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 52 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 -1378 Aug 14. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0155 Feb 19. The total duration of Saros series 52 is 1532.56 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1378 Aug 14 13:12:41 TD
Last Eclipse = 0155 Feb 19 11:13:58 TD
Duration of Saros 52 = 1532.56 Years
Saros 52 is composed of 86 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 52 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 86 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 46 | 53.5% |
| Annular | A | 40 | 46.5% |
| Total | T | 0 | 0.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 0 | 0.0% |
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 52 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 52 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 39 | 97.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.5% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 86 eclipses in Saros 52: 24P 40A 22P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 52 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0530 Jan 04 Duration = 10m50s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0945 May 01 Duration = 01m30s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0963 Apr 20 Magnitude = 0.9224
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0155 Feb 19 Magnitude = 0.0115
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 52 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 052 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 -46 -1378 Aug 14 13:12:41 31528 -41773 Pb -1.5201 0.0278 62.5S 64.4E 0 46
02 -45 -1360 Aug 24 21:13:05 31174 -41550 P -1.4850 0.0962 61.9S 66.3W 0 55
03 -44 -1342 Sep 05 05:21:06 30821 -41327 P -1.4566 0.1517 61.4S 161.2E 0 65
04 -43 -1324 Sep 15 13:36:18 30470 -41104 P -1.4346 0.1945 61.0S 27.1E 0 74
05 -42 -1306 Sep 26 21:58:51 30121 -40881 P -1.4191 0.2249 60.8S 108.7W 0 83
06 -41 -1288 Oct 07 06:27:50 29774 -40658 P -1.4092 0.2444 60.8S 113.9E 0 92
07 -40 -1270 Oct 18 15:02:56 29429 -40435 P -1.4049 0.2535 60.9S 25.0W 0 101
08 -39 -1252 Oct 28 23:40:54 29087 -40212 P -1.4034 0.2573 61.2S 164.7W 0 111
09 -38 -1234 Nov 09 08:23:08 28746 -39989 P -1.4060 0.2534 61.6S 54.5E 0 120
10 -37 -1216 Nov 19 17:05:52 28407 -39766 P -1.4101 0.2466 62.2S 86.6W 0 130
11 -36 -1198 Dec 01 01:48:49 28070 -39543 P -1.4147 0.2388 63.0S 132.0E 0 139
12 -35 -1180 Dec 11 10:27:44 27735 -39320 P -1.4171 0.2350 63.8S 8.6W 0 149
13 -34 -1162 Dec 22 19:03:55 27403 -39097 P -1.4181 0.2335 64.8S 148.8W 0 159
14 -33 -1143 Jan 02 03:33:34 27072 -38874 P -1.4149 0.2394 65.8S 72.2E 0 170
15 -32 -1125 Jan 13 11:56:16 26743 -38651 P -1.4071 0.2534 66.8S 65.5W 0 181
16 -31 -1107 Jan 23 20:10:09 26416 -38428 P -1.3934 0.2781 67.9S 158.6E 0 192
17 -30 -1089 Feb 04 04:15:20 26092 -38205 P -1.3734 0.3140 68.9S 24.2E 0 204
