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 39 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 -1718 May 26. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0438 Jul 03. The total duration of Saros series 39 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1718 May 26 11:58:02 TD
Last Eclipse = -0438 Jul 03 12:58:27 TD
Duration of Saros 39 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 39 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 39 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.8% |
| Annular | A | 22 | 30.6% |
| Total | T | 32 | 44.4% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.2% |
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 39 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 39 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 98.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 39: 9P 32T 3H 22A 6P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 39 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -1141 May 08 Duration = 04m36s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -1556 Aug 31 Duration = 02m05s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0546 Apr 29 Duration = 04m20s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0925 Sep 15 Duration = 00m21s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0979 Aug 13 Duration = 01m48s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0943 Sep 03 Duration = 00m21s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -1574 Aug 21 Magnitude = 0.9711
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -1718 May 26 Magnitude = 0.0319
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 39 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 039 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 -37 -1718 May 26 11:58:02 38601 -45981 Pb 1.5157 0.0319 62.2N 32.0E 0 50
02 -36 -1700 Jun 05 19:15:14 38208 -45758 P 1.4394 0.1769 62.9N 88.2W 0 41
03 -35 -1682 Jun 17 02:36:40 37817 -45535 P 1.3656 0.3177 63.7N 150.3E 0 31
04 -34 -1664 Jun 27 10:01:58 37429 -45312 P 1.2944 0.4538 64.6N 27.6E 0 22
05 -33 -1646 Jul 08 17:34:05 37042 -45089 P 1.2284 0.5802 65.5N 97.1W 0 12
06 -32 -1628 Jul 19 01:13:01 36657 -44866 P 1.1677 0.6962 66.5N 136.1E 0 2
07 -31 -1610 Jul 30 08:59:13 36275 -44643 P 1.1127 0.8009 67.6N 7.0E 0 351
08 -30 -1592 Aug 09 16:53:53 35894 -44420 P 1.0643 0.8927 68.6N 124.7W 0 340
09 -29 -1574 Aug 21 00:57:11 35515 -44197 P 1.0228 0.9711 69.5N 100.8E 0 328
10 -28 -1556 Aug 31 09:09:55 35139 -43974 Tn 0.9891 1.0404 74.7N 55.9W 7 297 - 02m05s
11 -27 -1538 Sep 11 17:29:52 34764 -43751 T 0.9613 1.0409 73.4N 132.3E 15 253 514 02m18s
12 -26 -1520 Sep 22 01:59:24 34391 -43528 T 0.9413 1.0400 68.3N 16.6W 19 234 403 02m24s
13 -25 -1502 Oct 03 10:35:41 34021 -43305 T 0.9268 1.0389 63.1N 158.2W 22 224 350 02m28s
14 -24 -1484 Oct 13 19:19:27 33652 -43082 T 0.9184 1.0376 58.6N 61.9E 23 216 320 02m30s
15 -23 -1466 Oct 25 04:07:02 33285 -42859 T 0.9133 1.0365 54.7N 77.5W 24 210 302 02m33s
16 -22 -1448 Nov 04 12:59:34 32921 -42636 T 0.9124 1.0357 51.5N 142.7E 24 204 294 02m36s
17 -21 -1430 Nov 15 21:53:14 32558 -42413 T 0.9127 1.0353 48.9N 2.8E 24 199 292 02m39s
18 -20 -1412 Nov 26 06:47:37 32197 -42190 T 0.9137 1.0353 46.7N 137.1W 24 193 294 02m44s
19 -19 -1394 Dec 07 15:40:19 31839 -41967 T 0.9135 1.0359 44.8N 83.4E 24 187 299 02m51s
20 -18 -1376 Dec 18 00:30:56 31482 -41744 T 0.9116 1.0369 43.1N 55.5W 24 181 304 02m59s
21 -17 -1358 Dec 29 09:15:55 31128 -41521 T 0.9054 1.0386 41.3N 167.2E 25 175 307 03m09s
22 -16 -1339 Jan 08 17:55:37 30775 -41298 T 0.8952 1.0406 39.5N 31.6E 26 170 306 03m20s
23 -15 -1321 Jan 20 02:27:58 30424 -41075 T 0.8791 1.0432 37.6N 101.6W 28 164 301 03m32s
24 -14 -1303 Jan 30 10:53:53 30076 -40852 T 0.8578 1.0459 36.0N 127.4E 31 159 294 03m44s
25 -13 -1285 Feb 10 19:09:44 29729 -40629 T 0.8283 1.0488 34.3N 0.3W 34 155 285 03m56s
26 -12 -1267 Feb 21 03:18:32 29385 -40406 T 0.7933 1.0515 33.2N 125.6W 37 151 275 04m05s
27 -11 -1249 Mar 04 11:17:32 29042 -40183 T 0.7504 1.0542 32.3N 112.3E 41 148 265 04m14s
