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 54 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 -1284 Jul 25. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0032 Sep 23. The total duration of Saros series 54 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1284 Jul 25 11:02:31 TD
Last Eclipse = 0032 Sep 23 12:26:34 TD
Duration of Saros 54 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 54 is composed of 74 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 54 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 30 | 40.5% |
| Annular | A | 3 | 4.1% |
| Total | T | 26 | 35.1% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 15 | 20.3% |
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 54 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 54 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 74 eclipses in Saros 54: 21P 26T 15H 3A 9P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 54 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0743 Jun 15 Duration = 07m28s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0455 Dec 06 Duration = 01m53s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0130 Jun 18 Duration = 01m02s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0166 May 28 Duration = 00m19s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0437 Dec 17 Duration = 01m45s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0184 May 16 Duration = 00m01s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0923 Feb 27 Magnitude = 0.9176
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0032 Sep 23 Magnitude = 0.0491
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 54 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 054 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 -37 -1284 Jul 25 11:02:31 29701 -40611 Pb -1.4893 0.0993 63.8S 105.3E 0 30
02 -36 -1266 Aug 05 18:33:52 29357 -40388 P -1.4312 0.2056 63.0S 18.5W 0 40
03 -35 -1248 Aug 16 02:16:57 29015 -40165 P -1.3813 0.2970 62.2S 145.0W 0 49
04 -34 -1230 Aug 27 10:08:47 28674 -39942 P -1.3375 0.3772 61.6S 86.6E 0 58
05 -33 -1212 Sep 06 18:11:01 28336 -39719 P -1.3014 0.4434 61.1S 44.2W 0 67
06 -32 -1194 Sep 18 02:22:03 27999 -39496 P -1.2717 0.4978 60.8S 177.1W 0 76
07 -31 -1176 Sep 28 10:43:18 27665 -39273 P -1.2500 0.5376 60.6S 47.5E 0 85
08 -30 -1158 Oct 09 19:11:37 27333 -39050 P -1.2332 0.5683 60.6S 89.6W 0 95
09 -29 -1140 Oct 20 03:46:53 27002 -38827 P -1.2217 0.5894 60.8S 131.5E 0 104
10 -28 -1122 Oct 31 12:27:26 26674 -38604 P -1.2142 0.6033 61.1S 8.7W 0 113
11 -27 -1104 Nov 10 21:12:57 26348 -38381 P -1.2105 0.6101 61.7S 150.3W 0 122
12 -26 -1086 Nov 22 05:59:18 26023 -38158 P -1.2071 0.6165 62.3S 67.8E 0 132
