Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 50

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 50

Solar eclipses of Saros 50 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 -1201 Feb 11. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0097 Apr 01. The total duration of Saros series 50 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -1201 Feb 11   18:52:54 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   0097 Apr 01   05:33:53 TD

                      Duration of Saros  50  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 50 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 50
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PartialP 30 41.1%
AnnularA 22 30.1%
TotalT 18 24.7%
Hybrid[3]H 3 4.1%

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 50 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 50
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 43100.0%
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 73 eclipses in Saros 50: 8P 22A 3H 18T 22P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 50 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 50
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -1039 May 1903m54s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0679 Dec 2100m14s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -0462 Apr 3005m13s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -0606 Feb 0301m53s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0624 Jan 2301m18s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0660 Jan 0200m14s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0282 Aug 16 - 0.98770
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1201 Feb 11 - 0.05402

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 50

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 50. 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 50.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 50

                         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

01906 -35 -1201 Feb 11  18:52:54  29054 -39590   Pb  -1.5351  0.0540  69.5S 170.1E   0             
01951 -34 -1183 Feb 22  02:06:01  28708 -39367   P   -1.4909  0.1267  70.3S  47.7E   0             
01997 -33 -1165 Mar 05  09:07:32  28364 -39144   P   -1.4370  0.2165  71.0S  72.2W   0             
02043 -32 -1147 Mar 15  16:03:24  28022 -38921   P   -1.3779  0.3161  71.5S 168.7E   0             
02089 -31 -1129 Mar 26  22:49:48  27682 -38698   P   -1.3101  0.4314  71.8S  51.8E   0             
02134 -30 -1111 Apr 06  05:31:29  27344 -38475   P   -1.2378  0.5555  71.8S  64.1W   0             
02178 -29 -1093 Apr 17  12:06:21  27008 -38252   P   -1.1588  0.6923  71.6S 178.2W   0             
02221 -28 -1075 Apr 27  18:39:41  26675 -38029   P   -1.0776  0.8341  71.1S  68.5E   0             
02264 -27 -1057 May 09  01:09:50  26343 -37806   As  -0.9924  0.9527  66.3S  53.3W   5   -   03m47s
02307 -26 -1039 May 19  07:39:42  26014 -37583   A   -0.9059  0.9606  46.8S 174.0W  25  338  03m54s

02351 -25 -1021 May 30  14:10:31  25686 -37360   A   -0.8187  0.9655  34.9S  79.7E  35  217  03m49s
02393 -24 -1003 Jun 09  20:44:45  25361 -37137   A   -0.7329  0.9694  25.3S  24.6W  43  162  03m38s
02434 -23 -0985 Jun 21  03:23:23  25037 -36914   A   -0.6495  0.9724  17.4S 128.6W  49  130  03m25s
02475 -22 -0967 Jul 01  10:07:18  24716 -36691   A   -0.5693  0.9748  10.9S 127.1E  55  110  03m09s
02516 -21 -0949 Jul 12  16:59:24  24397 -36468   A   -0.4944  0.9765   5.8S  21.6E  60   96  02m54s
02557 -20 -0931 Jul 22  23:59:33  24080 -36245   A   -0.4248  0.9778   2.1S  85.4W  65   87  02m41s
02597 -19 -0913 Aug 03  07:08:24  23765 -36022   A   -0.3615  0.9786   0.2N 166.0E  69   81  02m29s
02637 -18 -0895 Aug 13  14:27:09  23452 -35799   A   -0.3054  0.9792   1.2N  55.1E  72   78  02m19s
02678 -17 -0877 Aug 24  21:56:33  23141 -35576   A   -0.2573  0.9795   0.9N  58.3W  75   75  02m12s
02719 -16 -0859 Sep 04  05:36:46  22833 -35353   A   -0.2170  0.9797   0.4S 174.5W  77   74  02m07s

02759 -15 -0841 Sep 15  13:26:13  22526 -35130   A   -0.1834  0.9799   2.7S  66.9E  79   73  02m02s
02799 -14 -0823 Sep 25  21:26:40  22221 -34907   A   -0.1582  0.9802   5.7S  54.7W  81   71  01m58s
02840 -13 -0805 Oct 07  05:36:11  21919 -34684   A   -0.1398  0.9808   9.2S 178.5W  82   69  01m53s
02881 -12 -0787 Oct 17  13:53:58  21618 -34461   A   -0.1274  0.9817  13.1S  55.6E  83   65  01m47s
02922 -11 -0769 Oct 28  22:18:09  21320 -34238   A   -0.1195  0.9829  17.0S  71.8W  83   61  01m40s
02963 -10 -0751 Nov 08  06:48:08  21023 -34015   A   -0.1155  0.9848  20.8S 159.7E  83   54  01m29s
03005 -09 -0733 Nov 19  15:22:07  20729 -33792   A   -0.1140  0.9871  24.2S  30.7E  83   46  01m16s
03049 -08 -0715 Nov 29  23:57:18  20437 -33569   A   -0.1130  0.9900  27.0S  98.2W  83   35  00m59s
03094 -07 -0697 Dec 11  08:33:44  20147 -33346   A   -0.1121  0.9935  29.0S 133.0E  83   23  00m39s
03139 -06 -0679 Dec 21  17:07:55  19859 -33123   A   -0.1090  0.9977  30.0S   5.2E  84    8  00m14s

