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 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 central eclipses of Saros 54 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 54 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0130 Jun 18 | 01m02s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0166 May 28 | 00m19s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0743 Jun 15 | 07m28s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0455 Dec 06 | 01m53s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0437 Dec 17 | 01m45s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0184 May 16 | 00m01s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0923 Feb 27 | - | 0.91764 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0032 Sep 23 | - | 0.04912 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 54. 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 54.
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
01700 -37 -1284 Jul 25 11:02:31 30665 -40611 Pb -1.4893 0.0993 63.8S 109.3E 0
01745 -36 -1266 Aug 05 18:33:52 30309 -40388 P -1.4312 0.2056 63.0S 14.5W 0
01791 -35 -1248 Aug 16 02:16:57 29955 -40165 P -1.3813 0.2970 62.2S 141.0W 0
01836 -34 -1230 Aug 27 10:08:47 29604 -39942 P -1.3375 0.3772 61.6S 90.5E 0
01881 -33 -1212 Sep 06 18:11:01 29255 -39719 P -1.3014 0.4434 61.1S 40.4W 0
01926 -32 -1194 Sep 18 02:22:03 28907 -39496 P -1.2717 0.4978 60.8S 173.3W 0
01971 -31 -1176 Sep 28 10:43:18 28562 -39273 P -1.2500 0.5376 60.6S 51.2E 0
02018 -30 -1158 Oct 09 19:11:37 28219 -39050 P -1.2332 0.5683 60.6S 85.9W 0
02064 -29 -1140 Oct 20 03:46:53 27878 -38827 P -1.2217 0.5894 60.8S 135.2E 0
02109 -28 -1122 Oct 31 12:27:26 27539 -38604 P -1.2142 0.6033 61.1S 5.1W 0
02154 -27 -1104 Nov 10 21:12:57 27202 -38381 P -1.2105 0.6101 61.7S 146.7W 0
02197 -26 -1086 Nov 22 05:59:18 26867 -38158 P -1.2071 0.6165 62.3S 71.3E 0
02240 -25 -1068 Dec 02 14:47:08 26535 -37935 P -1.2048 0.6210 63.1S 71.3W 0
02283 -24 -1050 Dec 13 23:32:46 26204 -37712 P -1.2004 0.6295 64.0S 146.4E 0
02326 -23 -1032 Dec 24 08:17:08 25875 -37489 P -1.1946 0.6407 65.0S 4.0E 0
02369 -22 -1013 Jan 04 16:55:21 25549 -37266 P -1.1838 0.6613 66.1S 137.2W 0
02411 -21 -0995 Jan 15 01:30:15 25224 -37043 P -1.1698 0.6881 67.1S 82.0E 0
02452 -20 -0977 Jan 26 09:57:00 24902 -36820 P -1.1492 0.7275 68.2S 57.3W 0
02493 -19 -0959 Feb 05 18:17:58 24582 -36597 P -1.1234 0.7773 69.2S 164.2E 0
02534 -18 -0941 Feb 17 02:29:38 24263 -36374 P -1.0898 0.8423 70.1S 27.5E 0
02574 -17 -0923 Feb 27 10:35:25 23947 -36151 P -1.0511 0.9176 70.8S 108.3W 0
02614 -16 -0905 Mar 10 18:32:35 23633 -35928 T- -1.0053 1.0072 71.4S 117.5E 0
02654 -15 -0887 Mar 21 02:22:47 23321 -35705 T -0.9534 1.0558 67.9S 64.6W 17 624 03m18s
02695 -14 -0869 Apr 01 10:06:04 23011 -35482 T -0.8955 1.0623 58.0S 157.8E 26 459 04m04s
02736 -13 -0851 Apr 11 17:43:49 22703 -35259 T -0.8327 1.0677 48.2S 31.5E 33 396 04m50s
02775 -12 -0833 Apr 23 01:16:36 22397 -35036 T -0.7657 1.0720 38.9S 90.1W 40 361 05m33s
02816 -11 -0815 May 03 08:45:04 22093 -34813 T -0.6950 1.0754 29.9S 151.1E 46 338 06m13s
02857 -10 -0797 May 14 16:11:28 21792 -34590 T -0.6224 1.0778 21.6S 34.0E 51 320 06m47s
02898 -09 -0779 May 24 23:36:32 21492 -34367 T -0.5483 1.0792 13.9S 81.8W 57 305 07m11s
02939 -08 -0761 Jun 05 07:01:07 21195 -34144 T -0.4737 1.0797 6.8S 163.3E 62 292 07m25s
02981 -07 -0743 Jun 15 14:27:14 20899 -33921 T -0.4004 1.0792 0.7S 48.8E 66 279 07m28s
03024 -06 -0725 Jun 26 21:55:33 20606 -33698 T -0.3288 1.0777 4.6N 65.5W 71 266 07m18s
