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 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 eclipses of Saros 25 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0933 Feb 18 Duration = 00m45s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0951 Feb 07 Duration = 00m31s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1655 Dec 12 Duration = 12m07s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0987 Jan 16 Duration = 00m05s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0969 Jan 27 Duration = 00m13s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0969 Jan 27 Duration = 00m13s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -1925 Jul 04 Magnitude = 0.9342
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0771 May 26 Magnitude = 0.0890
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 25 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 025 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 -34 -2033 Apr 30 13:34:53 45788 -49878 Pb 1.4812 0.1269 60.9N 61.2E 0 73
02 -33 -2015 May 10 20:11:10 45360 -49655 P 1.4039 0.2645 61.3N 48.5W 0 64
03 -32 -1997 May 22 02:45:35 44934 -49432 P 1.3253 0.4035 61.7N 157.8W 0 55
04 -31 -1979 Jun 01 09:17:39 44511 -49209 P 1.2453 0.5442 62.3N 93.3E 0 47
05 -30 -1961 Jun 12 15:51:46 44089 -48986 P 1.1676 0.6797 63.1N 16.2W 0 38
06 -29 -1943 Jun 22 22:27:06 43669 -48763 P 1.0914 0.8113 63.9N 126.3W 0 28
07 -28 -1925 Jul 04 05:07:17 43251 -48540 P 1.0195 0.9342 64.8N 122.1E 0 19
08 -27 -1907 Jul 14 11:50:45 42835 -48317 A 0.9506 0.9452 82.7N 30.5E 18 29 673 03m30s
09 -26 -1889 Jul 25 18:42:25 42422 -48094 A 0.8889 0.9427 86.2N 84.6E 27 189 470 04m01s
10 -25 -1871 Aug 05 01:40:13 42010 -47871 A 0.8327 0.9393 77.5N 10.3W 33 202 410 04m37s
11 -24 -1853 Aug 16 08:46:38 41600 -47648 A 0.7840 0.9356 69.7N 117.3W 38 205 388 05m17s
12 -23 -1835 Aug 26 16:01:09 41193 -47425 A 0.7422 0.9317 62.4N 131.8E 42 206 381 06m00s
13 -22 -1817 Sep 06 23:25:42 40787 -47202 A 0.7087 0.9279 55.6N 17.8E 45 206 382 06m45s
14 -21 -1799 Sep 17 06:58:25 40383 -46979 A 0.6823 0.9244 49.3N 98.7W 47 206 388 07m32s
15 -20 -1781 Sep 28 14:39:03 39981 -46756 A 0.6625 0.9211 43.4N 142.7E 48 205 395 08m19s
16 -19 -1763 Oct 08 22:26:39 39582 -46533 A 0.6488 0.9183 38.1N 22.1E 49 203 403 09m05s
17 -18 -1745 Oct 20 06:21:00 39184 -46310 A 0.6405 0.9160 33.2N 100.1W 50 201 411 09m50s
18 -17 -1727 Oct 30 14:18:33 38788 -46087 A 0.6350 0.9144 28.9N 136.8E 50 199 418 10m32s
19 -16 -1709 Nov 10 22:19:39 38395 -45864 A 0.6325 0.9133 25.1N 12.8E 51 195 423 11m10s
20 -15 -1691 Nov 21 06:20:30 38003 -45641 A 0.6297 0.9131 21.7N 111.1W 51 192 424 11m40s
21 -14 -1673 Dec 02 14:21:47 37613 -45418 A 0.6274 0.9135 18.9N 125.0E 51 188 423 12m00s
22 -13 -1655 Dec 12 22:17:54 37226 -45195 A 0.6207 0.9147 16.4N 2.5E 52 184 414 12m07s
23 -12 -1637 Dec 24 06:11:25 36840 -44972 A 0.6119 0.9165 14.4N 119.4W 52 179 401 11m58s
24 -11 -1618 Jan 03 13:57:11 36456 -44749 A 0.5961 0.9190 12.6N 120.9E 53 175 382 11m34s
25 -10 -1600 Jan 14 21:36:47 36075 -44526 A 0.5753 0.9221 11.3N 3.0E 55 170 358 10m55s
26 -09 -1582 Jan 25 05:06:22 35695 -44303 A 0.5459 0.9257 10.1N 112.1W 57 166 331 10m07s
27 -08 -1564 Feb 05 12:29:02 35317 -44080 A 0.5104 0.9297 9.3N 134.8E 59 162 303 09m13s
28 -07 -1546 Feb 15 19:41:55 34942 -43857 A 0.4660 0.9340 8.8N 24.5E 62 158 275 08m17s
29 -06 -1528 Feb 27 02:45:44 34568 -43634 A 0.4139 0.9385 8.6N 83.1W 65 155 248 07m24s
30 -05 -1510 Mar 09 09:40:57 34196 -43411 A 0.3540 0.9430 8.6N 171.8E 69 153 223 06m36s
