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 21 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 -2275 May 05. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0995 Jun 11. The total duration of Saros series 21 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2275 May 05 01:34:14 TD
Last Eclipse = -0995 Jun 11 14:37:30 TD
Duration of Saros 21 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 21 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 21 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.4% |
| Annular | A | 28 | 38.9% |
| Total | T | 26 | 36.1% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.6% |
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 21 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 21 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 58 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 96.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.7% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.7% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 21: 8P 26T 4H 28A 6P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 21 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -2095 Aug 21 Duration = 02m35s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -1897 Dec 19 Duration = 01m35s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1320 Nov 29 Duration = 07m23s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1590 Jun 20 Duration = 00m02s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -1662 May 08 Duration = 01m28s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -1608 Jun 09 Duration = 00m29s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -2149 Jul 20 Magnitude = 0.9212
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -2275 May 05 Magnitude = 0.0130
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 21 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 021 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 -38 -2275 May 05 01:34:14 51724 -52871 Pb 1.5208 0.0130 61.0N 96.5W 0 70
02 -37 -2257 May 16 08:55:50 51269 -52648 P 1.4466 0.1572 61.4N 142.3E 0 62
03 -36 -2239 May 26 16:19:31 50816 -52425 P 1.3737 0.2989 61.9N 20.4E 0 53
04 -35 -2221 Jun 06 23:44:21 50366 -52202 P 1.3019 0.4386 62.6N 101.8W 0 44
05 -34 -2203 Jun 17 07:12:30 49917 -51979 P 1.2329 0.5728 63.3N 134.9E 0 35
06 -33 -2185 Jun 28 14:44:51 49470 -51756 P 1.1672 0.6998 64.2N 10.3E 0 25
07 -32 -2167 Jul 08 22:22:54 49026 -51533 P 1.1066 0.8165 65.1N 116.0W 0 16
08 -31 -2149 Jul 20 06:07:45 48583 -51310 P 1.0516 0.9212 66.1N 115.6E 0 5
09 -30 -2131 Jul 30 13:58:49 48142 -51087 T+ 1.0021 1.0147 67.2N 14.8W 0 355 - -
10 -29 -2113 Aug 10 21:58:24 47704 -50864 T 0.9600 1.0493 82.0N 179.6E 16 312 610 02m32s
