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 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 eclipses of Saros 69 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 0142 May 13 Duration = 05m28s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 0286 Aug 07 Duration = 01m15s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0304 Aug 17 Magnitude = 0.9705
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0724 Dec 09 Magnitude = 0.0055
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 69 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 069 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 -42 -0724 Dec 09 02:48:54 19935 -33680 Pb 1.5521 0.0055 67.5N 133.0W 0 187
02 -41 -0706 Dec 20 11:15:50 19653 -33457 P 1.5448 0.0165 66.4N 88.2E 0 175
03 -40 -0688 Dec 30 19:40:35 19354 -33234 P 1.5350 0.0315 65.3N 49.6W 0 165
04 -39 -0669 Jan 11 03:59:58 19051 -33011 P 1.5201 0.0558 64.3N 174.4E 0 154
05 -38 -0651 Jan 21 12:14:48 18753 -32788 P 1.5007 0.0881 63.4N 39.9E 0 145
06 -37 -0633 Feb 01 20:22:42 18459 -32565 P 1.4748 0.1322 62.6N 92.6W 0 135
07 -36 -0615 Feb 12 04:23:39 18171 -32342 P 1.4425 0.1884 61.9N 136.8E 0 126
08 -35 -0597 Feb 23 12:17:04 17886 -32119 P 1.4032 0.2581 61.4N 8.4E 0 116
09 -34 -0579 Mar 05 20:03:40 17607 -31896 P 1.3576 0.3403 61.0N 118.2W 0 108
10 -33 -0561 Mar 17 03:42:26 17331 -31673 P 1.3048 0.4368 60.8N 117.2E 0 99
11 -32 -0543 Mar 27 11:15:28 17060 -31450 P 1.2463 0.5450 60.7N 5.9W 0 90
12 -31 -0525 Apr 07 18:42:21 16793 -31227 P 1.1819 0.6655 60.8N 127.5W 0 81
13 -30 -0507 Apr 18 02:06:04 16530 -31004 P 1.1138 0.7942 61.0N 111.8E 0 72
14 -29 -0489 Apr 29 09:24:17 16271 -30781 P 1.0402 0.9342 61.4N 7.7W 0 64
15 -28 -0471 May 09 16:41:49 16016 -30558 T 0.9651 1.0386 67.3N 95.1W 15 84 509 02m06s
16 -27 -0453 May 20 23:57:02 15765 -30335 T 0.8874 1.0460 69.4N 177.7W 27 110 333 02m40s
17 -26 -0435 May 31 07:14:08 15517 -30112 T 0.8101 1.0514 69.3N 92.4E 36 130 291 03m07s
18 -25 -0417 Jun 11 14:30:53 15273 -29889 T 0.7318 1.0555 67.4N 0.6W 43 148 269 03m32s
19 -24 -0399 Jun 21 21:52:27 15033 -29666 T 0.6567 1.0585 64.1N 99.2W 49 163 256 03m53s
20 -23 -0381 Jul 03 05:16:57 14796 -29443 T 0.5837 1.0606 59.5N 157.6E 54 173 246 04m13s
21 -22 -0363 Jul 13 12:47:19 14563 -29220 T 0.5151 1.0618 54.2N 49.6E 59 181 237 04m30s
22 -21 -0345 Jul 24 20:22:43 14333 -28997 T 0.4502 1.0621 48.2N 62.0W 63 187 229 04m44s
23 -20 -0327 Aug 04 04:06:08 14106 -28774 T 0.3918 1.0618 41.9N 177.4W 67 191 221 04m54s
24 -19 -0309 Aug 15 11:56:49 13882 -28551 T 0.3394 1.0609 35.5N 64.3E 70 194 212 05m00s
25 -18 -0291 Aug 25 19:55:06 13661 -28328 T 0.2931 1.0595 29.1N 56.6W 73 196 205 05m02s
26 -17 -0273 Sep 06 04:02:20 13443 -28105 T 0.2543 1.0578 22.8N 179.7E 75 198 197 05m00s
27 -16 -0255 Sep 16 12:17:51 13228 -27882 T 0.2223 1.0559 16.7N 53.8E 77 198 189 04m55s
28 -15 -0237 Sep 27 20:42:09 13016 -27659 T 0.1973 1.0539 10.8N 74.4W 79 198 181 04m49s
29 -14 -0219 Oct 08 05:13:14 12807 -27436 T 0.1780 1.0519 5.3N 155.7E 80 198 175 04m43s
30 -13 -0201 Oct 19 13:52:09 12600 -27213 T 0.1652 1.0501 0.4N 24.2E 80 196 169 04m37s
31 -12 -0183 Oct 29 22:36:26 12395 -26990 T 0.1566 1.0486 4.1S 108.5W 81 194 163 04m32s
