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.
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 central eclipses of Saros 51 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 51 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0271 Jul 16 | 01m49s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0307 Jun 25 | 00m30s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0866 Jul 25 | 05m35s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0397 May 02 | 01m49s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0379 May 13 | 01m34s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0325 Jun 15 | 00m09s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0253 Jul 28 | - | 0.92934 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0108 Feb 29 | - | 0.00816 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 51. 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 51.
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
01411 -49 -1407 Sep 02 23:13:08 33143 -42131 Pb 1.5266 0.0355 70.5N 100.0E 0
01452 -48 -1389 Sep 14 07:18:31 32774 -41908 P 1.4962 0.0905 71.2N 36.4W 0
01494 -47 -1371 Sep 24 15:32:49 32406 -41685 P 1.4723 0.1337 71.5N 175.4W 0
01536 -46 -1353 Oct 05 23:56:17 32040 -41462 P 1.4553 0.1643 71.7N 43.1E 0
01578 -45 -1335 Oct 16 08:25:36 31677 -41239 P 1.4425 0.1872 71.5N 100.0W 0
01621 -44 -1317 Oct 27 17:02:30 31316 -41016 P 1.4354 0.1999 71.1N 115.3E 0
01665 -43 -1299 Nov 07 01:43:03 30956 -40793 P 1.4304 0.2084 70.5N 29.8W 0
01709 -42 -1281 Nov 18 10:27:10 30599 -40570 P 1.4278 0.2125 69.7N 175.3W 0
01753 -41 -1263 Nov 28 19:11:33 30244 -40347 P 1.4249 0.2172 68.8N 39.9E 0
01799 -40 -1245 Dec 10 03:56:17 29891 -40124 P 1.4217 0.2222 67.7N 104.4W 0
01844 -39 -1227 Dec 20 12:37:49 29540 -39901 P 1.4155 0.2325 66.7N 112.7E 0
01889 -38 -1209 Dec 31 21:15:47 29191 -39678 P 1.4060 0.2491 65.6N 28.8W 0
01934 -37 -1190 Jan 11 05:48:19 28844 -39455 P 1.3915 0.2749 64.6N 168.4W 0
01979 -36 -1172 Jan 22 14:15:18 28499 -39232 P 1.3721 0.3102 63.6N 53.7E 0
02026 -35 -1154 Feb 01 22:33:56 28156 -39009 P 1.3456 0.3590 62.8N 81.8W 0
02072 -34 -1136 Feb 13 06:45:54 27816 -38786 P 1.3134 0.4191 62.1N 144.6E 0
02117 -33 -1118 Feb 23 14:49:11 27477 -38563 P 1.2737 0.4938 61.5N 13.4E 0
02162 -32 -1100 Mar 05 22:46:35 27140 -38340 P 1.2287 0.5796 61.1N 116.3W 0
02205 -31 -1082 Mar 17 06:34:24 26806 -38117 P 1.1755 0.6818 60.8N 116.6E 0
02248 -30 -1064 Mar 27 14:17:50 26474 -37894 P 1.1183 0.7925 60.7N 9.4W 0
02291 -29 -1046 Apr 07 21:53:43 26143 -37671 P 1.0545 0.9165 60.7N 133.4W 0
02335 -28 -1028 Apr 18 05:26:57 25815 -37448 Tn 0.9880 1.0591 62.0N 119.4E 8 - 03m08s
02377 -27 -1010 Apr 29 12:54:08 25489 -37225 T 0.9161 1.0666 61.8N 30.9E 23 541 03m47s