28 -10 -1231 Mar 14 19:09:48 28702 -39960 T 0.7022 1.0564 32.0N 7.5W 45 146 256 04m20s
29 -09 -1213 Mar 26 02:51:53 28363 -39737 T 0.6458 1.0582 32.0N 124.1W 50 145 246 04m26s
30 -08 -1195 Apr 05 10:28:46 28027 -39514 T 0.5854 1.0595 32.3N 121.1E 54 145 237 04m30s
31 -07 -1177 Apr 16 17:57:28 27692 -39291 T 0.5187 1.0599 32.7N 9.0E 59 146 228 04m33s
32 -06 -1159 Apr 27 01:22:00 27359 -39068 T 0.4491 1.0598 33.1N 101.6W 63 147 218 04m35s
33 -05 -1141 May 08 08:40:41 27029 -38845 T 0.3750 1.0587 33.2N 149.7E 68 150 207 04m36s
34 -04 -1123 May 18 15:57:41 26700 -38622 T 0.3003 1.0569 32.9N 41.7E 72 154 196 04m35s
35 -03 -1105 May 29 23:12:07 26374 -38399 T 0.2242 1.0541 31.9N 65.6W 77 159 183 04m32s
36 -02 -1087 Jun 09 06:25:42 26049 -38176 T 0.1481 1.0506 30.1N 172.8W 81 164 170 04m26s
37 -01 -1069 Jun 20 13:40:07 25727 -37953 Tm 0.0736 1.0463 27.5N 79.4E 86 169 155 04m16s
38 00 -1051 Jun 30 20:56:39 25407 -37730 T 0.0020 1.0414 24.0N 29.6W 90 177 139 03m59s
39 01 -1033 Jul 12 04:16:54 25088 -37507 T -0.0660 1.0358 19.9N 140.1W 86 358 121 03m36s
40 02 -1015 Jul 22 11:40:52 24772 -37284 T -0.1298 1.0298 15.2N 107.8E 83 2 102 03m06s
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 03 -0997 Aug 02 19:11:20 24457 -37061 T -0.1874 1.0234 10.0N 6.6W 79 6 81 02m29s
42 04 -0979 Aug 13 02:47:53 24145 -36838 H3 -0.2387 1.0168 4.5N 123.0W 76 10 59 01m48s
43 05 -0961 Aug 24 10:31:09 23834 -36615 H -0.2836 1.0100 1.2S 118.5E 74 13 36 01m05s
44 06 -0943 Sep 03 18:21:30 23526 -36392 H -0.3218 1.0033 7.0S 2.0W 71 15 12 00m21s
45 07 -0925 Sep 15 02:19:48 23219 -36169 A -0.3526 0.9968 12.8S 124.6W 69 17 12 00m21s
46 08 -0907 Sep 25 10:25:04 22915 -35946 A -0.3764 0.9905 18.4S 111.2E 68 19 36 00m59s
47 09 -0889 Oct 06 18:36:18 22613 -35723 A -0.3944 0.9846 23.9S 14.2W 67 20 59 01m34s
48 10 -0871 Oct 17 02:53:28 22312 -35500 A -0.4066 0.9793 29.1S 140.7W 66 20 80 02m05s
49 11 -0853 Oct 28 11:15:54 22014 -35277 A -0.4137 0.9744 34.0S 92.2E 65 19 100 02m32s
50 12 -0835 Nov 07 19:40:57 21717 -35054 A -0.4178 0.9703 38.4S 34.7W 65 17 117 02m54s
51 13 -0817 Nov 19 04:07:45 21423 -34831 A -0.4197 0.9667 42.2S 161.1W 65 13 132 03m14s
52 14 -0799 Nov 29 12:34:02 21131 -34608 A -0.4214 0.9638 45.4S 73.7E 65 9 144 03m29s
53 15 -0781 Dec 10 20:59:29 20840 -34385 A -0.4230 0.9615 47.7S 50.3W 65 3 154 03m41s
54 16 -0763 Dec 21 05:19:37 20552 -34162 A -0.4284 0.9598 49.1S 172.3W 64 357 162 03m49s
55 17 -0744 Jan 01 13:36:07 20265 -33939 A -0.4362 0.9586 49.6S 67.1E 64 350 167 03m54s
56 18 -0726 Jan 11 21:44:28 19981 -33716 A -0.4504 0.9579 49.1S 51.6W 63 343 172 03m56s
57 19 -0708 Jan 23 05:45:46 19699 -33493 A -0.4695 0.9575 48.0S 168.9W 62 337 175 03m56s
58 20 -0690 Feb 02 13:36:01 19403 -33270 A -0.4972 0.9573 46.4S 76.0E 60 332 178 03m55s
59 21 -0672 Feb 13 21:18:09 19099 -33047 A -0.5308 0.9573 44.5S 37.9W 58 327 182 03m54s
60 22 -0654 Feb 24 04:48:41 18801 -32824 A -0.5735 0.9572 42.7S 149.2W 55 324 188 03m53s
61 23 -0636 Mar 06 12:08:54 18506 -32601 A -0.6238 0.9571 41.2S 101.6E 51 322 196 03m54s
62 24 -0618 Mar 17 19:18:06 18217 -32378 A -0.6821 0.9567 40.5S 4.9W 47 321 211 03m57s
63 25 -0600 Mar 28 02:18:16 17932 -32155 A -0.7469 0.9559 40.6S 109.1W 41 320 235 04m02s
64 26 -0582 Apr 08 09:08:42 17651 -31932 A -0.8188 0.9546 42.3S 149.6E 35 319 280 04m09s
65 27 -0564 Apr 18 15:50:40 17375 -31709 A -0.8967 0.9523 46.2S 51.8E 26 318 382 04m17s
66 28 -0546 Apr 29 22:26:02 17103 -31486 A -0.9788 0.9481 55.2S 37.5W 11 311 954 04m20s
67 29 -0528 May 10 04:56:01 16836 -31263 P -1.0641 0.8568 61.8S 127.5W 0 305
68 30 -0510 May 21 11:21:36 16572 -31040 P -1.1519 0.7048 62.5S 125.9E 0 314
69 31 -0492 May 31 17:45:10 16312 -30817 P -1.2404 0.5518 63.3S 19.6E 0 323
70 32 -0474 Jun 12 00:08:10 16057 -30594 P -1.3282 0.4005 64.1S 86.7W 0 332
71 33 -0456 Jun 22 06:32:48 15805 -30371 P -1.4136 0.2541 65.1S 166.2E 0 342
72 34 -0438 Jul 03 12:58:27 15557 -30148 Pe -1.4974 0.1112 66.1S 58.5E 0 352
[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)"
