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 51 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 -1407 Sep 02. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0108 Feb 29. The total duration of Saros series 51 is 1514.53 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1407 Sep 02 23:13:08 TD
Last Eclipse = 0108 Feb 29 17:15:40 TD
Duration of Saros 51 = 1514.53 Years
Saros 51 is composed of 85 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 51 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 85 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 42 | 49.4% |
| Annular | A | 3 | 3.5% |
| Total | T | 36 | 42.4% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 4.7% |
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 51 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 51 | ||
| 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 85 eclipses in Saros 51: 21P 36T 4H 3A 21P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 51 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0866 Jul 25 Duration = 05m35s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0397 May 02 Duration = 01m49s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0271 Jul 16 Duration = 01m49s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0307 Jun 25 Duration = 00m30s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0379 May 13 Duration = 01m34s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0325 Jun 15 Duration = 00m09s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0253 Jul 28 Magnitude = 0.9293
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0108 Feb 29 Magnitude = 0.0082
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 51 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 051 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 -49 -1407 Sep 02 23:13:08 32102 -42131 Pb 1.5266 0.0355 70.5N 95.6E 0 311
02 -48 -1389 Sep 14 07:18:31 31744 -41908 P 1.4962 0.0905 71.2N 40.7W 0 298
03 -47 -1371 Sep 24 15:32:49 31388 -41685 P 1.4723 0.1337 71.5N 179.6W 0 284
04 -46 -1353 Oct 05 23:56:17 31034 -41462 P 1.4553 0.1643 71.7N 38.8E 0 270
05 -45 -1335 Oct 16 08:25:36 30682 -41239 P 1.4425 0.1872 71.5N 104.1W 0 256
06 -44 -1317 Oct 27 17:02:30 30332 -41016 P 1.4354 0.1999 71.1N 111.2E 0 242
07 -43 -1299 Nov 07 01:43:03 29984 -40793 P 1.4304 0.2084 70.5N 33.9W 0 228
08 -42 -1281 Nov 18 10:27:10 29638 -40570 P 1.4278 0.2125 69.7N 179.3W 0 215
09 -41 -1263 Nov 28 19:11:33 29294 -40347 P 1.4249 0.2172 68.8N 35.9E 0 202
10 -40 -1245 Dec 10 03:56:17 28952 -40124 P 1.4217 0.2222 67.7N 108.3W 0 190
11 -39 -1227 Dec 20 12:37:49 28612 -39901 P 1.4155 0.2325 66.7N 108.8E 0 179
12 -38 -1209 Dec 31 21:15:47 28274 -39678 P 1.4060 0.2491 65.6N 32.6W 0 168
13 -37 -1190 Jan 11 05:48:19 27938 -39455 P 1.3915 0.2749 64.6N 172.2W 0 158
14 -36 -1172 Jan 22 14:15:18 27604 -39232 P 1.3721 0.3102 63.6N 49.9E 0 148
15 -35 -1154 Feb 01 22:33:56 27272 -39009 P 1.3456 0.3590 62.8N 85.5W 0 138
