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 69 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 -0724 Dec 09. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0665 Mar 22. The total duration of Saros series 69 is 1388.32 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0724 Dec 09 02:48:54 TD Last Eclipse = 0665 Mar 22 15:47:20 TD Duration of Saros 69 = 1388.32 Years
Saros 69 is composed of 78 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 69 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 78 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 35 | 44.9% |
| Annular | A | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | T | 43 | 55.1% |
| 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 69 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 69 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 78 eclipses in Saros 69: 14P 43T 21P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 69 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 69 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0142 May 13 | 05m28s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0286 Aug 07 | 01m15s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0304 Aug 17 | - | 0.97046 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0724 Dec 09 | - | 0.00554 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 69. 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 69.
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
03029 -42 -0724 Dec 09 02:48:54 20582 -33680 Pb 1.5521 0.0055 67.5N 130.3W 0
03073 -41 -0706 Dec 20 11:15:50 20291 -33457 P 1.5448 0.0165 66.4N 90.9E 0
03117 -40 -0688 Dec 30 19:40:35 20002 -33234 P 1.5350 0.0315 65.3N 46.8W 0
03162 -39 -0669 Jan 11 03:59:58 19715 -33011 P 1.5201 0.0558 64.3N 177.2E 0
03207 -38 -0651 Jan 21 12:14:48 19430 -32788 P 1.5007 0.0881 63.4N 42.7E 0
03252 -37 -0633 Feb 01 20:22:42 19147 -32565 P 1.4748 0.1322 62.6N 89.8W 0
03298 -36 -0615 Feb 12 04:23:39 18866 -32342 P 1.4425 0.1884 61.9N 139.7E 0
03345 -35 -0597 Feb 23 12:17:04 18588 -32119 P 1.4032 0.2581 61.4N 11.3E 0
03392 -34 -0579 Mar 05 20:03:40 18311 -31896 P 1.3576 0.3403 61.0N 115.3W 0
03439 -33 -0561 Mar 17 03:42:26 18036 -31673 P 1.3048 0.4368 60.8N 120.1E 0
03485 -32 -0543 Mar 27 11:15:28 17764 -31450 P 1.2463 0.5450 60.7N 3.0W 0
03530 -31 -0525 Apr 07 18:42:21 17493 -31227 P 1.1819 0.6655 60.8N 124.5W 0
03575 -30 -0507 Apr 18 02:06:04 17225 -31004 P 1.1138 0.7942 61.0N 114.7E 0
03620 -29 -0489 Apr 29 09:24:17 16924 -30781 P 1.0402 0.9342 61.4N 5.0W 0
03664 -28 -0471 May 09 16:41:49 16609 -30558 T 0.9651 1.0386 67.3N 92.6W 15 509 02m06s
