The periodicity and recurrence of solar (and lunar) 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.
Solar eclipses of Saros 15 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 -2557 Jul 01. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1223 Sep 08. The total duration of Saros series 15 is 1334.23 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2557 Jul 01 06:54:37 TD
Last Eclipse = -1223 Sep 08 19:14:20 TD
Duration of Saros 15 = 1334.23 Years
Saros 15 is composed of 75 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 15 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 75 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 33 | 44.0% |
| Annular | A | 29 | 38.7% |
| Total | T | 10 | 13.3% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.0% |
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 15 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 15 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 40 | 95.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 2 | 4.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 75 eclipses in Saros 15: 24P 10T 3H 29A 9P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 15 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -2070 Apr 19 Duration = 02m37s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -1962 Jun 23 Duration = 01m41s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1656 Dec 23 Duration = 07m06s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1890 Aug 05 Duration = 00m30s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -1944 Jul 03 Duration = 01m16s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -1908 Jul 25 Duration = 00m10s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -2142 Mar 07 Magnitude = 0.9183
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -2557 Jul 01 Magnitude = 0.0095
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 15 are presented in the following catalog. The sequence number in the first column links to a global map showing regions of eclipse visibility. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.
For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Saros 015 Animation.
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat. Long. Alt Azm Width Dur.
s ° ° ° ° km
01 -40 -2557 Jul 01 06:54:37 59093 -56357 Pb 1.5243 0.0095 64.2N 167.9E 0 25
02 -39 -2539 Jul 11 14:36:14 58607 -56134 P 1.4660 0.1226 65.1N 40.5E 0 16
03 -38 -2521 Jul 22 22:24:28 58123 -55911 P 1.4132 0.2250 66.1N 88.9W 0 5
04 -37 -2503 Aug 02 06:21:18 57641 -55688 P 1.3675 0.3132 67.1N 139.1E 0 355
05 -36 -2485 Aug 13 14:26:08 57161 -55465 P 1.3287 0.3880 68.1N 4.6E 0 344
06 -35 -2467 Aug 23 22:39:22 56683 -55242 P 1.2968 0.4491 69.1N 132.6W 0 332
07 -34 -2449 Sep 04 07:00:41 56207 -55019 P 1.2718 0.4968 69.9N 87.6E 0 319