02419 -26 -0992 May 09 20:20:56 25165 -37002 T 0.8433 1.0712 61.6N 69.6W 32 429 04m12s
02459 -25 -0974 May 21 03:44:46 24843 -36779 T 0.7680 1.0744 61.3N 171.1W 40 375 04m32s
02500 -24 -0956 May 31 11:09:40 24523 -36556 T 0.6932 1.0765 60.5N 86.4E 46 343 04m49s
02541 -23 -0938 Jun 11 18:34:31 24205 -36333 T 0.6183 1.0773 58.7N 16.9W 52 318 05m04s
02581 -22 -0920 Jun 22 02:03:01 23889 -36110 T 0.5464 1.0772 56.1N 122.5W 57 299 05m17s
02621 -21 -0902 Jul 03 09:34:32 23575 -35887 T 0.4771 1.0761 52.4N 129.5E 61 281 05m26s
02661 -20 -0884 Jul 13 17:10:32 23264 -35664 T 0.4117 1.0743 47.9N 18.5E 65 265 05m33s
02702 -19 -0866 Jul 25 00:52:06 22954 -35441 T 0.3514 1.0716 42.7N 95.4W 69 249 05m35s
02743 -18 -0848 Aug 04 08:40:00 22647 -35218 T 0.2968 1.0684 37.2N 147.8E 73 234 05m33s
02783 -17 -0830 Aug 15 16:35:06 22341 -34995 T 0.2484 1.0646 31.4N 28.3E 75 218 05m25s
02824 -16 -0812 Aug 26 00:37:15 22038 -34772 T 0.2064 1.0605 25.4N 93.8W 78 203 05m13s
02865 -15 -0794 Sep 06 08:47:51 21737 -34549 T 0.1718 1.0561 19.5N 141.6E 80 188 04m57s
02906 -14 -0776 Sep 16 17:06:09 21437 -34326 T 0.1441 1.0517 13.7N 14.8E 82 173 04m39s
02947 -13 -0758 Sep 28 01:31:40 21140 -34103 T 0.1228 1.0474 8.1N 113.9W 83 159 04m20s
02989 -12 -0740 Oct 08 10:04:20 20845 -33880 T 0.1077 1.0432 2.8N 115.7E 84 145 04m01s
03033 -11 -0722 Oct 19 18:43:18 20552 -33657 T 0.0980 1.0393 2.1S 16.1W 84 132 03m42s
03077 -10 -0704 Oct 30 03:27:08 20261 -33434 T 0.0929 1.0359 6.6S 148.8W 85 121 03m26s
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
03121 -09 -0686 Nov 10 12:13:53 19972 -33211 T 0.0905 1.0328 10.4S 78.0E 85 111 03m10s
03166 -08 -0668 Nov 20 21:03:00 19685 -32988 T 0.0904 1.0303 13.6S 55.3W 85 103 02m58s
03211 -07 -0650 Dec 02 05:52:53 19401 -32765 Tm 0.0911 1.0282 16.1S 171.4E 85 96 02m47s
03256 -06 -0632 Dec 12 14:40:33 19118 -32542 T 0.0904 1.0267 17.8S 39.0E 85 91 02m39s
03303 -05 -0614 Dec 23 23:25:35 18837 -32319 T 0.0880 1.0256 18.8S 92.5W 85 87 02m32s
03350 -04 -0595 Jan 03 08:05:12 18559 -32096 T 0.0815 1.0251 19.1S 137.3E 85 86 02m28s
03397 -03 -0577 Jan 14 16:39:43 18282 -31873 T 0.0713 1.0248 18.6S 8.5E 86 84 02m24s
03444 -02 -0559 Jan 25 01:05:11 18008 -31650 T 0.0540 1.0248 17.7S 118.1W 87 85 02m22s
03489 -01 -0541 Feb 05 09:23:58 17736 -31427 T 0.0317 1.0250 16.3S 116.8E 88 85 02m20s
03534 00 -0523 Feb 15 17:32:29 17466 -31204 T 0.0013 1.0252 14.6S 5.8W 90 86 02m19s
03579 01 -0505 Feb 27 01:32:20 17197 -30981 T -0.0357 1.0254 12.7S 126.3W 88 86 02m18s
03624 02 -0487 Mar 09 09:21:28 16891 -30758 T -0.0810 1.0253 10.9S 115.8E 85 86 02m17s
03668 03 -0469 Mar 20 17:02:24 16577 -30535 T -0.1325 1.0250 9.2S 0.2W 82 86 02m15s