13 -25 -1068 Dec 02 14:47:08 25701 -37935 P -1.2048 0.6210 63.1S 74.8W 0 142
14 -24 -1050 Dec 13 23:32:46 25381 -37712 P -1.2004 0.6295 64.0S 142.9E 0 152
15 -23 -1032 Dec 24 08:17:08 25062 -37489 P -1.1946 0.6407 65.0S 0.6E 0 162
16 -22 -1013 Jan 04 16:55:21 24746 -37266 P -1.1838 0.6613 66.1S 140.5W 0 173
17 -21 -0995 Jan 15 01:30:15 24432 -37043 P -1.1698 0.6881 67.1S 78.7E 0 184
18 -20 -0977 Jan 26 09:57:00 24120 -36820 P -1.1492 0.7275 68.2S 60.6W 0 195
19 -19 -0959 Feb 05 18:17:58 23809 -36597 P -1.1234 0.7773 69.2S 161.0E 0 207
20 -18 -0941 Feb 17 02:29:38 23501 -36374 P -1.0898 0.8423 70.1S 24.3E 0 219
21 -17 -0923 Feb 27 10:35:25 23195 -36151 P -1.0511 0.9176 70.8S 111.5W 0 232
22 -16 -0905 Mar 10 18:32:35 22890 -35928 T- -1.0053 1.0072 71.4S 114.4E 0 245 - -
23 -15 -0887 Mar 21 02:22:47 22588 -35705 T -0.9534 1.0558 67.9S 67.6W 17 306 624 03m18s
24 -14 -0869 Apr 01 10:06:04 22288 -35482 T -0.8955 1.0623 58.0S 154.8E 26 324 459 04m04s
25 -13 -0851 Apr 11 17:43:49 21990 -35259 T -0.8327 1.0677 48.2S 28.5E 33 333 396 04m50s
26 -12 -0833 Apr 23 01:16:36 21693 -35036 T -0.7657 1.0720 38.9S 93.1W 40 339 361 05m33s
27 -11 -0815 May 03 08:45:04 21399 -34813 T -0.6950 1.0754 29.9S 148.2E 46 344 338 06m13s
28 -10 -0797 May 14 16:11:28 21107 -34590 T -0.6224 1.0778 21.6S 31.1E 51 348 320 06m47s
29 -09 -0779 May 24 23:36:32 20817 -34367 T -0.5483 1.0792 13.9S 84.7W 57 351 305 07m11s
30 -08 -0761 Jun 05 07:01:07 20529 -34144 T -0.4737 1.0797 6.8S 160.5E 62 355 292 07m25s
31 -07 -0743 Jun 15 14:27:14 20242 -33921 T -0.4004 1.0792 0.7S 46.0E 66 359 279 07m28s
32 -06 -0725 Jun 26 21:55:33 19958 -33698 T -0.3288 1.0777 4.6N 68.2W 71 3 266 07m18s
33 -05 -0707 Jul 07 05:27:58 19676 -33475 T -0.2608 1.0755 8.7N 177.2E 75 8 253 07m00s
34 -04 -0689 Jul 18 13:03:42 19378 -33252 T -0.1957 1.0724 11.8N 62.3E 79 12 240 06m35s
35 -03 -0671 Jul 28 20:46:07 19075 -33029 T -0.1364 1.0688 13.6N 53.9W 82 17 226 06m07s
36 -02 -0653 Aug 09 04:34:13 18777 -32806 T -0.0820 1.0645 14.2N 171.3W 85 21 212 05m37s
37 -01 -0635 Aug 19 12:30:05 18483 -32583 T -0.0345 1.0600 13.7N 69.3E 88 25 197 05m08s
38 00 -0617 Aug 30 20:32:32 18194 -32360 Tm 0.0070 1.0551 12.3N 51.8W 90 202 182 04m39s
39 01 -0599 Sep 10 04:43:29 17909 -32137 T 0.0411 1.0501 9.9N 175.4W 88 208 166 04m13s
40 02 -0581 Sep 21 13:01:27 17629 -31914 T 0.0690 1.0450 7.0N 59.0E 86 209 150 03m48s
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 03 -0563 Oct 01 21:26:14 17353 -31691 T 0.0905 1.0402 3.6N 68.4W 85 209 135 03m25s
42 04 -0545 Oct 13 05:57:57 17082 -31468 T 0.1060 1.0355 0.0S 162.2E 84 209 120 03m04s
43 05 -0527 Oct 23 14:35:17 16814 -31245 T 0.1160 1.0313 3.7S 31.4E 83 207 106 02m46s
