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 30 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 -2051 Oct 12. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0572 Mar 18. The total duration of Saros series 30 is 1478.47 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2051 Oct 12 16:20:60 TD
Last Eclipse = -0572 Mar 18 05:22:04 TD
Duration of Saros 30 = 1478.47 Years
Saros 30 is composed of 83 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 30 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 83 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 40 | 48.2% |
| Annular | A | 24 | 28.9% |
| Total | T | 14 | 16.9% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 6.0% |
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 30 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 30 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 83 eclipses in Saros 30: 19P 14T 5H 24A 21P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 30 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -1636 Jun 18 Duration = 06m06s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -1474 Sep 24 Duration = 01m58s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0951 Aug 03 Duration = 03m41s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1366 Nov 28 Duration = 00m11s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -1456 Oct 04 Duration = 01m30s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -1384 Nov 17 Duration = 00m03s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -1726 Apr 25 Magnitude = 0.9698
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0572 Mar 18 Magnitude = 0.0129
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 30 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 030 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 -48 -2051 Oct 12 16:21:00 46206 -50095 Pb -1.5294 0.0182 60.6S 34.8E 0 92
02 -47 -2033 Oct 24 01:07:25 45776 -49872 P -1.5236 0.0288 60.7S 107.3W 0 101
03 -46 -2015 Nov 03 09:57:44 45349 -49649 P -1.5207 0.0339 61.0S 109.6E 0 111
04 -45 -1997 Nov 14 18:48:49 44923 -49426 P -1.5183 0.0377 61.5S 33.8W 0 120
05 -44 -1979 Nov 25 03:41:17 44499 -49203 P -1.5170 0.0392 62.1S 177.7W 0 130
06 -43 -1961 Dec 06 12:31:33 44077 -48980 P -1.5144 0.0428 62.9S 38.7E 0 139
07 -42 -1943 Dec 16 21:18:48 43658 -48757 P -1.5092 0.0512 63.7S 104.3W 0 149
08 -41 -1925 Dec 28 06:00:28 43240 -48534 P -1.4998 0.0675 64.7S 113.7E 0 159
09 -40 -1906 Jan 07 14:37:00 42824 -48311 P -1.4864 0.0912 65.7S 27.3W 0 170
10 -39 -1888 Jan 18 23:06:19 42411 -48088 P -1.4674 0.1258 66.7S 167.0W 0 181
11 -38 -1870 Jan 29 07:27:56 41999 -47865 P -1.4425 0.1718 67.8S 54.7E 0 192
12 -37 -1852 Feb 09 15:41:30 41589 -47642 P -1.4111 0.2304 68.7S 82.0W 0 203
13 -36 -1834 Feb 19 23:47:18 41182 -47419 P -1.3735 0.3016 69.6S 142.6E 0 215
14 -35 -1816 Mar 02 07:44:54 40776 -47196 P -1.3292 0.3861 70.4S 8.7E 0 228