11 -28 -2095 Aug 21 06:05:21 47267 -50641 T 0.9244 1.0469 79.8N 6.3W 22 251 417 02m35s
12 -27 -2077 Sep 01 14:21:06 46832 -50418 T 0.8962 1.0437 73.6N 152.7W 26 231 332 02m34s
13 -26 -2059 Sep 11 22:43:46 46400 -50195 T 0.8743 1.0401 67.3N 70.7E 29 223 278 02m29s
14 -25 -2041 Sep 23 07:15:00 45969 -49972 T 0.8597 1.0363 61.7N 64.4W 30 218 239 02m23s
15 -24 -2023 Oct 03 15:51:58 45540 -49749 T 0.8505 1.0326 56.6N 160.2E 31 214 209 02m15s
16 -23 -2005 Oct 15 00:34:43 45114 -49526 T 0.8465 1.0292 52.2N 23.8E 32 211 185 02m07s
17 -22 -1987 Oct 25 09:21:08 44689 -49303 T 0.8460 1.0260 48.3N 113.2W 32 207 165 01m58s
18 -21 -1969 Nov 05 18:10:59 44266 -49080 T 0.8487 1.0233 45.1N 109.1E 32 202 149 01m51s
19 -20 -1951 Nov 16 03:00:41 43846 -48857 T 0.8520 1.0211 42.4N 28.7W 31 198 137 01m44s
20 -19 -1933 Nov 27 11:49:40 43427 -48634 T 0.8553 1.0194 40.1N 166.4W 31 193 128 01m39s
21 -18 -1915 Dec 07 20:35:33 43010 -48411 T 0.8567 1.0182 38.2N 56.6E 31 188 121 01m36s
22 -17 -1897 Dec 19 05:18:24 42596 -48188 T 0.8559 1.0176 36.5N 79.7W 31 183 117 01m35s
23 -16 -1879 Dec 29 13:53:36 42183 -47965 T 0.8495 1.0175 34.7N 146.0E 32 177 114 01m36s
24 -15 -1860 Jan 09 22:23:09 41773 -47742 T 0.8391 1.0178 33.0N 13.4E 33 172 112 01m39s
25 -14 -1842 Jan 20 06:43:06 41364 -47519 T 0.8212 1.0185 31.3N 116.5W 35 167 110 01m43s
26 -13 -1824 Jan 31 14:55:54 40957 -47296 T 0.7981 1.0194 29.8N 115.9E 37 162 109 01m47s
27 -12 -1806 Feb 10 22:57:03 40553 -47073 T 0.7659 1.0204 28.3N 8.1W 40 158 106 01m51s
28 -11 -1788 Feb 22 06:50:44 40150 -46850 T 0.7280 1.0213 27.2N 129.7W 43 154 104 01m55s
29 -10 -1770 Mar 04 14:33:02 39750 -46627 T 0.6815 1.0220 26.4N 112.2E 47 151 100 01m57s
30 -09 -1752 Mar 14 22:07:20 39351 -46404 T 0.6290 1.0224 26.0N 3.3W 51 149 96 01m57s
31 -08 -1734 Mar 26 05:31:07 38955 -46181 T 0.5685 1.0223 25.9N 115.6W 55 147 91 01m56s
32 -07 -1716 Apr 05 12:48:28 38560 -45958 T 0.5035 1.0218 26.2N 134.2E 60 147 85 01m52s
33 -06 -1698 Apr 16 19:57:41 38168 -45735 T 0.4325 1.0206 26.5N 26.5E 64 147 77 01m47s
34 -05 -1680 Apr 27 03:00:58 37777 -45512 T 0.3575 1.0188 26.7N 79.4W 69 149 68 01m39s
35 -04 -1662 May 08 09:59:19 37389 -45289 H3 0.2795 1.0162 26.7N 176.4E 74 151 58 01m28s
36 -03 -1644 May 18 16:54:40 37002 -45066 H 0.2002 1.0131 26.3N 73.1E 78 155 46 01m13s
37 -02 -1626 May 29 23:48:06 36618 -44843 Hm 0.1201 1.0092 25.2N 29.8W 83 159 32 00m54s
38 -01 -1608 Jun 09 06:40:23 36235 -44620 H 0.0401 1.0048 23.4N 132.5W 88 164 16 00m29s
39 00 -1590 Jun 20 13:34:12 35855 -44397 A -0.0376 0.9997 20.8N 124.1E 88 346 1 00m02s
40 01 -1572 Jun 30 20:30:31 35476 -44174 A -0.1120 0.9941 17.5N 19.5E 84 352 21 00m40s
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 02 -1554 Jul 12 03:30:02 35100 -43951 A -0.1826 0.9882 13.4N 86.5W 80 356 42 01m24s
