:25:32  45211 -48828   T   -0.0878  1.0742  11.4S 158.1W  85  242  06m31s
00165  00 -1930 Apr 01  19:02:33  44779 -48605   Tm  -0.0247  1.0760   3.7S  83.6E  89  246  06m43s
00208  01 -1912 Apr 12  02:33:41  44349 -48382   T    0.0431  1.0769   4.3N  33.4W  88  249  06m48s
00252  02 -1894 Apr 23  10:00:21  43921 -48159   T    0.1144  1.0770  12.5N 149.2W  83  251  06m45s
00297  03 -1876 May 03  17:23:23  43496 -47936   T    0.1886  1.0763  20.7N  96.0E  79  251  06m34s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 8

                         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

00344  04 -1858 May 15  00:44:54  43072 -47713   T    0.2636  1.0746  28.8N  18.0W  75  251  06m15s
00390  05 -1840 May 25  08:04:26  42650 -47490   T    0.3401  1.0720  36.8N 130.7W  70  249  05m50s
00436  06 -1822 Jun 05  15:25:30  42231 -47267   T    0.4148  1.0686  44.3N 117.3E  65  246  05m20s
00482  07 -1804 Jun 15  22:47:41  41814 -47044   T    0.4884  1.0643  51.4N   6.6E  61  242  04m47s
00529  08 -1786 Jun 27  06:14:07  41398 -46821   T    0.5578  1.0592  57.5N 102.8W  56  235  04m13s
00574  09 -1768 Jul 07  13:43:11  40985 -46598   T    0.6244  1.0535  62.5N 150.3E  51  227  03m39s
00619  10 -1750 Jul 18  21:18:48  40574 -46375   T    0.6850  1.0472  65.9N  44.9E  46  216  03m07s
00664  11 -1732 Jul 29  04:59:19  40165 -46152   T    0.7411  1.0404  67.3N  59.6W  42  202  02m36s
00711  12 -1714 Aug 09  12:47:18  39758 -45929   T    0.7902  1.0335  66.8N 166.8W  37  184  02m07s
00755  13 -1696 Aug 19  20:41:34  39353 -45706   T    0.8335  1.0263  65.1N  81.8E  33  161  01m39s

00799  14 -1678 Aug 31  04:44:18  38950 -45483   T    0.8690  1.0192  62.7N  35.2W  29  132  01m13s
00840  15 -1660 Sep 10  12:54:09  38549 -45260   T    0.8980  1.0123  60.3N 156.8W  26   95  00m47s
00881  16 -1642 Sep 21  21:10:34  38150 -45037   H    0.9211  1.0057  58.1N  77.9E  23   50  00m22s
00922  17 -1624 Oct 02  05:33:58  37753 -44814   A    0.9377  0.9995  56.3N  51.0W  20    5  00m02s
00963  18 -1606 Oct 13  14:02:49  37359 -44591   A    0.9490  0.9940  54.7N 177.1E  18   66  00m25s
01005  19 -1588 Oct 23  22:36:30  36966 -44368   A    0.9560  0.9892  53.4N  42.8E  17  129  00m47s
01046  20 -1570 Nov 04  07:12:05  36576 -44145   A    0.9608  0.9850  52.4N  92.6W  16  191  01m08s
01087  21 -1552 Nov 14  15:50:05  36187 -43922   A    0.9631  0.9815  51.5N 130.7E  15  245  01m27s
01127  22 -1534 Nov 26  00:27:19  35801 -43699   A    0.9654  0.9786  51.1N   5.9W  15  295  01m44s
01166  23 -1516 Dec 06  09:02:31  35417 -43476   A    0.9687  0.9762  51.4N 141.8W  14  348  01m59s

01206  24 -1498 Dec 17  17:33:27  35035 -43253   A    0.9748  0.9742  52.8N  83.4E  12  429  02m11s
01246  25 -1480 Dec 28  01:59:17  34655 -43030   A    0.9844  0.9722  56.1N  50.0W   9  611  02m20s
01286  26 -1461 Jan 08  10:17:29  34277 -42807   A+   0.9994  0.9805  66.1N 178.6E   0             
01327  27 -1443 Jan 18  18:27:07  33901 -42584   P    1.0207  0.9425  67.1N  43.9E   0             
01368  28 -1425 Jan 30  02:27:26  33527 -42361   P    1.0486  0.8929  68.2N  89.0W   0             
01409  29 -1407 Feb 09  10:18:04  33155 -42138   P    1.0831  0.8315  69.2N 139.9E   0             
01450  30 -1389 Feb 20  17:56:51  32785 -41915   P    1.1266  0.7544  70.1N  11.2E   0             
01491  31 -1371 Mar 03  01:25:53  32417 -41692   P    1.1769  0.6651  70.8N 115.6W   0             
01533  32 -1353 Mar 14  08:43:42  32052 -41469   P    1.2353  0.5616  71.4N 119.9E   0             
01575  33 -1335 Mar 24  15:53:17  31688 -41246   P    1.2990  0.4487  71.7N   2.9W   0             

01618  34 -1317 Apr 04  22:51:30  31327 -41023   P    1.3708  0.3218  71.7N 123.0W   0             
01662  35 -1299 Apr 15  05:43:56  30967 -40800   P    1.4458  0.1893  71.5N 118.4E   0             
01706  36 -1281 Apr 26  12:27:53  30610 -40577   Pe   1.5267  0.0471  71.1N   2.3E   0             


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Footnotes

[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.


Acknowledgments

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)"


Return to:

Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26