08 -33 -2431 Sep 14 15:30:38 55733 -54796 P 1.2539 0.5305 70.7N 55.0W 0 306
09 -32 -2413 Sep 26 00:07:26 55261 -54573 P 1.2422 0.5526 71.2N 160.2E 0 293
10 -31 -2395 Oct 06 08:49:53 54791 -54350 P 1.2354 0.5652 71.5N 13.6E 0 278
11 -30 -2377 Oct 17 17:37:37 54323 -54127 P 1.2332 0.5693 71.5N 134.5W 0 264
12 -29 -2359 Oct 28 02:29:23 53857 -53904 P 1.2344 0.5670 71.3N 76.5E 0 250
13 -28 -2341 Nov 08 11:22:30 53393 -53681 P 1.2371 0.5619 70.8N 72.5W 0 236
14 -27 -2323 Nov 18 20:15:49 52931 -53458 P 1.2402 0.5559 70.1N 139.0E 0 222
15 -26 -2305 Nov 30 05:07:25 52470 -53235 P 1.2424 0.5519 69.2N 8.5W 0 210
16 -25 -2287 Dec 10 13:56:40 52013 -53012 P 1.2431 0.5507 68.2N 154.7W 0 197
17 -24 -2269 Dec 21 22:39:31 51556 -52789 P 1.2390 0.5585 67.2N 61.3E 0 186
18 -23 -2250 Jan 01 07:17:30 51102 -52566 P 1.2315 0.5727 66.1N 80.9W 0 175
19 -22 -2232 Jan 12 15:46:39 50650 -52343 P 1.2172 0.5997 65.1N 139.6E 0 164
20 -21 -2214 Jan 23 00:08:45 50200 -52120 P 1.1980 0.6361 64.1N 2.2E 0 154
21 -20 -2196 Feb 03 08:20:12 49752 -51897 P 1.1705 0.6879 63.2N 132.1W 0 144
22 -19 -2178 Feb 13 16:24:04 49307 -51674 P 1.1375 0.7504 62.4N 95.7E 0 135
23 -18 -2160 Feb 25 00:17:22 48862 -51451 P 1.0963 0.8282 61.8N 33.6W 0 125
24 -17 -2142 Mar 07 08:02:04 48421 -51228 P 1.0486 0.9183 61.2N 160.6W 0 116
25 -16 -2124 Mar 17 15:37:30 47981 -51005 Tn 0.9940 1.0313 59.3N 83.7E 5 115 - 01m57s
26 -15 -2106 Mar 28 23:06:05 47543 -50782 T 0.9343 1.0356 52.3N 13.5W 20 128 331 02m24s
27 -14 -2088 Apr 08 06:27:24 47107 -50559 T 0.8690 1.0370 49.4N 120.0W 29 131 246 02m33s
28 -13 -2070 Apr 19 13:42:36 46673 -50336 T 0.7993 1.0372 48.0N 133.7E 37 134 204 02m37s
29 -12 -2052 Apr 29 20:53:19 46241 -50113 T 0.7265 1.0364 47.4N 28.2E 43 137 175 02m37s
30 -11 -2034 May 11 04:00:32 45811 -49890 T 0.6517 1.0346 47.1N 76.1W 49 141 152 02m33s
31 -10 -2016 May 21 11:05:23 45383 -49667 T 0.5755 1.0319 46.8N 179.6W 55 145 131 02m26s
32 -09 -1998 Jun 01 18:09:16 44957 -49444 T 0.4994 1.0284 46.2N 77.3E 60 151 111 02m15s
33 -08 -1980 Jun 12 01:14:01 44533 -49221 T 0.4248 1.0242 45.0N 26.0W 65 157 91 02m00s
34 -07 -1962 Jun 23 08:20:59 44111 -48998 T 0.3533 1.0193 43.0N 130.2W 69 164 71 01m41s
35 -06 -1944 Jul 03 15:30:05 43691 -48775 H 0.2846 1.0139 40.3N 124.5E 73 170 50 01m16s
36 -05 -1926 Jul 14 22:44:43 43274 -48552 H 0.2216 1.0079 36.8N 17.0E 77 176 28 00m46s
37 -04 -1908 Jul 25 06:03:48 42858 -48329 H 0.1634 1.0017 32.7N 92.5W 80 181 6 00m10s
38 -03 -1890 Aug 05 13:30:29 42444 -48106 Am 0.1125 0.9952 28.1N 155.2E 83 185 17 00m30s
39 -02 -1872 Aug 15 21:02:20 42032 -47883 A 0.0669 0.9887 23.1N 40.9E 86 189 40 01m14s
40 -01 -1854 Aug 27 04:43:27 41622 -47660 A 0.0302 0.9822 17.9N 76.2W 88 192 63 01m59s
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat. Long. Alt Azm Width Dur.
