Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 34

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 34

Solar eclipses of Saros 34 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 -1917 Aug 04. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0384 Feb 09. The total duration of Saros series 34 is 1532.56 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1917 Aug 04   07:51:37 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -0384 Feb 09   05:21:47 TD

                      Duration of Saros  34  =  1532.56 Years

Saros 34 is composed of 86 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 34
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 86100.0%
PartialP 46 53.5%
AnnularA 40 46.5%
TotalT 0 0.0%
Hybrid[3]H 0 0.0%

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 34 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 34
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 40100.0%
Central (two limits) 39 97.5%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 2.5%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 86 eclipses in Saros 34: 23P 40A 23P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 34 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 34
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -1106 Dec 0309m54s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0799 Jun 0400m38s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0781 Jun 15 - 0.98147
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -0384 Feb 09 - 0.03320

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 34

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 34. 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 34.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 34

                         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

00198 -37 -1917 Aug 04  07:51:37  44461 -48440   Pb  -1.5248  0.0346  63.5S 148.9W   0             
00242 -36 -1899 Aug 14  15:31:53  44032 -48217   P   -1.4863  0.1079  62.7S  84.8E   0             
00287 -35 -1881 Aug 25  23:20:13  43606 -47994   P   -1.4549  0.1672  62.0S  43.2W   0             
00333 -34 -1863 Sep 05  07:16:15  43182 -47771   P   -1.4302  0.2136  61.4S 173.0W   0             
00379 -33 -1845 Sep 16  15:18:31  42760 -47548   P   -1.4111  0.2495  61.0S  55.8E   0             
00425 -32 -1827 Sep 26  23:28:24  42340 -47325   P   -1.3988  0.2727  60.7S  77.2W   0             
00470 -31 -1809 Oct 08  07:43:56  41922 -47102   P   -1.3919  0.2862  60.6S 148.5E   0             
00517 -30 -1791 Oct 18  16:05:01  41506 -46879   P   -1.3898  0.2908  60.7S  12.8E   0             
00562 -29 -1773 Oct 30  00:28:20  41092 -46656   P   -1.3904  0.2907  61.0S 123.4W   0             
00607 -28 -1755 Nov 09  08:54:37  40680 -46433   P   -1.3940  0.2852  61.4S  99.5E   0             

00652 -27 -1737 Nov 20  17:20:19  40271 -46210   P   -1.3979  0.2791  61.9S  37.6W   0             
00698 -26 -1719 Dec 01  01:44:30  39863 -45987   P   -1.4014  0.2734  62.6S 174.4W   0             
00743 -25 -1701 Dec 12  10:04:20  39458 -45764   P   -1.4024  0.2720  63.5S  49.6E   0             
00787 -24 -1683 Dec 22  18:19:28  39054 -45541   P   -1.4005  0.2754  64.4S  85.5W   0             
00829 -23 -1664 Jan 03  02:26:41  38653 -45318   P   -1.3932  0.2881  65.4S 141.0E   0             
00870 -22 -1646 Jan 13  10:25:39  38254 -45095   P   -1.3800  0.3109  66.4S   9.1E   0             
00911 -21 -1628 Jan 24  18:14:58  37856 -44872   P   -1.3600  0.3452  67.5S 120.8W   0             
00952 -20 -1610 Feb 04  01:55:01  37461 -44649   P   -1.3337  0.3905  68.5S 111.1E   0             
00993 -19 -1592 Feb 15  09:22:30  37068 -44426   P   -1.2977  0.4525  69.5S  14.4W   0             
01035 -18 -1574 Feb 25  16:40:43  36677 -44203   P   -1.2549  0.5262  70.3S 138.2W   0             

