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 25 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 -2033 Apr 30. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0771 May 26. The total duration of Saros series 25 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2033 Apr 30 13:34:53 TD
Last Eclipse = -0771 May 26 06:50:24 TD
Duration of Saros 25 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 25 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 25 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 21.1% |
| Annular | A | 52 | 73.2% |
| Total | T | 3 | 4.2% |
| 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 25 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 25 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 56 | 100.0% |
| 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 71 eclipses in Saros 25: 7P 52A 1H 3T 8P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 25 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 25 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1655 Dec 12 | 12m07s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0987 Jan 16 | 00m05s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0933 Feb 18 | 00m45s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0951 Feb 07 | 00m31s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0969 Jan 27 | 00m13s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0969 Jan 27 | 00m13s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1925 Jul 04 | - | 0.93420 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0771 May 26 | - | 0.08899 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 25. 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 25.
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 -2033 Apr 30 13:34:53 47272 -49878 Pb 1.4812 0.1269 60.9N 67.4E 0
----- -33 -2015 May 10 20:11:10 46831 -49655 P 1.4039 0.2645 61.3N 42.4W 0
00006 -32 -1997 May 22 02:45:35 46391 -49432 P 1.3253 0.4035 61.7N 151.7W 0
00049 -31 -1979 Jun 01 09:17:39 45953 -49209 P 1.2453 0.5442 62.3N 99.3E 0
00091 -30 -1961 Jun 12 15:51:46 45518 -48986 P 1.1676 0.6797 63.1N 10.3W 0
00134 -29 -1943 Jun 22 22:27:06 45085 -48763 P 1.0914 0.8113 63.9N 120.4W 0
00177 -28 -1925 Jul 04 05:07:17 44653 -48540 P 1.0195 0.9342 64.8N 128.0E 0
00221 -27 -1907 Jul 14 11:50:45 44224 -48317 A 0.9506 0.9452 82.7N 36.3E 18 673 03m30s
00265 -26 -1889 Jul 25 18:42:25 43797 -48094 A 0.8889 0.9427 86.2N 90.3E 27 470 04m01s
00310 -25 -1871 Aug 05 01:40:13 43372 -47871 A 0.8327 0.9393 77.5N 4.6W 33 410 04m37s
00357 -24 -1853 Aug 16 08:46:38 42949 -47648 A 0.7840 0.9356 69.7N 111.7W 38 388 05m17s
00403 -23 -1835 Aug 26 16:01:09 42528 -47425 A 0.7422 0.9317 62.4N 137.4E 42 381 06m00s
00448 -22 -1817 Sep 06 23:25:42 42109 -47202 A 0.7087 0.9279 55.6N 23.3E 45 382 06m45s
00494 -21 -1799 Sep 17 06:58:25 41692 -46979 A 0.6823 0.9244 49.3N 93.2W 47 388 07m32s
00541 -20 -1781 Sep 28 14:39:03 41278 -46756 A 0.6625 0.9211 43.4N 148.1E 48 395 08m19s
00586 -19 -1763 Oct 08 22:26:39 40865 -46533 A 0.6488 0.9183 38.1N 27.5E 49 403 09m05s
00631 -18 -1745 Oct 20 06:21:00 40454 -46310 A 0.6405 0.9160 33.2N 94.8W 50 411 09m50s
00677 -17 -1727 Oct 30 14:18:33 40046 -46087 A 0.6350 0.9144 28.9N 142.0E 50 418 10m32s
00724 -16 -1709 Nov 10 22:19:39 39639 -45864 A 0.6325 0.9133 25.1N 18.0E 51 423 11m10s
00768 -15 -1691 Nov 21 06:20:30 39235 -45641 A 0.6297 0.9131 21.7N 105.9W 51 424 11m40s
00812 -14 -1673 Dec 02 14:21:47 38833 -45418 A 0.6274 0.9135 18.9N 130.1E 51 423 12m00s
00852 -13 -1655 Dec 12 22:17:54 38432 -45195 A 0.6207 0.9147 16.4N 7.5E 52 414 12m07s
00893 -12 -1637 Dec 24 06:11:25 38034 -44972 A 0.6119 0.9165 14.4N 114.4W 52 401 11m58s
00934 -11 -1618 Jan 03 13:57:11 37638 -44749 A 0.5961 0.9190 12.6N 125.9E 53 382 11m34s
00975 -10 -1600 Jan 14 21:36:47 37244 -44526 A 0.5753 0.9221 11.3N 7.9E 55 358 10m55s
01016 -09 -1582 Jan 25 05:06:22 36852 -44303 A 0.5459 0.9257 10.1N 107.3W 57 331 10m07s