s ° ° ° ° km
41 00 -1836 Sep 06 12:30:48 41214 -47437 A -0.0004 0.9759 12.6N 164.7E 90 174 86 02m45s
42 01 -1818 Sep 17 20:26:38 40809 -47214 A -0.0232 0.9700 7.3N 43.2E 89 17 108 03m28s
43 02 -1800 Sep 28 04:28:25 40405 -46991 A -0.0402 0.9644 2.0N 79.8W 88 18 129 04m09s
44 03 -1782 Oct 09 12:37:27 40003 -46768 A -0.0506 0.9593 3.1S 155.4E 87 18 148 04m46s
45 04 -1764 Oct 19 20:50:22 39603 -46545 A -0.0567 0.9548 8.0S 29.8E 87 18 165 05m20s
46 05 -1746 Oct 31 05:06:38 39205 -46322 A -0.0594 0.9510 12.5S 96.3W 87 16 180 05m50s
47 06 -1728 Nov 10 13:24:24 38809 -46099 A -0.0600 0.9478 16.6S 137.5E 86 14 192 06m17s
48 07 -1710 Nov 21 21:42:44 38416 -45876 A -0.0598 0.9453 20.3S 11.6E 86 11 202 06m38s
49 08 -1692 Dec 02 05:58:03 38024 -45653 A -0.0611 0.9435 23.4S 113.1W 86 8 209 06m54s
50 09 -1674 Dec 13 14:09:35 37634 -45430 A -0.0650 0.9423 25.9S 123.6E 86 4 214 07m04s
51 10 -1656 Dec 23 22:15:04 37246 -45207 A -0.0731 0.9417 27.8S 2.1E 86 359 216 07m06s
52 11 -1637 Jan 04 06:14:24 36861 -44984 A -0.0858 0.9417 28.9S 117.6W 85 354 217 07m01s
53 12 -1619 Jan 14 14:03:27 36477 -44761 A -0.1063 0.9420 29.6S 125.5E 84 349 216 06m51s
54 13 -1601 Jan 25 21:44:24 36095 -44538 A -0.1330 0.9427 29.6S 10.7E 82 344 214 06m36s
55 14 -1583 Feb 05 05:13:52 35715 -44315 A -0.1687 0.9436 29.1S 101.3W 80 339 211 06m20s
56 15 -1565 Feb 16 12:34:13 35338 -44092 A -0.2112 0.9446 28.3S 148.9E 78 335 209 06m04s
57 16 -1547 Feb 26 19:42:22 34962 -43869 A -0.2636 0.9456 27.4S 42.1E 75 332 207 05m49s
58 17 -1529 Mar 10 02:41:53 34588 -43646 A -0.3224 0.9466 26.4S 62.7W 71 330 206 05m38s
59 18 -1511 Mar 20 09:30:47 34216 -43423 A -0.3896 0.9473 25.6S 164.9W 67 328 208 05m31s
60 19 -1493 Mar 31 16:11:09 33847 -43200 A -0.4632 0.9478 25.3S 95.0E 62 327 213 05m27s
61 20 -1475 Apr 10 22:43:34 33479 -42977 A -0.5427 0.9478 25.7S 3.2W 57 327 223 05m30s
62 21 -1457 Apr 22 05:10:13 33113 -42754 A -0.6262 0.9475 27.0S 100.1W 51 328 241 05m36s
63 22 -1439 May 02 11:32:15 32750 -42531 A -0.7131 0.9465 29.6S 164.1E 44 329 273 05m46s
64 23 -1421 May 13 17:50:05 32388 -42308 A -0.8027 0.9448 34.0S 69.5E 36 331 331 05m56s
65 24 -1403 May 24 00:07:06 32028 -42085 A -0.8922 0.9421 41.0S 24.5W 27 332 463 06m02s
66 25 -1385 Jun 04 06:23:36 31671 -41862 As -0.9813 0.9373 54.5S 114.1W 10 329 - 05m51s
67 26 -1367 Jun 14 12:42:35 31315 -41639 P -1.0678 0.8463 63.6S 151.9E 0 328
68 27 -1349 Jun 25 19:04:07 30961 -41416 P -1.1519 0.7023 64.6S 45.4E 0 338
69 28 -1331 Jul 06 01:32:17 30610 -41193 P -1.2301 0.5686 65.5S 63.2W 0 348
70 29 -1313 Jul 17 08:06:34 30260 -40970 P -1.3027 0.4449 66.6S 173.7W 0 358
71 30 -1295 Jul 27 14:48:52 29912 -40747 P -1.3687 0.3330 67.6S 73.3E 0 9
72 31 -1277 Aug 07 21:40:06 29567 -40524 P -1.4274 0.2340 68.6S 42.4W 0 20
73 32 -1259 Aug 18 04:41:25 29223 -40301 P -1.4779 0.1492 69.5S 161.2W 0 32
74 33 -1241 Aug 29 11:53:01 28882 -40078 P -1.5203 0.0785 70.3S 76.8E 0 44
75 34 -1223 Sep 08 19:14:20 28542 -39855 Pe -1.5551 0.0209 71.0S 48.2W 0 57
[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 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.
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.
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 and for preparing the Saros series animations from these maps.
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)"
