Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 42

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 42

Solar eclipses of Saros 42 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 -1577 Apr 28. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0297 Jun 05. The total duration of Saros series 42 is 1280.14 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1577 Apr 28   09:28:38 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -0297 Jun 05   10:12:52 TD

                      Duration of Saros  42  =  1280.14 Years

Saros 42 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 42
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PartialP 14 19.4%
AnnularA 21 29.2%
TotalT 34 47.2%
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 42 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 42
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 58100.0%
Central (two limits) 57 98.3%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 1.7%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 42: 8P 34T 3H 21A 6P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 42 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 42
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0531 Jan 1506m47s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0766 Aug 2800m23s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -0964 Apr 3005m00s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -0838 Jul 1502m01s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0820 Jul 2601m24s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0784 Aug 1600m12s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1451 Jul 12 - 0.99435
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1577 Apr 28 - 0.02329

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 42

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 42. 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 42.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 42

                         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

01029 -37 -1577 Apr 28  09:28:38  36738 -44238   Pb  -1.5198  0.0233  71.1S 106.8W   0             
01070 -36 -1559 May 08  16:46:41  36349 -44015   P   -1.4450  0.1650  70.5S 128.8E   0             
01110 -35 -1541 May 20  00:03:34  35962 -43792   P   -1.3684  0.3112  69.8S   5.2E   0             
01150 -34 -1523 May 30  07:22:51  35577 -43569   P   -1.2928  0.4563  68.9S 118.5W   0             
01190 -33 -1505 Jun 10  14:43:50  35194 -43346   P   -1.2178  0.6009  68.0S 117.9E   0             
01230 -32 -1487 Jun 20  22:09:54  34813 -43123   P   -1.1463  0.7387  67.0S   6.4W   0             
01270 -31 -1469 Jul 02  05:39:07  34434 -42900   P   -1.0770  0.8722  66.0S 131.0W   0             
01310 -30 -1451 Jul 12  13:15:57  34057 -42677   P   -1.0135  0.9944  65.0S 102.9E   0             
01351 -29 -1433 Jul 23  20:58:00  33682 -42454   T   -0.9538  1.0553  48.3S  12.4W  17  615  04m08s
01392 -28 -1415 Aug 03  04:48:22  33310 -42231   T   -0.9008  1.0560  40.7S 133.0W  25  423  04m22s

01433 -27 -1397 Aug 14  12:45:34  32939 -42008   T   -0.8534  1.0554  36.4S 104.7E  31  346  04m23s
01474 -26 -1379 Aug 24  20:52:28  32571 -41785   T   -0.8141  1.0540  34.4S  20.1W  35  302  04m14s
01516 -25 -1361 Sep 05  05:06:58  32204 -41562   T   -0.7810  1.0521  33.9S 146.8W  38  270  04m01s
01558 -24 -1343 Sep 15  13:29:48  31840 -41339   T   -0.7547  1.0500  34.9S  84.5E  41  247  03m46s
01601 -23 -1325 Sep 26  22:00:17  31477 -41116   T   -0.7348  1.0478  37.0S  46.2W  42  229  03m30s
01644 -22 -1307 Oct 07  06:38:34  31117 -40893   T   -0.7216  1.0456  40.0S 178.9W  44  215  03m16s
01687 -21 -1289 Oct 18  15:22:14  30759 -40670   T   -0.7127  1.0436  43.6S  47.3E  44  204  03m03s
01732 -20 -1271 Oct 29  00:11:01  30403 -40447   T   -0.7083  1.0418  47.8S  87.6W  45  196  02m51s
01777 -19 -1253 Nov 09  09:02:45  30049 -40224   T   -0.7064  1.0405  52.2S 137.4E  45  190  02m43s
01823 -18 -1235 Nov 19  17:57:11  29697 -40001   T   -0.7069  1.0396  56.7S   2.8E  45  187  02m36s

01868 -17 -1217 Dec 01  02:50:17  29347 -39778   T   -0.7066  1.0392  60.9S 129.8W  45  186  02m33s
01913 -16 -1199 Dec 11  11:43:12  28999 -39555   T   -0.7065  1.0393  64.6S 100.1E  45  186  02m32s
01958 -15 -1181 Dec 22  20:31:34  28653 -39332   T   -0.7031  1.0399  67.1S  25.7W  45  189  02m34s
02004 -14 -1162 Jan 02  05:16:03  28310 -39109   T   -0.6968  1.0409  67.9S 148.2W  46  192  02m40s
02050 -13 -1144 Jan 13  13:52:43  27968 -38886   T   -0.6845  1.0423  66.7S  91.4E  47  195  02m48s
02096 -12 -1126 Jan 23  22:23:45  27629 -38663   T   -0.6681  1.0440  63.6S  30.0W  48  198  02m58s
02141 -11 -1108 Feb 04  06:45:48  27291 -38440   T   -0.6450  1.0458  59.0S 152.4W  50  200  03m12s
02184 -10 -1090 Feb 14  14:59:22  26956 -38217   T   -0.6152  1.0477  53.4S  84.6E  52  201  03m27s
02227 -09 -1072 Feb 25  23:03:35  26622 -37994   T   -0.5781  1.0495  46.9S  38.1W  54  201  03m45s
02270 -08 -1054 Mar 08  06:59:28  26291 -37771   T   -0.5344  1.0511  39.8S 160.0W  57  200  04m04s