44 06 -0509 Nov 03 23:17:35 16551 -31022 T 0.1217 1.0275 7.3S 100.5W 83 205 94 02m29s
45 07 -0491 Nov 14 08:01:38 16292 -30799 T 0.1254 1.0241 10.5S 127.4E 83 202 83 02m15s
46 08 -0473 Nov 25 16:48:43 16036 -30576 T 0.1262 1.0213 13.2S 5.2W 83 198 73 02m03s
47 09 -0455 Dec 06 01:34:59 15785 -30353 T 0.1270 1.0191 15.2S 137.4W 83 194 66 01m53s
48 10 -0437 Dec 17 10:19:56 15537 -30130 H3 0.1286 1.0173 16.2S 91.0E 83 190 60 01m45s
49 11 -0419 Dec 27 19:00:22 15293 -29907 H 0.1333 1.0160 16.2S 39.4W 82 185 55 01m39s
50 12 -0400 Jan 08 03:36:41 15052 -29684 H 0.1409 1.0152 15.1S 168.9W 82 180 53 01m35s
51 13 -0382 Jan 18 12:05:58 14815 -29461 H 0.1538 1.0147 12.9S 63.2E 81 176 51 01m33s
52 14 -0364 Jan 29 20:27:34 14581 -29238 H 0.1722 1.0144 9.5S 63.3W 80 172 50 01m31s
53 15 -0346 Feb 09 04:40:18 14351 -29015 H 0.1973 1.0142 5.1S 172.0E 79 169 50 01m30s
54 16 -0328 Feb 20 12:44:07 14124 -28792 H 0.2290 1.0141 0.1N 48.9E 77 166 50 01m29s
55 17 -0310 Mar 02 20:37:22 13900 -28569 H 0.2687 1.0139 6.2N 72.0W 74 164 49 01m26s
56 18 -0292 Mar 13 04:21:15 13679 -28346 H 0.3154 1.0134 13.0N 169.1E 72 162 48 01m22s
57 19 -0274 Mar 24 11:55:07 13461 -28123 H 0.3695 1.0126 20.3N 52.3E 68 161 47 01m15s
58 20 -0256 Apr 03 19:20:53 13246 -27900 H 0.4293 1.0114 28.2N 62.6W 64 160 43 01m05s
59 21 -0238 Apr 15 02:36:22 13033 -27677 H 0.4970 1.0096 36.5N 175.1W 60 159 38 00m53s
60 22 -0220 Apr 25 09:45:57 12823 -27454 H 0.5684 1.0072 45.2N 74.0E 55 159 30 00m37s
61 23 -0202 May 06 16:47:22 12616 -27231 H 0.6460 1.0041 54.4N 34.8W 49 159 19 00m20s
62 24 -0184 May 16 23:45:33 12412 -27008 H 0.7249 1.0003 63.9N 142.4W 43 159 2 00m01s
63 25 -0166 May 28 06:37:14 12210 -26785 A 0.8082 0.9955 74.2N 111.7E 36 159 27 00m19s
64 26 -0148 Jun 07 13:28:56 12010 -26562 A 0.8904 0.9897 85.5N 4.1E 27 157 81 00m39s
65 27 -0130 Jun 18 20:17:43 11812 -26339 A 0.9739 0.9819 78.6N 91.2E 12 348 303 01m02s
66 28 -0112 Jun 29 03:08:17 11617 -26116 P 1.0548 0.8844 65.4N 16.4W 0 344
67 29 -0094 Jul 10 09:59:11 11424 -25893 P 1.1341 0.7419 64.4N 129.8W 0 335
68 30 -0076 Jul 20 16:54:35 11233 -25670 P 1.2084 0.6094 63.5N 115.9E 0 325
69 31 -0058 Jul 31 23:53:34 11043 -25447 P 1.2787 0.4855 62.7N 1.1E 0 316
70 32 -0040 Aug 11 06:58:01 10856 -25224 P 1.3435 0.3726 62.1N 114.9W 0 307
71 33 -0022 Aug 22 14:08:43 10670 -25001 P 1.4020 0.2719 61.5N 127.7E 0 298
72 34 -0004 Sep 01 21:27:04 10486 -24778 P 1.4533 0.1846 61.1N 8.5E 0 289
73 35 0014 Sep 13 04:52:58 10303 -24555 P 1.4976 0.1105 60.8N 112.4W 0 280
74 36 0032 Sep 23 12:26:34 10122 -24332 Pe 1.5349 0.0491 60.7N 124.8E 0 271
[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)"