01076 -17 -1556 Mar 07  23:47:10  36288 -43980   P   -1.2031  0.6157  71.0S 100.4E   0             
01116 -16 -1538 Mar 19  06:45:45  35901 -43757   P   -1.1456  0.7152  71.4S  19.5W   0             
01156 -15 -1520 Mar 29  13:32:25  35517 -43534   P   -1.0788  0.8307  71.7S 136.6W   0             
01196 -14 -1502 Apr 09  20:13:36  35134 -43311   A-  -1.0080  0.9531  71.7S 107.4E   0             
01236 -13 -1484 Apr 20  02:45:50  34753 -43088   A   -0.9299  0.9493  57.7S  45.3W  21  506  04m24s
01276 -12 -1466 May 01  09:14:05  34375 -42865   A   -0.8490  0.9511  45.4S 156.9W  32  336  04m54s
01316 -11 -1448 May 11  15:36:15  33998 -42642   A   -0.7633  0.9518  34.5S  98.5E  40  271  05m26s
01357 -10 -1430 May 22  21:58:08  33624 -42419   A   -0.6776  0.9517  24.9S   3.5W  47  239  05m58s
01398 -09 -1412 Jun 02  04:17:50  33251 -42196   A   -0.5902  0.9509  16.1S 103.7W  54  222  06m30s
01439 -08 -1394 Jun 13  10:39:05  32881 -41973   A   -0.5042  0.9497   8.3S 156.8E  60  214  06m58s

01481 -07 -1376 Jun 23  17:02:24  32513 -41750   A   -0.4201  0.9478   1.5S  57.7E  65  211  07m22s
01523 -06 -1358 Jul 04  23:30:55  32147 -41527   A   -0.3401  0.9456   4.1N  41.8W  70  213  07m38s
01565 -05 -1340 Jul 15  06:04:48  31783 -41304   A   -0.2647  0.9430   8.4N 141.9W  75  218  07m50s
01608 -04 -1322 Jul 26  12:45:15  31421 -41081   A   -0.1947  0.9402  11.5N 116.9E  79  226  07m57s
01652 -03 -1304 Aug 05  19:34:32  31061 -40858   A   -0.1318  0.9373  13.3N  13.9E  83  235  08m02s
01695 -02 -1286 Aug 17  02:32:37  30703 -40635   A   -0.0758  0.9343  13.8N  91.1W  86  246  08m08s
01740 -01 -1268 Aug 27  09:40:13  30347 -40412   A   -0.0277  0.9313  13.1N 161.4E  88  257  08m15s
01785  00 -1250 Sep 07  16:57:41  29993 -40189   A    0.0126  0.9285  11.4N  51.2E  89  268  08m24s
01830  01 -1232 Sep 18  00:25:27  29642 -39966   A    0.0445  0.9261   8.8N  61.9W  87  278  08m36s
01875  02 -1214 Sep 29  08:02:25  29292 -39743   A    0.0692  0.9239   5.7N 177.5W  86  287  08m49s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 34

                         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

01920  03 -1196 Oct 09  15:46:43  28945 -39520   A    0.0883  0.9223   2.1N  64.8E  85  295  09m03s
01965  04 -1178 Oct 20  23:38:55  28599 -39297   A    0.1010  0.9212   1.6S  55.0W  84  299  09m18s
02012  05 -1160 Oct 31  07:36:48  28256 -39074   A    0.1089  0.9207   5.4S 176.2W  84  302  09m32s
02058  06 -1142 Nov 11  15:38:43  27915 -38851   Am   0.1140  0.9209   8.9S  61.8E  84  301  09m43s
02104  07 -1124 Nov 21  23:42:19  27575 -38628   A    0.1179  0.9218  11.9S  60.4W  83  298  09m52s
02149  08 -1106 Dec 03  07:46:45  27238 -38405   A    0.1215  0.9234  14.2S 177.4E  83  291  09m54s
02192  09 -1088 Dec 13  15:50:10  26903 -38182   A    0.1263  0.9256  15.7S  55.8E  83  282  09m49s
02235  10 -1070 Dec 24  23:49:37  26570 -37959   A    0.1345  0.9286  16.1S  64.7W  82  270  09m35s
02278  11 -1051 Jan 04  07:45:10  26239 -37736   A    0.1463  0.9321  15.4S 175.7E  82  256  09m13s
02321  12 -1033 Jan 15  15:34:09  25911 -37513   A    0.1641  0.9363  13.5S  57.5E  81  240  08m40s