03184 -05 -0660 Jan 02  01:39:34  19573 -32900   H   -0.1028  1.0023  29.7S 121.9W  84    8  00m14s
03229 -04 -0642 Jan 12  10:05:24  19289 -32677   H   -0.0912  1.0075  28.2S 112.2E  85   26  00m45s
03275 -03 -0624 Jan 23  18:26:58  19007 -32454   H   -0.0754  1.0131  25.5S  13.1W  86   45  01m18s
03321 -02 -0606 Feb 03  02:41:26  18727 -32231   T   -0.0533  1.0190  21.7S 137.2W  87   65  01m53s
03368 -01 -0588 Feb 14  10:48:38  18450 -32008   T   -0.0244  1.0251  16.8S  99.7E  88   85  02m29s
03416  00 -0570 Feb 24  18:48:18  18174 -31785   T    0.0115  1.0313  11.2S  22.2W  89  106  03m04s
03462  01 -0552 Mar 07  02:40:48  17900 -31562   Tm   0.0541  1.0374   4.8S 142.8W  87  126  03m38s
03507  02 -0534 Mar 18  10:26:34  17629 -31339   T    0.1029  1.0433   2.1N  97.8E  84  145  04m08s
03552  03 -0516 Mar 28  18:05:08  17360 -31116   T    0.1583  1.0489   9.5N  20.1W  81  164  04m34s
03597  04 -0498 Apr 09  01:38:45  17085 -30893   T    0.2186  1.0540  17.1N 136.8W  77  183  04m54s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 50

                         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

03642  05 -0480 Apr 19  09:07:31  16766 -30670   T    0.2839  1.0585  25.0N 107.5E  73  201  05m07s
03686  06 -0462 Apr 30  16:32:38  16456 -30447   T    0.3529  1.0624  32.9N   6.8W  69  218  05m13s
03730  07 -0444 May 10  23:55:15  16155 -30224   T    0.4247  1.0654  40.9N 120.0W  65  236  05m11s
03774  08 -0426 May 22  07:16:55  15862 -30001   T    0.4979  1.0676  48.7N 128.2E  60  255  05m04s
03816  09 -0408 Jun 01  14:38:54  15577 -29778   T    0.5714  1.0689  56.3N  18.0E  55  274  04m51s
03858  10 -0390 Jun 12  22:01:00  15299 -29555   T    0.6452  1.0693  63.4N  89.3W  50  297  04m35s
03900  11 -0372 Jun 23  05:26:41  15028 -29332   T    0.7165  1.0686  69.5N 167.3E  44  323  04m17s
03939  12 -0354 Jul 04  12:55:08  14763 -29109   T    0.7859  1.0671  74.1N  71.5E  38  357  03m58s
03978  13 -0336 Jul 14  20:29:37  14504 -28886   T    0.8505  1.0646  75.8N  17.3W  31  405  03m38s
04019  14 -0318 Jul 26  04:08:04  14252 -28663   T    0.9118  1.0610  74.2N 105.6W  24  494  03m17s

04060  15 -0300 Aug 05  11:55:06  14004 -28440   T    0.9664  1.0562  69.9N 159.6E  14  748  02m52s
04101  16 -0282 Aug 16  19:47:49  13763 -28217   P    1.0166  0.9877  61.9N  62.2E   0             
04141  17 -0264 Aug 27  03:49:10  13526 -27994   P    1.0597  0.9038  61.4N  68.0W   0             
04181  18 -0246 Sep 07  11:57:32  13294 -27771   P    1.0974  0.8308  61.0N 160.1E   0             
04222  19 -0228 Sep 17  20:15:24  13067 -27548   P    1.1272  0.7730  60.8N  26.0E   0             
04263  20 -0210 Sep 29  04:40:21  12845 -27325   P    1.1518  0.7256  60.8N 109.9W   0             
04304  21 -0192 Oct 09  13:12:43  12626 -27102   P    1.1705  0.6895  60.9N 112.5E   0             
04346  22 -0174 Oct 20  21:51:48  12413 -26879   P    1.1840  0.6635  61.2N  26.9W   0             
04390  23 -0156 Oct 31  06:37:13  12202 -26656   P    1.1922  0.6476  61.6N 168.0W   0             
04432  24 -0138 Nov 11  15:26:07  11996 -26433   P    1.1981  0.6362  62.2N  50.0E   0             

04475  25 -0120 Nov 22  00:18:07  11794 -26210   P    1.2013  0.6299  62.9N  93.0W   0             
04518  26 -0102 Dec 03  09:10:52  11595 -25987   P    1.2041  0.6244  63.8N 123.6E   0             
04561  27 -0084 Dec 13  18:04:07  11399 -25764   P    1.2064  0.6199  64.8N  20.2W   0             
04606  28 -0066 Dec 25  02:53:42  11206 -25541   P    1.2115  0.6103  65.8N 163.5W   0             
04651  29 -0047 Jan 04  11:41:07  11016 -25318   P    1.2182  0.5976  66.9N  53.3E   0             
04696  30 -0029 Jan 15  20:21:59  10829 -25095   P    1.2300  0.5754  68.0N  88.8W   0             
04743  31 -0011 Jan 26  04:57:33  10645 -24872   P    1.2460  0.5453  69.0N 129.8E   0             
04788  32  0007 Feb 06  13:24:00  10463 -24649   P    1.2693  0.5016  69.9N   9.8W   0             
04834  33  0025 Feb 16  21:44:01  10283 -24426   P    1.2974  0.4485  70.7N 148.5W   0             
04880  34  0043 Feb 28  05:54:27  10104 -24203   P    1.3329  0.3816  71.3N  74.7E   0             

04925  35  0061 Mar 10  13:56:24   9928 -23980   P    1.3751  0.3017  71.7N  60.3W   0             
04969  36  0079 Mar 21  21:49:07   9753 -23757   P    1.4245  0.2084  71.8N 166.7E   0             
05014  37  0097 Apr 01  05:33:53   9579 -23534   Pe   1.4800  0.1036  71.7N  35.7E   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