42 03 -1536 Jul 22 10:35:03 34725 -43728 A -0.2477 0.9820 8.8N 165.5E 76 1 66 02m13s
43 04 -1518 Aug 02 17:46:16 34353 -43505 A -0.3067 0.9756 3.7N 55.4E 72 5 92 03m03s
44 05 -1500 Aug 13 01:05:13 33982 -43282 A -0.3582 0.9692 1.6S 57.2W 69 8 119 03m52s
45 06 -1482 Aug 24 08:30:20 33614 -43059 A -0.4036 0.9628 7.3S 171.7W 66 12 147 04m37s
46 07 -1464 Sep 03 16:04:01 33248 -42836 A -0.4408 0.9566 12.9S 71.5E 64 15 175 05m17s
47 08 -1446 Sep 14 23:45:00 32883 -42613 A -0.4711 0.9508 18.5S 47.3W 62 17 203 05m50s
48 09 -1428 Sep 25 07:33:38 32521 -42390 A -0.4941 0.9454 24.1S 167.9W 60 19 230 06m17s
49 10 -1410 Oct 06 15:28:22 32160 -42167 A -0.5113 0.9405 29.5S 70.2E 59 21 255 06m39s
50 11 -1392 Oct 16 23:29:12 31802 -41944 A -0.5228 0.9363 34.7S 52.7W 58 21 276 06m55s
51 12 -1374 Oct 28 07:34:31 31446 -41721 A -0.5297 0.9326 39.7S 176.1W 58 21 295 07m08s
52 13 -1356 Nov 07 15:41:51 31091 -41498 A -0.5343 0.9298 44.3S 60.9E 57 20 311 07m16s
53 14 -1338 Nov 18 23:51:03 30739 -41275 A -0.5367 0.9275 48.5S 61.3W 57 17 323 07m22s
54 15 -1320 Nov 29 07:59:09 30388 -41052 A -0.5398 0.9260 52.2S 178.1E 57 12 331 07m23s
55 16 -1302 Dec 10 16:05:12 30040 -40829 A -0.5439 0.9251 55.1S 59.4E 57 6 337 07m21s
56 17 -1284 Dec 21 00:05:44 29694 -40606 A -0.5523 0.9249 57.1S 56.5W 56 359 340 07m16s
57 18 -1265 Jan 01 08:01:37 29349 -40383 A -0.5640 0.9252 58.2S 170.4W 55 350 342 07m07s
58 19 -1247 Jan 11 15:49:47 29007 -40160 A -0.5821 0.9260 58.2S 78.0E 54 342 343 06m56s
59 20 -1229 Jan 22 23:29:05 28667 -39937 A -0.6069 0.9271 57.5S 31.8W 52 333 344 06m42s
60 21 -1211 Feb 02 06:58:40 28328 -39714 A -0.6394 0.9285 56.2S 139.8W 50 326 347 06m28s
61 22 -1193 Feb 13 14:18:41 27992 -39491 A -0.6793 0.9300 54.7S 113.8E 47 321 354 06m14s
62 23 -1175 Feb 23 21:28:39 27658 -39268 A -0.7271 0.9315 53.3S 9.3E 43 316 367 06m01s
63 24 -1157 Mar 07 04:27:59 27325 -39045 A -0.7833 0.9328 52.4S 92.7W 38 312 395 05m49s
64 25 -1139 Mar 17 11:18:25 26995 -38822 A -0.8464 0.9338 52.5S 168.2E 32 308 452 05m38s
65 26 -1121 Mar 28 17:59:56 26667 -38599 A -0.9160 0.9340 54.2S 73.5E 23 303 599 05m27s
66 27 -1103 Apr 08 00:33:22 26340 -38376 As -0.9919 0.9319 59.5S 4.5W 6 286 - 05m07s
67 28 -1085 Apr 19 07:00:27 26016 -38153 P -1.0725 0.8380 60.7S 99.4W 0 284
68 29 -1067 Apr 29 13:22:50 25694 -37930 P -1.1563 0.6953 61.1S 154.9E 0 293
69 30 -1049 May 10 19:42:41 25374 -37707 P -1.2419 0.5490 61.6S 49.7E 0 302
70 31 -1031 May 21 01:59:28 25055 -37484 P -1.3295 0.3988 62.2S 54.9W 0 311
71 32 -1013 Jun 01 08:18:06 24739 -37261 P -1.4151 0.2520 62.9S 160.1W 0 320
72 33 -0995 Jun 11 14:37:30 24425 -37038 Pe -1.4996 0.1068 63.8S 94.3E 0 329
[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)"
