Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 16

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 16

Solar eclipses of Saros 16 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 -2456 Jul 23. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0941 Jan 18. The total duration of Saros series 16 is 1514.53 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -2456 Jul 23   23:07:52 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -0941 Jan 18   17:12:07 TD

                      Duration of Saros  16  =  1514.53 Years

Saros 16 is composed of 85 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 16
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 85100.0%
PartialP 43 50.6%
AnnularA 33 38.8%
TotalT 7 8.2%
Hybrid[3]H 2 2.4%

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 16 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 16
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 42100.0%
Central (two limits) 40 95.2%
Central (one limit) 1 2.4%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 2.4%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 85 eclipses in Saros 16: 22P 33A 2H 7T 21P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 16 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 16
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -1915 Jun 1306m40s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -1482 Feb 2700m02s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -1374 May 0302m07s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -1320 Jun 0401m30s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1446 Mar 2101m09s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1464 Mar 1000m36s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1302 Jun 15 - 0.88818
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -0941 Jan 18 - 0.01647

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 16

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 16. 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 16.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 16

                         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 -2456 Jul 23  23:07:52  58222 -55107   Pb  -1.5213  0.0589  64.6S  52.5E   0             
----- -33 -2438 Aug 04  06:23:04  57732 -54884   P   -1.4753  0.1420  63.7S  68.2W   0             
----- -32 -2420 Aug 14  13:46:18  57244 -54661   P   -1.4363  0.2121  62.9S 169.4E   0             
----- -31 -2402 Aug 25  21:17:15  56758 -54438   P   -1.4039  0.2699  62.1S  45.4E   0             
----- -30 -2384 Sep 05  04:56:47  56274 -54215   P   -1.3788  0.3143  61.5S  80.5W   0             
----- -29 -2366 Sep 16  12:43:01  55792 -53992   P   -1.3596  0.3481  61.0S 152.1E   0             
----- -28 -2348 Sep 26  20:37:05  55312 -53769   P   -1.3469  0.3705  60.7S  22.9E   0             
----- -27 -2330 Oct 08  04:36:29  54834 -53546   P   -1.3388  0.3847  60.5S 107.6W   0             
----- -26 -2312 Oct 18  12:40:37  54358 -53323   P   -1.3351  0.3914  60.5S 120.7E   0             
----- -25 -2294 Oct 29  20:47:33  53885 -53100   P   -1.3341  0.3935  60.7S  11.6W   0             

----- -24 -2276 Nov 09  04:56:27  53413 -52877   P   -1.3353  0.3917  61.1S 144.6W   0             
----- -23 -2258 Nov 20  13:04:10  52944 -52654   P   -1.3358  0.3909  61.6S  82.7E   0             
----- -22 -2240 Nov 30  21:09:15  52476 -52431   P   -1.3346  0.3930  62.2S  49.5W   0             
----- -21 -2222 Dec 12  05:09:48  52011 -52208   P   -1.3303  0.4001  63.1S 179.2E   0             
----- -20 -2204 Dec 22  13:05:11  51547 -51985   P   -1.3226  0.4129  64.0S  48.9E   0             
----- -19 -2185 Jan 02  20:51:23  51086 -51762   P   -1.3078  0.4374  65.0S  79.4W   0             
----- -18 -2167 Jan 13  04:29:58  50627 -51539   P   -1.2873  0.4715  66.0S 153.7E   0             
----- -17 -2149 Jan 24  11:57:47  50170 -51316   P   -1.2584  0.5200  67.1S  29.2E   0             
----- -16 -2131 Feb 03  19:17:32  49715 -51093   P   -1.2231  0.5793  68.1S  93.9W   0             
----- -15 -2113 Feb 15  02:24:22  49262 -50870   P   -1.1776  0.6561  69.1S 145.7E   0             