15 -34 -1798 Mar 13 15:34:58 40372 -46973 P -1.2789 0.4828 71.0S 123.7W 0 241
16 -33 -1780 Mar 23 23:18:05 39971 -46750 P -1.2229 0.5913 71.4S 105.1E 0 254
17 -32 -1762 Apr 04 06:55:36 39571 -46527 P -1.1623 0.7087 71.6S 24.8W 0 268
18 -31 -1744 Apr 14 14:26:42 39173 -46304 P -1.0965 0.8368 71.5S 153.2W 0 281
19 -30 -1726 Apr 25 21:54:40 38778 -46081 P -1.0281 0.9698 71.2S 79.3E 0 294
20 -29 -1708 May 06 05:18:38 38384 -45858 T -0.9564 1.0657 58.2S 72.1W 16 330 750 04m22s
21 -28 -1690 May 17 12:42:18 37992 -45635 T -0.8849 1.0681 45.7S 162.4E 27 342 477 05m07s
22 -27 -1672 May 27 20:03:02 37603 -45412 T -0.8111 1.0687 35.5S 43.5E 36 348 382 05m39s
23 -26 -1654 Jun 08 03:26:19 37215 -45189 T -0.7398 1.0678 26.9S 73.6W 42 353 329 05m58s
24 -25 -1636 Jun 18 10:49:52 36830 -44966 T -0.6688 1.0659 19.5S 170.4E 48 357 290 06m06s
25 -24 -1618 Jun 29 18:17:57 36446 -44743 T -0.6021 1.0630 13.5S 54.4E 53 2 259 06m01s
26 -23 -1600 Jul 10 01:48:41 36064 -44520 T -0.5381 1.0593 8.6S 61.6W 57 6 231 05m44s
27 -22 -1582 Jul 21 09:26:34 35685 -44297 T -0.4804 1.0550 5.0S 178.7W 61 10 206 05m19s
28 -21 -1564 Jul 31 17:09:48 35307 -44074 T -0.4277 1.0500 2.7S 63.3E 65 14 183 04m48s
29 -20 -1546 Aug 12 01:00:17 34932 -43851 T -0.3814 1.0447 1.7S 56.2W 68 18 160 04m13s
30 -19 -1528 Aug 22 08:57:37 34558 -43628 T -0.3414 1.0390 1.8S 177.3W 70 22 139 03m37s
31 -18 -1510 Sep 02 17:03:29 34187 -43405 T -0.3092 1.0334 3.2S 59.5E 72 25 118 03m02s
32 -17 -1492 Sep 13 01:16:24 33817 -43182 T -0.2831 1.0277 5.4S 65.6W 74 27 97 02m29s
33 -16 -1474 Sep 24 09:36:28 33449 -42959 T -0.2638 1.0222 8.5S 167.4E 75 29 78 01m58s
34 -15 -1456 Oct 04 18:02:52 33084 -42736 H3 -0.2502 1.0169 12.2S 38.8E 75 30 60 01m30s
35 -14 -1438 Oct 16 02:35:27 32720 -42513 H -0.2425 1.0121 16.3S 91.3W 76 30 43 01m04s
36 -13 -1420 Oct 26 11:11:24 32359 -42290 H -0.2384 1.0077 20.6S 137.9E 76 30 27 00m41s
37 -12 -1402 Nov 06 19:50:47 31999 -42067 H -0.2378 1.0039 24.9S 6.5E 76 28 14 00m21s
38 -11 -1384 Nov 17 04:30:43 31642 -41844 H -0.2385 1.0006 28.9S 124.4W 76 26 2 00m03s
39 -10 -1366 Nov 28 13:10:48 31286 -41621 A -0.2400 0.9979 32.4S 105.2E 76 22 7 00m11s
40 -09 -1348 Dec 08 21:47:05 30933 -41398 A -0.2392 0.9958 35.1S 23.5W 76 18 15 00m24s
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 -08 -1330 Dec 20 06:20:46 30581 -41175 A -0.2369 0.9942 36.8S 150.9W 76 13 21 00m33s
42 -07 -1312 Dec 30 14:48:09 30232 -40952 Am -0.2307 0.9931 37.3S 83.5E 76 7 25 00m40s
43 -06 -1293 Jan 10 23:08:36 29884 -40729 A -0.2190 0.9924 36.4S 40.3W 77 2 27 00m45s
44 -05 -1275 Jan 21 07:20:02 29539 -40506 A -0.2007 0.9920 34.0S 162.4W 78 357 29 00m48s
45 -04 -1257 Feb 01 15:23:05 29195 -40283 A -0.1763 0.9919 30.4S 76.9E 80 352 29 00m50s
46 -03 -1239 Feb 11 23:16:10 28854 -40060 A -0.1445 0.9918 25.7S 42.3W 82 349 29 00m52s
47 -02 -1221 Feb 23 06:58:23 28515 -39837 A -0.1046 0.9918 20.0S 159.6W 84 346 29 00m53s
48 -01 -1203 Mar 05 14:30:37 28177 -39614 A -0.0573 0.9916 13.5S 84.9E 87 344 30 00m55s