16 -34 -1136 Feb 13 06:45:54 26942 -38786 P 1.3134 0.4191 62.1N 140.9E 0 129
17 -33 -1118 Feb 23 14:49:11 26614 -38563 P 1.2737 0.4938 61.5N 9.8E 0 120
18 -32 -1100 Mar 05 22:46:35 26288 -38340 P 1.2287 0.5796 61.1N 119.8W 0 111
19 -31 -1082 Mar 17 06:34:24 25964 -38117 P 1.1755 0.6818 60.8N 113.1E 0 102
20 -30 -1064 Mar 27 14:17:50 25642 -37894 P 1.1183 0.7925 60.7N 12.8W 0 93
21 -29 -1046 Apr 07 21:53:43 25322 -37671 P 1.0545 0.9165 60.7N 136.9W 0 84
22 -28 -1028 Apr 18 05:26:57 25004 -37448 Tn 0.9880 1.0591 62.0N 116.0E 8 90 - 03m08s
23 -27 -1010 Apr 29 12:54:08 24688 -37225 T 0.9161 1.0666 61.8N 27.6E 23 111 541 03m47s
24 -26 -0992 May 09 20:20:56 24374 -37002 T 0.8433 1.0712 61.6N 72.9W 32 123 429 04m12s
25 -25 -0974 May 21 03:44:46 24062 -36779 T 0.7680 1.0744 61.3N 174.3W 40 133 375 04m32s
26 -24 -0956 May 31 11:09:40 23752 -36556 T 0.6932 1.0765 60.5N 83.1E 46 144 343 04m49s
27 -23 -0938 Jun 11 18:34:31 23445 -36333 T 0.6183 1.0773 58.7N 20.1W 52 154 318 05m04s
28 -22 -0920 Jun 22 02:03:01 23139 -36110 T 0.5464 1.0772 56.1N 125.6W 57 164 299 05m17s
29 -21 -0902 Jul 03 09:34:32 22835 -35887 T 0.4771 1.0761 52.4N 126.4E 61 172 281 05m26s
30 -20 -0884 Jul 13 17:10:32 22533 -35664 T 0.4117 1.0743 47.9N 15.5E 65 179 265 05m33s
31 -19 -0866 Jul 25 00:52:06 22233 -35441 T 0.3514 1.0716 42.7N 98.4W 69 185 249 05m35s
32 -18 -0848 Aug 04 08:40:00 21935 -35218 T 0.2968 1.0684 37.2N 144.9E 73 189 234 05m33s
33 -17 -0830 Aug 15 16:35:06 21639 -34995 T 0.2484 1.0646 31.4N 25.3E 75 192 218 05m25s
34 -16 -0812 Aug 26 00:37:15 21345 -34772 T 0.2064 1.0605 25.4N 96.7W 78 195 203 05m13s
35 -15 -0794 Sep 06 08:47:51 21054 -34549 T 0.1718 1.0561 19.5N 138.7E 80 197 188 04m57s
36 -14 -0776 Sep 16 17:06:09 20764 -34326 T 0.1441 1.0517 13.7N 12.0E 82 198 173 04m39s
37 -13 -0758 Sep 28 01:31:40 20476 -34103 T 0.1228 1.0474 8.1N 116.7W 83 198 159 04m20s
38 -12 -0740 Oct 08 10:04:20 20190 -33880 T 0.1077 1.0432 2.8N 113.0E 84 198 145 04m01s
39 -11 -0722 Oct 19 18:43:18 19906 -33657 T 0.0980 1.0393 2.1S 18.8W 84 197 132 03m42s
40 -10 -0704 Oct 30 03:27:08 19624 -33434 T 0.0929 1.0359 6.6S 151.5W 85 195 121 03m26s
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 -09 -0686 Nov 10 12:13:53 19322 -33211 T 0.0905 1.0328 10.4S 75.3E 85 193 111 03m10s
42 -08 -0668 Nov 20 21:03:00 19020 -32988 T 0.0904 1.0303 13.6S 58.1W 85 189 103 02m58s
43 -07 -0650 Dec 02 05:52:53 18722 -32765 Tm 0.0911 1.0282 16.1S 168.6E 85 185 96 02m47s
44 -06 -0632 Dec 12 14:40:33 18429 -32542 T 0.0904 1.0267 17.8S 36.1E 85 181 91 02m39s
45 -05 -0614 Dec 23 23:25:35 18141 -32319 T 0.0880 1.0256 18.8S 95.4W 85 176 87 02m32s
46 -04 -0595 Jan 03 08:05:12 17857 -32096 T 0.0815 1.0251 19.1S 134.4E 85 171 86 02m28s
47 -03 -0577 Jan 14 16:39:43 17578 -31873 T 0.0713 1.0248 18.6S 5.6E 86 166 84 02m24s
48 -02 -0559 Jan 25 01:05:11 17303 -31650 T 0.0540 1.0248 17.7S 121.1W 87 162 85 02m22s
49 -01 -0541 Feb 05 09:23:58 17032 -31427 T 0.0317 1.0250 16.3S 113.9E 88 157 85 02m20s