01057 -08 -1564 Feb 05 12:29:02 36462 -44080 A 0.5104 0.9297 9.3N 139.6E 59 303 09m13s
01098 -07 -1546 Feb 15 19:41:55 36075 -43857 A 0.4660 0.9340 8.8N 29.3E 62 275 08m17s
01138 -06 -1528 Feb 27 02:45:44 35689 -43634 A 0.4139 0.9385 8.6N 78.4W 65 248 07m24s
01178 -05 -1510 Mar 09 09:40:57 35305 -43411 A 0.3540 0.9430 8.6N 176.4E 69 223 06m36s
01218 -04 -1492 Mar 19 16:28:54 34924 -43188 A 0.2876 0.9476 8.9N 73.4E 73 200 05m54s
01258 -03 -1474 Mar 30 23:10:04 34544 -42965 A 0.2149 0.9519 9.3N 27.6W 78 180 05m17s
01298 -02 -1456 Apr 10 05:45:20 34167 -42742 A 0.1365 0.9560 9.5N 126.9W 82 162 04m47s
01339 -01 -1438 Apr 21 12:16:55 33791 -42519 A 0.0544 0.9598 9.6N 134.9E 87 146 04m24s
01380 00 -1420 May 01 18:45:54 33418 -42296 A -0.0302 0.9631 9.3N 37.4E 88 134 04m05s
01421 01 -1402 May 13 01:12:48 33047 -42073 Am -0.1173 0.9660 8.3N 59.6W 83 123 03m51s
01462 02 -1384 May 23 07:40:49 32678 -41850 A -0.2042 0.9684 6.6N 157.0W 78 116 03m41s
01504 03 -1366 Jun 03 14:10:48 32311 -41627 A -0.2899 0.9703 4.2N 104.7E 73 111 03m35s
01546 04 -1348 Jun 13 20:45:31 31946 -41404 A -0.3727 0.9716 1.0N 4.8E 68 109 03m31s
01589 05 -1330 Jun 25 03:24:08 31583 -41181 A -0.4528 0.9724 3.1S 96.6W 63 110 03m29s
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
01632 06 -1312 Jul 05 10:11:12 31222 -40958 A -0.5266 0.9728 7.8S 159.1E 58 115 03m27s
01676 07 -1294 Jul 16 17:05:20 30863 -40735 A -0.5951 0.9727 13.2S 52.5E 53 122 03m24s
01721 08 -1276 Jul 27 00:09:29 30506 -40512 A -0.6565 0.9724 18.9S 57.4W 49 131 03m20s
01765 09 -1258 Aug 07 07:22:11 30152 -40289 A -0.7115 0.9717 25.1S 170.1W 44 144 03m15s
01811 10 -1240 Aug 17 14:46:51 29799 -40066 A -0.7576 0.9709 31.2S 73.5E 41 159 03m08s
01856 11 -1222 Aug 28 22:21:32 29449 -39843 A -0.7961 0.9701 37.4S 45.9W 37 176 03m01s
01900 12 -1204 Sep 08 06:06:41 29100 -39620 A -0.8269 0.9694 43.4S 168.5W 34 194 02m53s
01945 13 -1186 Sep 19 14:02:28 28754 -39397 A -0.8498 0.9689 49.0S 65.9E 31 210 02m44s
01991 14 -1168 Sep 29 22:08:02 28410 -39174 A -0.8658 0.9689 54.3S 62.2W 30 222 02m34s
02037 15 -1150 Oct 11 06:22:22 28067 -38951 A -0.8750 0.9693 59.2S 167.8E 29 227 02m24s
02083 16 -1132 Oct 21 14:42:46 27727 -38728 A -0.8802 0.9703 63.8S 36.7E 28 225 02m12s
02129 17 -1114 Nov 01 23:10:13 27389 -38505 A -0.8802 0.9718 68.2S 94.9W 28 214 02m00s
02173 18 -1096 Nov 12 07:41:19 27053 -38282 A -0.8784 0.9740 72.5S 134.2E 28 196 01m47s
02216 19 -1078 Nov 23 16:15:17 26719 -38059 A -0.8749 0.9769 76.7S 6.0E 29 172 01m33s
02259 20 -1060 Dec 04 00:49:12 26387 -37836 A -0.8723 0.9803 80.7S 116.1W 29 145 01m17s
02302 21 -1042 Dec 15 09:22:50 26058 -37613 A -0.8709 0.9842 83.7S 137.8E 29 115 01m00s
02346 22 -1024 Dec 25 17:53:24 25730 -37390 A -0.8728 0.9887 84.0S 51.1E 29 83 00m43s
02388 23 -1005 Jan 06 02:19:53 25404 -37167 A -0.8789 0.9935 81.2S 49.1W 28 48 00m24s
02429 24 -0987 Jan 16 10:41:05 25081 -36944 A -0.8905 0.9986 77.4S 163.8W 27 11 00m05s
02470 25 -0969 Jan 27 18:56:26 24759 -36721 H -0.9078 1.0037 73.5S 77.3E 24 31 00m13s
02511 26 -0951 Feb 07 03:04:01 24440 -36498 T -0.9323 1.0088 69.9S 40.5W 21 85 00m31s
02552 27 -0933 Feb 18 11:04:47 24123 -36275 T -0.9632 1.0132 66.6S 154.5W 15 174 00m45s
02592 28 -0915 Feb 28 18:57:40 23807 -36052 T- -1.0012 1.0004 61.2S 110.1E 0
02632 29 -0897 Mar 12 02:44:40 23494 -35829 P -1.0451 0.9213 60.9S 16.7W 0
02672 30 -0879 Mar 22 10:22:52 23183 -35606 P -1.0967 0.8267 60.8S 141.3W 0
02713 31 -0861 Apr 02 17:57:00 22874 -35383 P -1.1523 0.7235 60.7S 95.1E 0
02753 32 -0843 Apr 13 01:24:30 22567 -35160 P -1.2136 0.6080 60.9S 26.8W 0
02793 33 -0825 Apr 24 08:49:55 22262 -34937 P -1.2774 0.4868 61.2S 148.2W 0
02834 34 -0807 May 04 16:10:16 21959 -34714 P -1.3456 0.3560 61.6S 91.5E 0
02875 35 -0789 May 15 23:31:19 21658 -34491 P -1.4139 0.2244 62.2S 29.1W 0
02916 36 -0771 May 26 06:50:24 21360 -34268 Pe -1.4838 0.0890 62.8S 149.4W 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)"