03708 -27 -0453 May 20 23:57:02 16304 -30335 T 0.8874 1.0460 69.4N 175.5W 27 333 02m40s
03751 -26 -0435 May 31 07:14:08 16007 -30112 T 0.8101 1.0514 69.3N 94.5E 36 291 03m07s
03794 -25 -0417 Jun 11 14:30:53 15718 -29889 T 0.7318 1.0555 67.4N 1.2E 43 269 03m32s
03836 -24 -0399 Jun 21 21:52:27 15437 -29666 T 0.6567 1.0585 64.1N 97.5W 49 256 03m53s
03878 -23 -0381 Jul 03 05:16:57 15162 -29443 T 0.5837 1.0606 59.5N 159.1E 54 246 04m13s
03919 -22 -0363 Jul 13 12:47:19 14894 -29220 T 0.5151 1.0618 54.2N 51.0E 59 237 04m30s
03958 -21 -0345 Jul 24 20:22:43 14632 -28997 T 0.4502 1.0621 48.2N 60.8W 63 229 04m44s
03998 -20 -0327 Aug 04 04:06:08 14377 -28774 T 0.3918 1.0618 41.9N 176.2W 67 221 04m54s
04039 -19 -0309 Aug 15 11:56:49 14127 -28551 T 0.3394 1.0609 35.5N 65.4E 70 212 05m00s
04081 -18 -0291 Aug 25 19:55:06 13882 -28328 T 0.2931 1.0595 29.1N 55.7W 73 205 05m02s
04121 -17 -0273 Sep 06 04:02:20 13643 -28105 T 0.2543 1.0578 22.8N 179.4W 75 197 05m00s
04161 -16 -0255 Sep 16 12:17:51 13409 -27882 T 0.2223 1.0559 16.7N 54.5E 77 189 04m55s
04202 -15 -0237 Sep 27 20:42:09 13180 -27659 T 0.1973 1.0539 10.8N 73.8W 79 181 04m49s
04243 -14 -0219 Oct 08 05:13:14 12955 -27436 T 0.1780 1.0519 5.3N 156.4E 80 175 04m43s
04284 -13 -0201 Oct 19 13:52:09 12735 -27213 T 0.1652 1.0501 0.4N 24.7E 80 169 04m37s
04325 -12 -0183 Oct 29 22:36:26 12519 -26990 T 0.1566 1.0486 4.1S 107.9W 81 163 04m32s
04368 -11 -0165 Nov 10 07:25:27 12307 -26767 T 0.1519 1.0475 7.9S 118.6E 81 160 04m28s
04411 -10 -0147 Nov 20 16:17:33 12099 -26544 T 0.1496 1.0468 11.0S 15.4W 81 157 04m26s
04454 -09 -0129 Dec 02 01:12:00 11894 -26321 T 0.1490 1.0465 13.3S 149.6W 82 156 04m25s
04497 -08 -0111 Dec 12 10:05:34 11693 -26098 T 0.1478 1.0467 14.8S 76.7E 82 157 04m26s
04540 -07 -0093 Dec 23 18:57:31 11496 -25875 T 0.1453 1.0474 15.5S 56.5W 82 159 04m28s
04585 -06 -0074 Jan 03 03:45:55 11302 -25652 T 0.1398 1.0485 15.5S 171.3E 82 163 04m30s
04630 -05 -0056 Jan 14 12:30:30 11111 -25429 T 0.1310 1.0499 14.7S 39.9E 83 167 04m33s
04675 -04 -0038 Jan 24 21:07:27 10922 -25206 T 0.1161 1.0517 13.5S 89.5W 83 172 04m37s
04721 -03 -0020 Feb 05 05:38:33 10736 -24983 Tm 0.0964 1.0536 11.8S 142.4E 85 178 04m40s
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
04767 -02 -0002 Feb 15 14:00:36 10553 -24760 T 0.0693 1.0557 9.8S 16.5E 86 184 04m45s
04812 -01 0016 Feb 26 22:16:04 10372 -24537 T 0.0369 1.0576 7.7S 107.9W 88 190 04m50s
04858 00 0034 Mar 09 06:20:44 10193 -24314 T -0.0045 1.0594 5.6S 130.6E 90 195 04m56s
04903 01 0052 Mar 19 14:19:19 10015 -24091 T -0.0509 1.0609 3.7S 10.6E 87 200 05m02s
04947 02 0070 Mar 30 22:07:59 9840 -23868 T -0.1051 1.0619 2.1S 106.9W 84 204 05m08s