50 00 -0523 Feb 15 17:32:29 16765 -31204 T 0.0013 1.0252 14.6S 8.7W 90 52 86 02m19s
51 01 -0505 Feb 27 01:32:20 16503 -30981 T -0.0357 1.0254 12.7S 129.2W 88 334 86 02m18s
52 02 -0487 Mar 09 09:21:28 16244 -30758 T -0.0810 1.0253 10.9S 113.1E 85 332 86 02m17s
53 03 -0469 Mar 20 17:02:24 15990 -30535 T -0.1325 1.0250 9.2S 2.7W 82 331 86 02m15s
54 04 -0451 Mar 31 00:33:55 15739 -30312 T -0.1914 1.0243 7.9S 116.0W 79 330 84 02m12s
55 05 -0433 Apr 11 07:56:43 15492 -30089 T -0.2567 1.0230 7.2S 132.9E 75 331 81 02m07s
56 06 -0415 Apr 21 15:12:09 15248 -29866 T -0.3272 1.0211 7.1S 23.6E 71 333 76 02m00s
57 07 -0397 May 02 22:21:16 15008 -29643 T -0.4020 1.0186 7.9S 84.1W 66 335 69 01m49s
58 08 -0379 May 13 05:25:04 14772 -29420 H3 -0.4803 1.0155 9.8S 169.2E 61 338 60 01m34s
59 09 -0361 May 24 12:23:59 14539 -29197 H -0.5616 1.0115 12.8S 63.5E 56 341 47 01m12s
60 10 -0343 Jun 03 19:20:33 14309 -28974 H -0.6437 1.0069 17.1S 42.1W 50 345 31 00m44s
61 11 -0325 Jun 15 02:15:43 14082 -28751 H -0.7254 1.0014 22.7S 148.0W 43 349 7 00m09s
62 12 -0307 Jun 25 09:10:15 13859 -28528 A -0.8063 0.9953 29.9S 105.4E 36 353 28 00m30s
63 13 -0289 Jul 06 16:06:35 13638 -28305 A -0.8846 0.9881 39.0S 2.8W 27 358 90 01m11s
64 14 -0271 Jul 16 23:05:36 13421 -28082 A -0.9592 0.9798 51.7S 114.0W 16 4 261 01m49s
65 15 -0253 Jul 28 06:09:43 13206 -27859 P -1.0284 0.9293 68.5S 125.2E 0 17
66 16 -0235 Aug 07 13:17:17 12994 -27636 P -1.0935 0.8117 69.5S 5.5E 0 29
67 17 -0217 Aug 18 20:32:33 12785 -27413 P -1.1510 0.7089 70.3S 116.7W 0 41
68 18 -0199 Aug 29 03:53:28 12579 -27190 P -1.2029 0.6171 71.0S 119.1E 0 54
69 19 -0181 Sep 09 11:23:18 12374 -26967 P -1.2466 0.5407 71.6S 7.9W 0 67
70 20 -0163 Sep 19 18:59:07 12173 -26744 P -1.2845 0.4752 71.9S 136.8W 0 81
71 21 -0145 Oct 01 02:44:19 11973 -26521 P -1.3139 0.4249 71.9S 91.8E 0 95
72 22 -0127 Oct 11 10:35:28 11776 -26298 P -1.3377 0.3849 71.7S 40.9W 0 109
73 23 -0109 Oct 22 18:33:27 11581 -26075 P -1.3552 0.3557 71.2S 175.1W 0 123
74 24 -0091 Nov 02 02:35:52 11388 -25852 P -1.3683 0.3341 70.5S 50.1E 0 137
75 25 -0073 Nov 13 10:43:12 11198 -25629 P -1.3771 0.3199 69.6S 85.3W 0 150
76 26 -0055 Nov 23 18:51:48 11009 -25406 P -1.3840 0.3090 68.6S 139.7E 0 162
77 27 -0037 Dec 05 03:00:55 10821 -25183 P -1.3899 0.2996 67.5S 5.2E 0 174
78 28 -0019 Dec 15 11:08:27 10636 -24960 P -1.3965 0.2890 66.5S 128.3W 0 185
79 29 -0001 Dec 26 19:13:58 10452 -24737 P -1.4044 0.2759 65.4S 99.2E 0 196
80 30 0018 Jan 06 03:13:06 10270 -24514 P -1.4168 0.2553 64.4S 31.3W 0 206
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 31 0036 Jan 17 11:06:51 10089 -24291 P -1.4329 0.2281 63.4S 160.0W 0 216
82 32 0054 Jan 27 18:51:58 9909 -24068 P -1.4557 0.1898 62.6S 73.7E 0 225
83 33 0072 Feb 08 02:30:05 9731 -23845 P -1.4835 0.1427 62.0S 50.6W 0 235
84 34 0090 Feb 18 09:56:40 9554 -23622 P -1.5202 0.0803 61.4S 171.9W 0 244
85 35 0108 Feb 29 17:15:40 9378 -23399 Pe -1.5625 0.0082 61.1S 68.9E 0 253
[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)"