31 -04 -1492 Mar 19 16:28:54 33827 -43188 A 0.2876 0.9476 8.9N 68.8E 73 151 200 05m54s
32 -03 -1474 Mar 30 23:10:04 33459 -42965 A 0.2149 0.9519 9.3N 32.1W 78 150 180 05m17s
33 -02 -1456 Apr 10 05:45:20 33094 -42742 A 0.1365 0.9560 9.5N 131.4W 82 150 162 04m47s
34 -01 -1438 Apr 21 12:16:55 32730 -42519 A 0.0544 0.9598 9.6N 130.5E 87 152 146 04m24s
35 00 -1420 May 01 18:45:54 32369 -42296 A -0.0302 0.9631 9.3N 33.0E 88 332 134 04m05s
36 01 -1402 May 13 01:12:48 32009 -42073 Am -0.1173 0.9660 8.3N 63.9W 83 335 123 03m51s
37 02 -1384 May 23 07:40:49 31651 -41850 A -0.2042 0.9684 6.6N 161.3W 78 339 116 03m41s
38 03 -1366 Jun 03 14:10:48 31296 -41627 A -0.2899 0.9703 4.2N 100.5E 73 342 111 03m35s
39 04 -1348 Jun 13 20:45:31 30942 -41404 A -0.3727 0.9716 1.0N 0.6E 68 346 109 03m31s
40 05 -1330 Jun 25 03:24:08 30591 -41181 A -0.4528 0.9724 3.1S 100.8W 63 351 110 03m29s
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 06 -1312 Jul 05 10:11:12 30241 -40958 A -0.5266 0.9728 7.8S 155.0E 58 355 115 03m27s
42 07 -1294 Jul 16 17:05:20 29894 -40735 A -0.5951 0.9727 13.2S 48.4E 53 359 122 03m24s
43 08 -1276 Jul 27 00:09:29 29548 -40512 A -0.6565 0.9724 18.9S 61.4W 49 3 131 03m20s
44 09 -1258 Aug 07 07:22:11 29205 -40289 A -0.7115 0.9717 25.1S 174.1W 44 8 144 03m15s
45 10 -1240 Aug 17 14:46:51 28863 -40066 A -0.7576 0.9709 31.2S 69.6E 41 12 159 03m08s
46 11 -1222 Aug 28 22:21:32 28524 -39843 A -0.7961 0.9701 37.4S 49.8W 37 17 176 03m01s
47 12 -1204 Sep 08 06:06:41 28186 -39620 A -0.8269 0.9694 43.4S 172.3W 34 22 194 02m53s
48 13 -1186 Sep 19 14:02:28 27851 -39397 A -0.8498 0.9689 49.0S 62.2E 31 27 210 02m44s
49 14 -1168 Sep 29 22:08:02 27517 -39174 A -0.8658 0.9689 54.3S 65.9W 30 32 222 02m34s
50 15 -1150 Oct 11 06:22:22 27186 -38951 A -0.8750 0.9693 59.2S 164.1E 29 37 227 02m24s
51 16 -1132 Oct 21 14:42:46 26856 -38728 A -0.8802 0.9703 63.8S 33.0E 28 41 225 02m12s
52 17 -1114 Nov 01 23:10:13 26529 -38505 A -0.8802 0.9718 68.2S 98.5W 28 44 214 02m00s
53 18 -1096 Nov 12 07:41:19 26203 -38282 A -0.8784 0.9740 72.5S 130.7E 28 45 196 01m47s
54 19 -1078 Nov 23 16:15:17 25880 -38059 A -0.8749 0.9769 76.7S 2.4E 29 43 172 01m33s
55 20 -1060 Dec 04 00:49:12 25559 -37836 A -0.8723 0.9803 80.7S 119.6W 29 35 145 01m17s
56 21 -1042 Dec 15 09:22:50 25239 -37613 A -0.8709 0.9842 83.7S 134.4E 29 10 115 01m00s
57 22 -1024 Dec 25 17:53:24 24922 -37390 A -0.8728 0.9887 84.0S 47.7E 29 327 83 00m43s
58 23 -1005 Jan 06 02:19:53 24606 -37167 A -0.8789 0.9935 81.2S 52.5W 28 299 48 00m24s
59 24 -0987 Jan 16 10:41:05 24293 -36944 A -0.8905 0.9986 77.4S 167.1W 27 286 11 00m05s
60 25 -0969 Jan 27 18:56:26 23982 -36721 H -0.9078 1.0037 73.5S 74.0E 24 279 31 00m13s
61 26 -0951 Feb 07 03:04:01 23672 -36498 T -0.9323 1.0088 69.9S 43.7W 21 274 85 00m31s
62 27 -0933 Feb 18 11:04:47 23365 -36275 T -0.9632 1.0132 66.6S 157.6W 15 267 174 00m45s
63 28 -0915 Feb 28 18:57:40 23059 -36052 T- -1.0012 1.0004 61.2S 107.0E 0 246 - -
64 29 -0897 Mar 12 02:44:40 22756 -35829 P -1.0451 0.9213 60.9S 19.8W 0 255
65 30 -0879 Mar 22 10:22:52 22455 -35606 P -1.0967 0.8267 60.8S 144.4W 0 264
66 31 -0861 Apr 02 17:57:00 22155 -35383 P -1.1523 0.7235 60.7S 92.1E 0 273
67 32 -0843 Apr 13 01:24:30 21858 -35160 P -1.2136 0.6080 60.9S 29.7W 0 281
68 33 -0825 Apr 24 08:49:55 21563 -34937 P -1.2774 0.4868 61.2S 151.2W 0 290
69 34 -0807 May 04 16:10:16 21269 -34714 P -1.3456 0.3560 61.6S 88.6E 0 299
70 35 -0789 May 15 23:31:19 20978 -34491 P -1.4139 0.2244 62.2S 32.0W 0 308
71 36 -0771 May 26 06:50:24 20689 -34268 Pe -1.4838 0.0890 62.8S 152.2W 0 317
[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)"