03069 -05 -0707 Jul 07 05:27:58 20314 -33475 T -0.2608 1.0755 8.7N 179.9E 75 253 07m00s
03113 -04 -0689 Jul 18 13:03:42 20025 -33252 T -0.1957 1.0724 11.8N 65.0E 79 240 06m35s
03158 -03 -0671 Jul 28 20:46:07 19738 -33029 T -0.1364 1.0688 13.6N 51.1W 82 226 06m07s
03203 -02 -0653 Aug 09 04:34:13 19453 -32806 T -0.0820 1.0645 14.2N 168.5W 85 212 05m37s
03248 -01 -0635 Aug 19 12:30:05 19170 -32583 T -0.0345 1.0600 13.7N 72.2E 88 197 05m08s
03294 00 -0617 Aug 30 20:32:32 18889 -32360 Tm 0.0070 1.0551 12.3N 48.9W 90 182 04m39s
03341 01 -0599 Sep 10 04:43:29 18610 -32137 T 0.0411 1.0501 9.9N 172.5W 88 166 04m13s
03388 02 -0581 Sep 21 13:01:27 18333 -31914 T 0.0690 1.0450 7.0N 62.0E 86 150 03m48s
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
03435 03 -0563 Oct 01 21:26:14 18058 -31691 T 0.0905 1.0402 3.6N 65.5W 85 135 03m25s
03481 04 -0545 Oct 13 05:57:57 17786 -31468 T 0.1060 1.0355 0.0S 165.2E 84 120 03m04s
03526 05 -0527 Oct 23 14:35:17 17515 -31245 T 0.1160 1.0313 3.7S 34.4E 83 106 02m46s
03571 06 -0509 Nov 03 23:17:35 17247 -31022 T 0.1217 1.0275 7.3S 97.6W 83 94 02m29s
03616 07 -0491 Nov 14 08:01:38 16949 -30799 T 0.1254 1.0241 10.5S 130.1E 83 83 02m15s
03661 08 -0473 Nov 25 16:48:43 16634 -30576 T 0.1262 1.0213 13.2S 2.7W 83 73 02m03s
03705 09 -0455 Dec 06 01:34:59 16328 -30353 T 0.1270 1.0191 15.2S 135.1W 83 66 01m53s
03748 10 -0437 Dec 17 10:19:56 16031 -30130 H3 0.1286 1.0173 16.2S 93.1E 83 60 01m45s
03791 11 -0419 Dec 27 19:00:22 15741 -29907 H 0.1333 1.0160 16.2S 37.5W 82 55 01m39s
03833 12 -0400 Jan 08 03:36:41 15459 -29684 H 0.1409 1.0152 15.1S 167.2W 82 53 01m35s
03875 13 -0382 Jan 18 12:05:58 15184 -29461 H 0.1538 1.0147 12.9S 64.7E 81 51 01m33s
03916 14 -0364 Jan 29 20:27:34 14915 -29238 H 0.1722 1.0144 9.5S 61.9W 80 50 01m31s
03955 15 -0346 Feb 09 04:40:18 14653 -29015 H 0.1973 1.0142 5.1S 173.2E 79 50 01m30s
03995 16 -0328 Feb 20 12:44:07 14397 -28792 H 0.2290 1.0141 0.1N 50.1E 77 50 01m29s
04036 17 -0310 Mar 02 20:37:22 14147 -28569 H 0.2687 1.0139 6.2N 70.9W 74 49 01m26s
04078 18 -0292 Mar 13 04:21:15 13902 -28346 H 0.3154 1.0134 13.0N 170.0E 72 48 01m22s
04118 19 -0274 Mar 24 11:55:07 13662 -28123 H 0.3695 1.0126 20.3N 53.2E 68 47 01m15s
04158 20 -0256 Apr 03 19:20:53 13428 -27900 H 0.4293 1.0114 28.2N 61.8W 64 43 01m05s
04199 21 -0238 Apr 15 02:36:22 13198 -27677 H 0.4970 1.0096 36.5N 174.4W 60 38 00m53s
04240 22 -0220 Apr 25 09:45:57 12973 -27454 H 0.5684 1.0072 45.2N 74.6E 55 30 00m37s
04281 23 -0202 May 06 16:47:22 12752 -27231 H 0.6460 1.0041 54.4N 34.3W 49 19 00m20s
04322 24 -0184 May 16 23:45:33 12536 -27008 H 0.7249 1.0003 63.9N 141.9W 43 2 00m01s
04365 25 -0166 May 28 06:37:14 12323 -26785 A 0.8082 0.9955 74.2N 112.2E 36 27 00m19s
04408 26 -0148 Jun 07 13:28:56 12115 -26562 A 0.8904 0.9897 85.5N 4.6E 27 81 00m39s
04451 27 -0130 Jun 18 20:17:43 11911 -26339 A 0.9739 0.9819 78.6N 91.6E 12 303 01m02s
04494 28 -0112 Jun 29 03:08:17 11709 -26116 P 1.0548 0.8844 65.4N 16.0W 0
04537 29 -0094 Jul 10 09:59:11 11512 -25893 P 1.1341 0.7419 64.4N 129.5W 0
04581 30 -0076 Jul 20 16:54:35 11317 -25670 P 1.2084 0.6094 63.5N 116.3E 0
04626 31 -0058 Jul 31 23:53:34 11126 -25447 P 1.2787 0.4855 62.7N 1.4E 0
04671 32 -0040 Aug 11 06:58:01 10937 -25224 P 1.3435 0.3726 62.1N 114.6W 0
04717 33 -0022 Aug 22 14:08:43 10751 -25001 P 1.4020 0.2719 61.5N 128.0E 0
04763 34 -0004 Sep 01 21:27:04 10568 -24778 P 1.4533 0.1846 61.1N 8.9E 0
04808 35 0014 Sep 13 04:52:58 10386 -24555 P 1.4976 0.1105 60.8N 112.1W 0
04854 36 0032 Sep 23 12:26:34 10207 -24332 Pe 1.5349 0.0491 60.7N 125.2E 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)"