03712 04 -0451 Mar 31 00:33:55 16273 -30312 T -0.1914 1.0243 7.9S 113.8W 79 84 02m12s
03756 05 -0433 Apr 11 07:56:43 15977 -30089 T -0.2567 1.0230 7.2S 134.9E 75 81 02m07s
03799 06 -0415 Apr 21 15:12:09 15689 -29866 T -0.3272 1.0211 7.1S 25.5E 71 76 02m00s
03841 07 -0397 May 02 22:21:16 15408 -29643 T -0.4020 1.0186 7.9S 82.5W 66 69 01m49s
03883 08 -0379 May 13 05:25:04 15134 -29420 H3 -0.4803 1.0155 9.8S 170.7E 61 60 01m34s
03924 09 -0361 May 24 12:23:59 14867 -29197 H -0.5616 1.0115 12.8S 64.9E 56 47 01m12s
03963 10 -0343 Jun 03 19:20:33 14606 -28974 H -0.6437 1.0069 17.1S 40.9W 50 31 00m44s
04003 11 -0325 Jun 15 02:15:43 14351 -28751 H -0.7254 1.0014 22.7S 146.9W 43 7 00m09s
04044 12 -0307 Jun 25 09:10:15 14101 -28528 A -0.8063 0.9953 29.9S 106.4E 36 28 00m30s
04085 13 -0289 Jul 06 16:06:35 13857 -28305 A -0.8846 0.9881 39.0S 1.9W 27 90 01m11s
04125 14 -0271 Jul 16 23:05:36 13619 -28082 A -0.9592 0.9798 51.7S 113.2W 16 261 01m49s
04165 15 -0253 Jul 28 06:09:43 13385 -27859 P -1.0284 0.9293 68.5S 125.9E 0
04206 16 -0235 Aug 07 13:17:17 13156 -27636 P -1.0935 0.8117 69.5S 6.2E 0
04247 17 -0217 Aug 18 20:32:33 12932 -27413 P -1.1510 0.7089 70.3S 116.1W 0
04288 18 -0199 Aug 29 03:53:28 12712 -27190 P -1.2029 0.6171 71.0S 119.6E 0
04330 19 -0181 Sep 09 11:23:18 12496 -26967 P -1.2466 0.5407 71.6S 7.4W 0
04373 20 -0163 Sep 19 18:59:07 12285 -26744 P -1.2845 0.4752 71.9S 136.3W 0
04416 21 -0145 Oct 01 02:44:19 12077 -26521 P -1.3139 0.4249 71.9S 92.3E 0
04459 22 -0127 Oct 11 10:35:28 11873 -26298 P -1.3377 0.3849 71.7S 40.5W 0
04502 23 -0109 Oct 22 18:33:27 11673 -26075 P -1.3552 0.3557 71.2S 174.7W 0
04545 24 -0091 Nov 02 02:35:52 11476 -25852 P -1.3683 0.3341 70.5S 50.5E 0
04589 25 -0073 Nov 13 10:43:12 11282 -25629 P -1.3771 0.3199 69.6S 84.9W 0
04634 26 -0055 Nov 23 18:51:48 11091 -25406 P -1.3840 0.3090 68.6S 140.0E 0
04679 27 -0037 Dec 05 03:00:55 10903 -25183 P -1.3899 0.2996 67.5S 5.5E 0
04725 28 -0019 Dec 15 11:08:27 10717 -24960 P -1.3965 0.2890 66.5S 128.0W 0
04771 29 -0001 Dec 26 19:13:58 10534 -24737 P -1.4044 0.2759 65.4S 99.5E 0
04816 30 0018 Jan 06 03:13:06 10353 -24514 P -1.4168 0.2553 64.4S 30.9W 0
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
04862 31 0036 Jan 17 11:06:51 10174 -24291 P -1.4329 0.2281 63.4S 159.7W 0
04907 32 0054 Jan 27 18:51:58 9997 -24068 P -1.4557 0.1898 62.6S 74.0E 0
04951 33 0072 Feb 08 02:30:05 9822 -23845 P -1.4835 0.1427 62.0S 50.2W 0
04995 34 0090 Feb 18 09:56:40 9647 -23622 P -1.5202 0.0803 61.4S 171.5W 0
05040 35 0108 Feb 29 17:15:40 9474 -23399 Pe -1.5625 0.0082 61.1S 69.3E 0
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.
[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.
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)"