02364  13 -1015 Jan 25  23:17:06  25584 -37290   A    0.1874  0.9408  10.4S  59.6W  79  223  08m00s
02406  14 -0997 Feb 06  06:51:15  25259 -37067   A    0.2187  0.9458   6.1S 174.9W  77  205  07m12s
02447  15 -0979 Feb 16  14:18:54  24936 -36844   A    0.2559  0.9509   0.9S  70.7E  75  186  06m22s
02488  16 -0961 Feb 27  21:37:59  24616 -36621   A    0.3008  0.9562   5.2N  42.0W  72  167  05m29s
02529  17 -0943 Mar 10  04:49:16  24297 -36398   A    0.3529  0.9616  12.0N 153.4W  69  148  04m37s
02570  18 -0925 Mar 21  11:53:19  23981 -36175   A    0.4117  0.9668  19.6N  96.7E  66  131  03m47s
02610  19 -0907 Mar 31  18:51:35  23667 -35952   A    0.4761  0.9718  27.7N  12.2W  61  114  03m01s
02650  20 -0889 Apr 12  01:45:06  23354 -35729   A    0.5451  0.9765  36.2N 120.2W  57  100  02m21s
02691  21 -0871 Apr 22  08:33:40  23044 -35506   A    0.6188  0.9806  45.3N 132.7E  52   87  01m47s
02732  22 -0853 May 03  15:20:43  22736 -35283   A    0.6946  0.9842  54.7N  25.5E  46   78  01m20s

02771  23 -0835 May 13  22:06:10  22430 -35060   A    0.7727  0.9870  64.7N  82.3W  39   72  00m59s
02812  24 -0817 May 25  04:52:07  22126 -34837   A    0.8508  0.9891  75.2N 165.4E  31   74  00m45s
02853  25 -0799 Jun 04  11:39:33  21824 -34614   A    0.9286  0.9897  85.1N   5.0E  21  100  00m38s
02894  26 -0781 Jun 15  18:31:09  21524 -34391   P    1.0037  0.9815  67.1N 173.0E   0             
02935  27 -0763 Jun 26  01:27:44  21227 -34168   P    1.0758  0.8521  66.1N  57.0E   0             
02977  28 -0745 Jul 07  08:29:47  20931 -33945   P    1.1442  0.7287  65.1N  60.0W   0             
03019  29 -0727 Jul 17  15:40:03  20637 -33722   P    1.2069  0.6153  64.2N 178.6W   0             
03064  30 -0709 Jul 28  22:58:08  20346 -33499   P    1.2640  0.5116  63.4N  61.1E   0             
03108  31 -0691 Aug 08  06:26:10  20056 -33276   P    1.3141  0.4206  62.6N  61.4W   0             
03153  32 -0673 Aug 19  14:02:13  19769 -33053   P    1.3585  0.3398  62.0N 174.2E   0             

03198  33 -0655 Aug 29  21:50:00  19483 -32830   P    1.3946  0.2742  61.5N  47.1E   0             
03243  34 -0637 Sep 10  05:46:18  19200 -32607   P    1.4247  0.2194  61.1N  81.9W   0             
03289  35 -0619 Sep 20  13:53:27  18919 -32384   P    1.4468  0.1791  60.9N 146.3E   0             
03336  36 -0601 Oct 01  22:08:38  18640 -32161   P    1.4634  0.1489  60.8N  12.7E   0             
03383  37 -0583 Oct 12  06:33:42  18363 -31938   P    1.4728  0.1316  61.0N 123.5W   0             
03430  38 -0565 Oct 23  15:04:39  18088 -31715   P    1.4784  0.1212  61.2N  98.9E   0             
03476  39 -0547 Nov 02  23:41:55  17815 -31492   P    1.4798  0.1182  61.7N  40.4W   0             
03521  40 -0529 Nov 14  08:23:11  17544 -31269   P    1.4787  0.1195  62.2N 179.2E   0             
03566  41 -0511 Nov 24  17:08:19  17275 -31046   P    1.4749  0.1257  63.0N  37.6E   0             
03611  42 -0493 Dec 06  01:53:20  16984 -30823   P    1.4722  0.1296  63.8N 104.3W   0             


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 34

                         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

03655  43 -0475 Dec 16  10:38:23  16668 -30600   P    1.4701  0.1323  64.8N 113.4E   0             
03699  44 -0457 Dec 27  19:20:31  16361 -30377   P    1.4710  0.1292  65.8N  28.5W   0             
03742  45 -0438 Jan 07  04:00:16  16062 -30154   P    1.4745  0.1211  66.8N 170.3W   0             
03786  46 -0420 Jan 18  12:33:13  15772 -29931   P    1.4838  0.1019  67.8N  49.2E   0             
03828  47 -0402 Jan 28  21:01:43  15489 -29708   P    1.4974  0.0746  68.8N  90.8W   0             
03870  48 -0384 Feb 09  05:21:47  15213 -29485   Pe   1.5182  0.0332  69.7N 130.8E   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