18 -29 -1071 Feb 14 12:10:04 25769 -37982 P -1.3461 0.3632 69.8S 108.0W 0 216
19 -28 -1053 Feb 25 19:54:43 25448 -37759 P -1.3116 0.4254 70.5S 121.7E 0 229
20 -27 -1035 Mar 08 03:29:08 25129 -37536 P -1.2696 0.5008 71.1S 6.6W 0 242
21 -26 -1017 Mar 19 10:54:23 24813 -37313 P -1.2212 0.5879 71.5S 133.0W 0 255
22 -25 -0999 Mar 29 18:08:50 24498 -37090 P -1.1646 0.6895 71.7S 103.2E 0 269
23 -24 -0981 Apr 10 01:16:03 24185 -36867 P -1.1028 0.8002 71.6S 18.9W 0 282
24 -23 -0963 Apr 20 08:14:34 23874 -36644 P -1.0344 0.9224 71.3S 138.7W 0 295
25 -22 -0945 May 01 15:08:00 23566 -36421 A -0.9628 0.9812 59.3S 79.7E 15 330 252 01m30s
26 -21 -0927 May 11 21:53:47 23259 -36198 A -0.8855 0.9820 45.6S 37.0W 27 342 137 01m41s
27 -20 -0909 May 23 04:37:51 22954 -35975 A -0.8075 0.9811 35.0S 146.3W 36 349 114 01m59s
28 -19 -0891 Jun 02 11:17:54 22652 -35752 A -0.7266 0.9792 25.8S 107.7E 43 354 107 02m22s
29 -18 -0873 Jun 13 17:58:30 22351 -35529 A -0.6470 0.9766 17.9S 3.0E 50 358 109 02m51s
30 -17 -0855 Jun 24 00:38:07 22052 -35306 A -0.5672 0.9733 11.0S 100.5W 55 2 116 03m23s
31 -16 -0837 Jul 05 07:21:54 21756 -35083 A -0.4915 0.9695 5.5S 155.9E 61 6 126 03m55s
32 -15 -0819 Jul 15 14:07:59 21461 -34860 A -0.4183 0.9652 1.2S 52.5E 65 11 138 04m27s
33 -14 -0801 Jul 26 20:59:11 21168 -34637 A -0.3499 0.9606 1.9N 51.7W 70 15 152 04m57s
34 -13 -0783 Aug 06 03:56:12 20878 -34414 A -0.2870 0.9557 3.7N 157.0W 73 19 168 05m26s
35 -12 -0765 Aug 17 11:00:55 20589 -34191 A -0.2310 0.9507 4.2N 96.1E 77 22 185 05m53s
36 -11 -0747 Aug 27 18:13:34 20303 -33968 A -0.1818 0.9457 3.6N 12.9W 80 25 203 06m20s
37 -10 -0729 Sep 08 01:33:43 20018 -33745 A -0.1394 0.9409 2.1N 123.8W 82 27 221 06m47s
38 -09 -0711 Sep 18 09:03:14 19735 -33522 A -0.1051 0.9363 0.3S 122.8E 84 29 238 07m15s
39 -08 -0693 Sep 29 16:40:11 19443 -33299 A -0.0772 0.9320 3.3S 7.3E 86 29 255 07m44s
40 -07 -0675 Oct 10 00:24:52 19139 -33076 A -0.0562 0.9282 6.7S 110.2W 87 29 270 08m13s
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 -06 -0657 Oct 21 08:15:36 18839 -32853 A -0.0405 0.9249 10.3S 130.8E 88 28 283 08m43s
42 -05 -0639 Oct 31 16:12:24 18544 -32630 A -0.0302 0.9222 13.9S 10.4E 88 25 294 09m12s
43 -04 -0621 Nov 12 00:12:30 18254 -32407 A -0.0230 0.9202 17.3S 110.5W 89 22 302 09m40s
44 -03 -0603 Nov 22 08:14:30 17969 -32184 Am -0.0176 0.9188 20.2S 128.4E 89 18 308 10m06s
45 -02 -0585 Dec 03 16:16:58 17688 -31961 A -0.0131 0.9182 22.3S 7.6E 89 14 311 10m27s
46 -01 -0567 Dec 14 00:18:30 17411 -31738 A -0.0084 0.9182 23.7S 112.6W 89 9 311 10m42s
47 00 -0549 Dec 25 08:15:49 17138 -31515 A -0.0002 0.9189 23.9S 128.3E 90 0 308 10m49s
48 01 -0530 Jan 04 16:08:23 16870 -31292 A 0.0118 0.9202 22.9S 10.4E 89 182 302 10m50s
49 02 -0512 Jan 15 23:54:16 16606 -31069 A 0.0290 0.9222 20.7S 106.1W 88 177 294 10m41s
50 03 -0494 Jan 26 07:33:51 16346 -30846 A 0.0513 0.9245 17.4S 138.5E 87 173 285 10m24s
51 04 -0476 Feb 06 15:03:05 16090 -30623 A 0.0820 0.9274 12.9S 25.0E 85 169 274 10m00s