----- -14 -2095 Feb 25  09:23:35  48811 -50647   P   -1.1260  0.7437  70.0S  26.6E   0             
----- -13 -2077 Mar 08  16:11:23  48362 -50424   P   -1.0650  0.8478  70.8S  90.2W   0             
----- -12 -2059 Mar 18  22:52:10  47916 -50201   A-  -0.9981  0.9622  71.3S 154.3E   0             
----- -11 -2041 Mar 30  05:23:36  47471 -49978   A   -0.9232  0.9360  64.7S  18.8W  22  623  05m14s
----- -10 -2023 Apr 09  11:50:45  47028 -49755   A   -0.8445  0.9402  53.2S 134.2W  32  410  05m34s
----- -09 -2005 Apr 20  18:11:54  46588 -49532   A   -0.7604  0.9436  42.2S 119.6E  40  317  05m53s
00029 -08 -1987 May 01  00:29:51  46149 -49309   A   -0.6733  0.9464  31.9S  17.1E  47  264  06m10s
00072 -07 -1969 May 12  06:45:38  45713 -49086   A   -0.5839  0.9485  22.1S  83.5W  54  231  06m24s
00115 -06 -1951 May 22  13:02:16  45279 -48863   A   -0.4945  0.9502  13.1S 176.9E  60  209  06m34s
00158 -05 -1933 Jun 02  19:20:26  44847 -48640   A   -0.4060  0.9512   4.8S  77.7E  66  195  06m39s

00202 -04 -1915 Jun 13  01:41:44  44416 -48417   A   -0.3194  0.9518   2.8N  21.3W  71  186  06m40s
00246 -03 -1897 Jun 24  08:08:49  43988 -48194   A   -0.2370  0.9519   9.3N 121.0W  76  181  06m36s
00291 -02 -1879 Jul 04  14:42:43  43562 -47971   A   -0.1592  0.9516  14.7N 138.6E  81  179  06m28s
00337 -01 -1861 Jul 15  21:24:00  43138 -47748   A   -0.0870  0.9510  19.0N  37.1E  85  180  06m18s
00383  00 -1843 Jul 26  04:14:32  42716 -47525   A   -0.0216  0.9502  21.9N  66.1W  89  183  06m09s
00429  01 -1825 Aug 06  11:15:15  42297 -47302   A    0.0361  0.9491  23.4N 171.5W  88  187  06m01s
00474  02 -1807 Aug 16  18:27:18  41879 -47079   A    0.0854  0.9481  23.6N  80.3E  85  192  05m55s
00521  03 -1789 Aug 28  01:48:41  41463 -46856   A    0.1279  0.9470  22.6N  30.3W  83  196  05m52s
00566  04 -1771 Sep 07  09:22:22  41050 -46633   A    0.1610  0.9462  20.5N 144.5W  81  201  05m50s
00611  05 -1753 Sep 18  17:05:43  40638 -46410   A    0.1868  0.9456  17.6N  98.4E  79  204  05m50s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 16

                         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

00656  06 -1735 Sep 29  00:59:34  40229 -46187   A    0.2048  0.9454  14.1N  21.8W  78  205  05m50s
00703  07 -1717 Oct 10  09:00:26  39821 -45964   A    0.2176  0.9456  10.2N 144.0W  77  205  05m51s
00748  08 -1699 Oct 20  17:09:38  39416 -45741   Am   0.2245  0.9464   6.1N  91.4E  77  202  05m50s
00792  09 -1681 Nov 01  01:23:34  39013 -45518   A    0.2281  0.9477   2.2N  34.3W  77  197  05m47s
00834  10 -1663 Nov 11  09:41:25  38612 -45295   A    0.2290  0.9497   1.6S 161.0W  77  189  05m40s
00875  11 -1645 Nov 22  18:00:57  38213 -45072   A    0.2292  0.9523   4.9S  72.0E  77  179  05m30s
00916  12 -1627 Dec 03  02:20:57  37816 -44849   A    0.2295  0.9557   7.5S  54.8W  77  166  05m13s
00957  13 -1609 Dec 14  10:38:54  37421 -44626   A    0.2324  0.9596   9.2S 179.1E  77  151  04m50s
00998  14 -1591 Dec 24  18:53:12  37028 -44403   A    0.2392  0.9642   9.9S  54.1E  76  133  04m20s
01039  15 -1572 Jan 05  03:03:16  36637 -44180   A    0.2502  0.9693   9.5S  69.9W  76  114  03m45s