49 00 -1185 Mar 16 21:52:39 27842 -39391 A -0.0023 0.9912 6.4S 28.8W 90 347 31 00m59s
50 01 -1167 Mar 27 05:04:59 27508 -39168 A 0.0597 0.9904 1.3N 140.4W 87 162 34 01m04s
51 02 -1149 Apr 07 12:07:46 27177 -38945 A 0.1285 0.9893 9.4N 110.2E 83 162 38 01m11s
52 03 -1131 Apr 17 19:03:13 26848 -38722 A 0.2024 0.9877 17.7N 2.5E 78 162 44 01m21s
53 04 -1113 Apr 29 01:51:42 26520 -38499 A 0.2810 0.9855 26.2N 103.3W 74 163 53 01m33s
54 05 -1095 May 09 08:34:13 26195 -38276 A 0.3635 0.9828 34.9N 152.8E 68 164 66 01m46s
55 06 -1077 May 20 15:13:09 25871 -38053 A 0.4478 0.9794 43.5N 50.6E 63 166 82 02m00s
56 07 -1059 May 30 21:49:35 25550 -37830 A 0.5334 0.9755 52.1N 49.8W 58 169 104 02m15s
57 08 -1041 Jun 11 04:25:52 25231 -37607 A 0.6179 0.9710 60.3N 148.1W 52 173 133 02m30s
58 09 -1023 Jun 21 11:01:21 24913 -37384 A 0.7020 0.9658 68.2N 118.0E 45 182 174 02m45s
59 10 -1005 Jul 02 17:40:29 24598 -37161 A 0.7822 0.9602 74.9N 32.2E 38 199 234 03m00s
60 11 -0987 Jul 13 00:22:34 24285 -36938 A 0.8592 0.9539 78.8N 35.6W 30 234 332 03m15s
61 12 -0969 Jul 24 07:10:20 23973 -36715 A 0.9306 0.9470 76.7N 94.7W 21 278 543 03m30s
62 13 -0951 Aug 03 14:03:44 23664 -36492 An 0.9965 0.9374 64.7N 158.8W 2 317 - 03m41s
63 14 -0933 Aug 14 21:05:20 23357 -36269 P 1.0550 0.8678 62.1N 88.6E 0 310
64 15 -0915 Aug 25 04:14:54 23051 -36046 P 1.1062 0.7790 61.5N 29.0W 0 301
65 16 -0897 Sep 05 11:31:46 22748 -35823 P 1.1510 0.7020 61.0N 148.3W 0 292
66 17 -0879 Sep 15 18:57:47 22447 -35600 P 1.1875 0.6397 60.7N 90.3E 0 283
67 18 -0861 Sep 27 02:31:47 22147 -35377 P 1.2168 0.5900 60.6N 33.1W 0 274
68 19 -0843 Oct 07 10:14:11 21850 -35154 P 1.2390 0.5526 60.6N 158.5W 0 265
69 20 -0825 Oct 18 18:01:53 21555 -34931 P 1.2565 0.5234 60.7N 74.7E 0 256
70 21 -0807 Oct 29 01:56:39 21261 -34708 P 1.2678 0.5046 61.1N 53.9W 0 247
71 22 -0789 Nov 09 09:54:51 20970 -34485 P 1.2760 0.4910 61.6N 176.6E 0 238
72 23 -0771 Nov 19 17:56:10 20681 -34262 P 1.2813 0.4822 62.3N 46.1E 0 228
73 24 -0753 Dec 01 01:57:14 20394 -34039 P 1.2865 0.4736 63.1N 84.5W 0 218
74 25 -0735 Dec 11 09:58:17 20108 -33816 P 1.2915 0.4652 64.0N 144.6E 0 209
75 26 -0717 Dec 22 17:55:38 19825 -33593 P 1.2993 0.4521 65.0N 14.2E 0 198
76 27 -0698 Jan 02 01:48:43 19541 -33370 P 1.3105 0.4335 66.1N 115.4W 0 188
77 28 -0680 Jan 13 09:35:22 19235 -33147 P 1.3265 0.4066 67.2N 115.9E 0 177
78 29 -0662 Jan 23 17:15:52 18934 -32924 P 1.3470 0.3720 68.2N 11.7W 0 165
79 30 -0644 Feb 04 00:46:17 18638 -32701 P 1.3757 0.3236 69.2N 137.4W 0 154
80 31 -0626 Feb 14 08:09:05 18346 -32478 P 1.4103 0.2648 70.1N 98.2E 0 141
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
81 32 -0608 Feb 25 15:21:51 18059 -32255 P 1.4526 0.1925 70.8N 24.2W 0 128
82 33 -0590 Mar 07 22:27:30 17777 -32032 P 1.5004 0.1103 71.4N 145.3W 0 115
83 34 -0572 Mar 18 05:22:04 17498 -31809 Pe 1.5567 0.0129 71.7N 96.0E 0 101
[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)"