52 05 -0458 Feb 16 22:25:01 15837 -30400 A 0.1187 0.9304 7.5S 87.3W 83 167 262 09m29s
53 06 -0440 Feb 28 05:36:11 15589 -30177 A 0.1647 0.9337 1.2S 162.5E 81 165 250 08m54s
54 07 -0422 Mar 10 12:40:07 15344 -29954 A 0.2165 0.9371 5.7N 53.6E 77 163 239 08m14s
55 08 -0404 Mar 20 19:33:16 15103 -29731 A 0.2774 0.9405 13.4N 53.0W 74 162 229 07m32s
56 09 -0386 Apr 01 02:20:48 14865 -29508 A 0.3431 0.9437 21.4N 158.4W 70 161 220 06m49s
57 10 -0368 Apr 11 08:59:55 14630 -29285 A 0.4160 0.9467 30.0N 98.1E 65 160 215 06m06s
58 11 -0350 Apr 22 15:34:12 14399 -29062 A 0.4930 0.9494 38.8N 4.1W 60 160 213 05m25s
59 12 -0332 May 02 22:03:21 14171 -28839 A 0.5746 0.9516 48.0N 104.8W 55 160 216 04m47s
60 13 -0314 May 14 04:30:35 13947 -28616 A 0.6581 0.9534 57.5N 155.3E 49 161 227 04m13s
61 14 -0296 May 24 10:56:12 13725 -28393 A 0.7430 0.9545 67.3N 56.6E 42 162 250 03m45s
62 15 -0278 Jun 04 17:21:55 13506 -28170 A 0.8282 0.9548 77.8N 40.2W 34 164 297 03m22s
63 16 -0260 Jun 14 23:50:04 13291 -27947 A 0.9118 0.9541 89.1N 76.6W 24 227 416 03m05s
64 17 -0242 Jun 26 06:22:06 13078 -27724 An 0.9929 0.9507 71.0N 57.8W 5 345 - 02m50s
65 18 -0224 Jul 06 12:59:15 12867 -27501 P 1.0700 0.8486 64.8N 164.8W 0 339
66 19 -0206 Jul 17 19:43:04 12660 -27278 P 1.1423 0.7229 63.9N 83.7E 0 329
67 20 -0188 Jul 28 02:35:11 12455 -27055 P 1.2085 0.6078 63.1N 29.6W 0 320
68 21 -0170 Aug 08 09:36:26 12252 -26832 P 1.2681 0.5041 62.4N 145.0W 0 311
69 22 -0152 Aug 18 16:46:22 12052 -26609 P 1.3214 0.4113 61.8N 97.7E 0 302
70 23 -0134 Aug 30 00:07:33 11854 -26386 P 1.3664 0.3330 61.3N 22.3W 0 293
71 24 -0116 Sep 09 07:38:46 11658 -26163 P 1.4039 0.2680 61.0N 144.7W 0 284
72 25 -0098 Sep 20 15:21:31 11464 -25940 P 1.4331 0.2172 60.9N 90.1E 0 275
73 26 -0080 Sep 30 23:12:44 11273 -25717 P 1.4562 0.1769 60.9N 37.1W 0 266
74 27 -0062 Oct 12 07:15:02 11083 -25494 P 1.4713 0.1506 61.0N 167.2W 0 257
75 28 -0044 Oct 22 15:24:22 10895 -25271 P 1.4815 0.1325 61.4N 60.9E 0 247
76 29 -0026 Nov 02 23:41:43 10709 -25048 P 1.4859 0.1244 61.9N 73.0W 0 238
77 30 -0008 Nov 13 08:03:40 10524 -24825 P 1.4874 0.1211 62.5N 151.7E 0 229
78 31 0010 Nov 24 16:30:45 10342 -24602 P 1.4856 0.1234 63.3N 14.9E 0 219
79 32 0028 Dec 05 00:59:19 10160 -24379 P 1.4833 0.1263 64.1N 122.4W 0 209
80 33 0046 Dec 16 09:28:43 9980 -24156 P 1.4810 0.1290 65.1N 99.6E 0 199
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 34 0064 Dec 26 17:56:59 9801 -23933 P 1.4805 0.1283 66.1N 38.4W 0 188
82 35 0083 Jan 07 02:23:03 9624 -23710 P 1.4820 0.1238 67.2N 176.4W 0 177
83 36 0101 Jan 17 10:44:09 9448 -23487 P 1.4885 0.1101 68.2N 46.3E 0 165
84 37 0119 Jan 28 19:00:14 9272 -23264 P 1.4998 0.0877 69.2N 90.3W 0 153
85 38 0137 Feb 08 03:09:58 9098 -23041 P 1.5167 0.0546 70.1N 134.1E 0 141
86 39 0155 Feb 19 11:13:58 8925 -22818 Pe 1.5389 0.0115 70.8N 0.6W 0 128
[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)"