01080  16 -1554 Jan 15  11:07:55  36248 -43957   A    0.2661  0.9749   7.9S 167.3E  75   93  03m03s
01120  17 -1536 Jan 26  19:04:59  35862 -43734   A    0.2895  0.9809   5.1S  46.1E  73   71  02m18s
01160  18 -1518 Feb 06  02:55:29  35477 -43511   A    0.3191  0.9871   1.1S  73.9W  71   48  01m31s
01200  19 -1500 Feb 17  10:38:07  35095 -43288   A    0.3562  0.9934   3.9N 167.5E  69   25  00m45s
01240  20 -1482 Feb 27  18:14:42  34714 -43065   A    0.3992  0.9997   9.7N  49.8E  66    1  00m02s
01280  21 -1464 Mar 10  01:42:32  34336 -42842   H    0.4502  1.0058  16.5N  66.2W  63   22  00m36s
01321  22 -1446 Mar 21  09:05:39  33959 -42619   H    0.5060  1.0117  23.9N 178.5E  59   46  01m09s
01362  23 -1428 Mar 31  16:22:18  33585 -42396   T    0.5682  1.0171  31.9N  64.3E  55   70  01m34s
01403  24 -1410 Apr 11  23:35:20  33213 -42173   T    0.6340  1.0220  40.5N  49.6W  50   96  01m52s
01444  25 -1392 Apr 22  06:44:14  32843 -41950   T    0.7040  1.0261  49.6N 163.2W  45  124  02m03s

01485  26 -1374 May 03  13:52:19  32475 -41727   T    0.7755  1.0295  59.2N  82.0E  39  158  02m07s
01527  27 -1356 May 13  20:59:28  32109 -41504   T    0.8487  1.0317  69.4N  36.7W  32  203  02m03s
01569  28 -1338 May 25  04:06:56  31745 -41281   T    0.9222  1.0327  79.4N 176.3W  22  291  01m54s
01612  29 -1320 Jun 04  11:17:01  31383 -41058   Tn   0.9944  1.0300  72.4N  18.0W   4   -   01m30s
01656  30 -1302 Jun 15  18:30:34  31024 -40835   P    1.0646  0.8882  67.4N 143.3W   0             
01699  31 -1284 Jun 26  01:49:39  30666 -40612   P    1.1309  0.7633  66.4N  94.6E   0             
01744  32 -1266 Jul 07  09:13:30  30311 -40389   P    1.1940  0.6444  65.4N  28.2W   0             
01790  33 -1248 Jul 17  16:45:58  29957 -40166   P    1.2510  0.5366  64.5N 152.8W   0             
01835  34 -1230 Jul 29  00:25:10  29606 -39943   P    1.3033  0.4377  63.6N  81.2E   0             
01880  35 -1212 Aug 08  08:13:20  29256 -39720   P    1.3489  0.3516  62.8N  46.7W   0             

01925  36 -1194 Aug 19  16:09:22  28909 -39497   P    1.3888  0.2764  62.1N 176.3W   0             
01970  37 -1176 Aug 30  00:15:43  28564 -39274   P    1.4210  0.2159  61.6N  51.6E   0             
02017  38 -1158 Sep 10  08:30:13  28221 -39051   P    1.4473  0.1666  61.2N  82.3W   0             
02063  39 -1140 Sep 20  16:53:11  27880 -38828   P    1.4675  0.1290  60.9N 141.7E   0             
02108  40 -1122 Oct 02  01:24:08  27541 -38605   P    1.4819  0.1024  60.8N   3.8E   0             
02153  41 -1104 Oct 12  10:03:00  27204 -38382   P    1.4903  0.0870  60.8N 136.0W   0             
02196  42 -1086 Oct 23  18:46:56  26869 -38159   P    1.4954  0.0776  61.1N  82.9E   0             
02239  43 -1068 Nov 03  03:35:44  26536 -37936   P    1.4970  0.0747  61.5N  59.5W   0             
02282  44 -1050 Nov 14  12:27:10  26205 -37713   P    1.4971  0.0744  62.0N 157.3E   0             
02325  45 -1032 Nov 24  21:21:11  25877 -37490   P    1.4957  0.0767  62.7N  13.3E   0             


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 16

                         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

02368  46 -1014 Dec 06  06:13:27  25550 -37267   P    1.4958  0.0758  63.5N 130.4W   0             
02410  47 -0996 Dec 16  15:05:32  25226 -37044   P    1.4968  0.0734  64.4N  85.5E   0             
02451  48 -0978 Dec 27  23:52:42  24903 -36821   P    1.5018  0.0629  65.4N  57.6W   0             
02492  49 -0959 Jan 07  08:36:28  24583 -36598   P    1.5101  0.0461  66.4N 159.7E   0             
02533  50 -0941 Jan 18  17:12:07  24265 -36375   Pe   1.5250  0.0165  67.5N  18.5E   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