02313 -07 -1036 Mar 18  14:46:50  25962 -37548   T   -0.4843  1.0523  32.4S  79.6E  61  197  04m22s
02358 -06 -1018 Mar 29  22:25:34  25635 -37325   T   -0.4276  1.0531  24.7S  39.2W  65  194  04m38s
02400 -05 -1000 Apr 09  05:57:32  25310 -37102   T   -0.3655  1.0533  16.8S 156.3W  68  189  04m51s
02441 -04 -0982 Apr 20  13:23:00  24987 -36879   T   -0.2985  1.0529   8.9S  88.2E  73  183  04m59s
02482 -03 -0964 Apr 30  20:43:01  24666 -36656   T   -0.2274  1.0517   1.0S  25.7W  77  176  05m00s
02523 -02 -0946 May 12  03:58:30  24347 -36433   T   -0.1532  1.0497   6.7N 138.1W  81  167  04m54s
02564 -01 -0928 May 22  11:10:57  24030 -36210   Tm  -0.0771  1.0470  14.0N 110.9E  86  157  04m39s
02604  00 -0910 Jun 02  18:21:52  23716 -35987   T   -0.0005  1.0435  20.9N   1.1E  90  145  04m16s
02643  01 -0892 Jun 13  01:31:21  23403 -35764   T    0.0765  1.0392  27.1N 107.5W  85  132  03m47s
02684  02 -0874 Jun 24  08:42:23  23093 -35541   T    0.1513  1.0343  32.4N 144.5E  81  117  03m13s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 42

                         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

02725  03 -0856 Jul 04  15:55:03  22784 -35318   T    0.2239  1.0287  36.8N  37.3E  77  100  02m37s
02765  04 -0838 Jul 15  23:12:04  22478 -35095   T    0.2919  1.0227  39.9N  70.2W  73   81  02m01s
02806  05 -0820 Jul 26  06:32:15  22174 -34872   H3   0.3561  1.0161  41.8N 177.9W  69   59  01m24s
02847  06 -0802 Aug 06  13:59:03  21871 -34649   H    0.4140  1.0094  42.3N  72.9E  65   36  00m48s
02888  07 -0784 Aug 16  21:31:24  21571 -34426   H    0.4666  1.0024  41.8N  38.1W  62    9  00m12s
02929  08 -0766 Aug 28  05:11:00  21273 -34203   A    0.5121  0.9955  40.3N 151.7W  59   18  00m23s
02971  09 -0748 Sep 07  12:57:40  20977 -33980   A    0.5509  0.9886  38.1N  92.0E  56   48  00m58s
03013  10 -0730 Sep 18  20:52:12  20683 -33757   A    0.5823  0.9821  35.5N  27.3W  54   77  01m34s
03057  11 -0712 Sep 29  04:54:14  20391 -33534   A    0.6068  0.9758  32.6N 149.3W  52  107  02m11s
03101  12 -0694 Oct 10  13:01:39  20101 -33311   A    0.6263  0.9701  29.7N  86.8E  51  135  02m48s

03146  13 -0676 Oct 20  21:15:40  19814 -33088   A    0.6394  0.9648  26.8N  39.3W  50  161  03m27s
03191  14 -0658 Nov 01  05:33:35  19528 -32865   A    0.6482  0.9602  24.1N 166.7W  49  185  04m05s
03236  15 -0640 Nov 11  13:55:10  19244 -32642   A    0.6536  0.9563  21.7N  64.8E  49  206  04m43s
03282  16 -0622 Nov 22  22:16:40  18963 -32419   A    0.6580  0.9530  19.8N  63.7W  49  224  05m19s
03329  17 -0604 Dec 03  06:38:55  18684 -32196   A    0.6612  0.9504  18.5N 167.7E  48  240  05m51s
03376  18 -0586 Dec 14  14:58:15  18406 -31973   A    0.6658  0.9484  18.0N  39.7E  48  253  06m18s
03424  19 -0568 Dec 24  23:13:44  18131 -31750   A    0.6726  0.9470  18.4N  87.3W  48  263  06m37s
03470  20 -0549 Jan 05  07:22:57  17858 -31527   A    0.6837  0.9460  19.8N 147.2E  47  273  06m47s
03515  21 -0531 Jan 15  15:25:39  17587 -31304   A    0.6993  0.9455  22.3N  23.1E  45  281  06m47s
03560  22 -0513 Jan 26  23:19:08  17317 -31081   A    0.7217  0.9452  25.9N  99.1W  44  291  06m38s

03605  23 -0495 Feb 06  07:03:27  17034 -30858   A    0.7509  0.9451  30.7N 140.3E  41  305  06m22s
03649  24 -0477 Feb 17  14:37:28  16717 -30635   A    0.7877  0.9451  36.7N  21.4E  38  326  06m00s
03693  25 -0459 Feb 27  22:02:12  16408 -30412   A    0.8311  0.9449  43.8N  96.4W  33  362  05m35s
03736  26 -0441 Mar 11  05:14:24  16109 -30189   A    0.8841  0.9444  52.5N 146.4E  27  436  05m08s
03780  27 -0423 Mar 21  12:18:06  15817 -29966   A    0.9433  0.9430  62.8N  24.3E  19  640  04m39s
03822  28 -0405 Apr 01  19:10:51  15533 -29743   A+   1.0107  0.9459  71.9N 138.8W   0             
03864  29 -0387 Apr 12  01:57:00  15256 -29520   P    1.0823  0.8230  71.6N 104.5E   0             
03906  30 -0369 Apr 23  08:32:44  14986 -29297   P    1.1614  0.6870  71.1N   9.2W   0             
03945  31 -0351 May 03  15:04:44  14722 -29074   P    1.2425  0.5475  70.5N 121.4W   0             
03984  32 -0333 May 14  21:29:55  14464 -28851   P    1.3284  0.3998  69.6N 128.7E   0             

04025  33 -0315 May 25  03:53:17  14212 -28628   P    1.4145  0.2521  68.7N  19.9E   0             
04066  34 -0297 Jun 05  10:12:52  13966 -28405   Pe   1.5027  0.1011  67.7N  87.4W   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