04991 03 0088 Apr 10 05:50:43 9665 -23645 T -0.1642 1.0625 1.0S 137.2E 81 207 05m15s
05036 04 0106 Apr 21 13:25:03 9492 -23422 T -0.2300 1.0623 0.7S 23.5E 77 209 05m22s
05081 05 0124 May 01 20:55:09 9319 -23199 T -0.2990 1.0615 1.1S 89.2W 73 211 05m26s
05125 06 0142 May 13 04:19:27 9148 -22976 T -0.3722 1.0598 2.5S 159.4E 68 211 05m28s
05168 07 0160 May 23 11:40:03 8976 -22753 T -0.4481 1.0573 5.0S 48.6E 63 210 05m24s
05209 08 0178 Jun 03 18:57:36 8805 -22530 T -0.5255 1.0540 8.6S 61.9W 58 209 05m13s
05250 09 0196 Jun 14 02:14:22 8634 -22307 T -0.6028 1.0498 13.3S 172.8W 53 207 04m54s
05291 10 0214 Jun 25 09:30:41 8463 -22084 T -0.6796 1.0448 19.2S 75.6E 47 203 04m23s
05332 11 0232 Jul 05 16:47:56 8292 -21861 T -0.7547 1.0389 26.1S 37.0W 41 199 03m44s
05373 12 0250 Jul 17 00:07:55 8120 -21638 T -0.8264 1.0322 34.2S 151.5W 34 194 02m57s
05414 13 0268 Jul 27 07:31:46 7948 -21415 T -0.8938 1.0247 43.5S 91.3E 26 188 02m07s
05454 14 0286 Aug 07 14:59:28 7775 -21192 T -0.9570 1.0161 55.1S 30.7W 16 194 01m15s
05494 15 0304 Aug 17 22:33:03 7601 -20969 P -1.0145 0.9705 70.7S 173.1W 0
05533 16 0322 Aug 29 06:13:02 7426 -20746 P -1.0658 0.8736 71.3S 57.9E 0
05573 17 0340 Sep 08 14:00:38 7251 -20523 P -1.1098 0.7912 71.7S 73.6W 0
05613 18 0358 Sep 19 21:53:58 7074 -20300 P -1.1483 0.7198 71.9S 153.2E 0
05654 19 0376 Sep 30 05:55:50 6897 -20077 P -1.1791 0.6633 71.9S 17.8E 0
05695 20 0394 Oct 11 14:04:04 6720 -19854 P -1.2040 0.6179 71.6S 119.1W 0
05736 21 0412 Oct 21 22:19:21 6541 -19631 P -1.2225 0.5845 71.0S 102.6E 0
05777 22 0430 Nov 02 06:38:40 6363 -19408 P -1.2369 0.5587 70.3S 36.2W 0
05817 23 0448 Nov 12 15:03:08 6185 -19185 P -1.2465 0.5416 69.4S 175.6W 0
05859 24 0466 Nov 23 23:29:39 6007 -18962 P -1.2537 0.5290 68.3S 45.2E 0
05902 25 0484 Dec 04 07:57:06 5830 -18739 P -1.2595 0.5187 67.2S 93.7W 0
05946 26 0502 Dec 15 16:23:51 5653 -18516 P -1.2652 0.5088 66.2S 128.2E 0
05990 27 0520 Dec 26 00:48:33 5476 -18293 P -1.2721 0.4969 65.1S 9.0W 0
06034 28 0539 Jan 06 09:08:45 5301 -18070 P -1.2818 0.4803 64.1S 144.5W 0
06080 29 0557 Jan 16 17:22:42 5126 -17847 P -1.2959 0.4558 63.2S 81.8E 0
06126 30 0575 Jan 28 01:30:01 4953 -17624 P -1.3147 0.4234 62.4S 49.9W 0
06172 31 0593 Feb 07 09:29:17 4781 -17401 P -1.3396 0.3804 61.8S 179.5W 0
06217 32 0611 Feb 18 17:18:20 4610 -17178 P -1.3719 0.3245 61.3S 53.8E 0
06262 33 0629 Mar 01 00:58:09 4441 -16955 P -1.4107 0.2572 61.0S 70.6W 0
06307 34 0647 Mar 12 08:27:23 4273 -16732 P -1.4573 0.1764 60.8S 167.7E 0
06354 35 0665 Mar 22 15:47:20 4108 -16509 Pe -1.5106 0.0840 60.8S 48.4E 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)"