32 -11 -0165 Nov 10 07:25:27 12193 -26767 T 0.1519 1.0475 7.9S 118.1E 81 191 160 04m28s
33 -10 -0147 Nov 20 16:17:33 11994 -26544 T 0.1496 1.0468 11.0S 15.8W 81 188 157 04m26s
34 -09 -0129 Dec 02 01:12:00 11797 -26321 T 0.1490 1.0465 13.3S 150.0W 82 184 156 04m25s
35 -08 -0111 Dec 12 10:05:34 11601 -26098 T 0.1478 1.0467 14.8S 76.3E 82 179 157 04m26s
36 -07 -0093 Dec 23 18:57:31 11408 -25875 T 0.1453 1.0474 15.5S 56.9W 82 175 159 04m28s
37 -06 -0074 Jan 03 03:45:55 11217 -25652 T 0.1398 1.0485 15.5S 170.9E 82 170 163 04m30s
38 -05 -0056 Jan 14 12:30:30 11028 -25429 T 0.1310 1.0499 14.7S 39.6E 83 166 167 04m33s
39 -04 -0038 Jan 24 21:07:27 10841 -25206 T 0.1161 1.0517 13.5S 89.9W 83 161 172 04m37s
40 -03 -0020 Feb 05 05:38:33 10655 -24983 Tm 0.0964 1.0536 11.8S 142.0E 85 158 178 04m40s
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 -02 -0002 Feb 15 14:00:36 10471 -24760 T 0.0693 1.0557 9.8S 16.1E 86 155 184 04m45s
42 -01 0016 Feb 26 22:16:04 10288 -24537 T 0.0369 1.0576 7.7S 108.2W 88 152 190 04m50s
43 00 0034 Mar 09 06:20:44 10107 -24314 T -0.0045 1.0594 5.6S 130.2E 90 335 195 04m56s
44 01 0052 Mar 19 14:19:19 9928 -24091 T -0.0509 1.0609 3.7S 10.2E 87 331 200 05m02s
45 02 0070 Mar 30 22:07:59 9750 -23868 T -0.1051 1.0619 2.1S 107.2W 84 331 204 05m08s
46 03 0088 Apr 10 05:50:43 9572 -23645 T -0.1642 1.0625 1.0S 136.9E 81 332 207 05m15s
47 04 0106 Apr 21 13:25:03 9396 -23422 T -0.2300 1.0623 0.7S 23.1E 77 334 209 05m22s
48 05 0124 May 01 20:55:09 9222 -23199 T -0.2990 1.0615 1.1S 89.6W 73 337 211 05m26s
49 06 0142 May 13 04:19:27 9047 -22976 T -0.3722 1.0598 2.5S 158.9E 68 340 211 05m28s
50 07 0160 May 23 11:40:03 8874 -22753 T -0.4481 1.0573 5.0S 48.1E 63 343 210 05m24s
51 08 0178 Jun 03 18:57:36 8702 -22530 T -0.5255 1.0540 8.6S 62.4W 58 347 209 05m13s
52 09 0196 Jun 14 02:14:22 8530 -22307 T -0.6028 1.0498 13.3S 173.3W 53 351 207 04m54s
53 10 0214 Jun 25 09:30:41 8359 -22084 T -0.6796 1.0448 19.2S 75.2E 47 355 203 04m23s
54 11 0232 Jul 05 16:47:56 8189 -21861 T -0.7547 1.0389 26.1S 37.5W 41 360 199 03m44s
55 12 0250 Jul 17 00:07:55 8018 -21638 T -0.8264 1.0322 34.2S 151.9W 34 4 194 02m57s
56 13 0268 Jul 27 07:31:46 7849 -21415 T -0.8938 1.0247 43.5S 90.9E 26 10 188 02m07s
57 14 0286 Aug 07 14:59:28 7679 -21192 T -0.9570 1.0161 55.1S 31.1W 16 19 194 01m15s
58 15 0304 Aug 17 22:33:03 7510 -20969 P -1.0145 0.9705 70.7S 173.5W 0 45
59 16 0322 Aug 29 06:13:02 7340 -20746 P -1.0658 0.8736 71.3S 57.5E 0 58
60 17 0340 Sep 08 14:00:38 7171 -20523 P -1.1098 0.7912 71.7S 73.9W 0 72
61 18 0358 Sep 19 21:53:58 7001 -20300 P -1.1483 0.7198 71.9S 152.9E 0 86
62 19 0376 Sep 30 05:55:50 6832 -20077 P -1.1791 0.6633 71.9S 17.5E 0 100
63 20 0394 Oct 11 14:04:04 6662 -19854 P -1.2040 0.6179 71.6S 119.4W 0 114
64 21 0412 Oct 21 22:19:21 6491 -19631 P -1.2225 0.5845 71.0S 102.4E 0 128
65 22 0430 Nov 02 06:38:40 6321 -19408 P -1.2369 0.5587 70.3S 36.4W 0 141
66 23 0448 Nov 12 15:03:08 6149 -19185 P -1.2465 0.5416 69.4S 175.7W 0 154
67 24 0466 Nov 23 23:29:39 5977 -18962 P -1.2537 0.5290 68.3S 45.0E 0 166
68 25 0484 Dec 04 07:57:06 5805 -18739 P -1.2595 0.5187 67.2S 93.8W 0 178
69 26 0502 Dec 15 16:23:51 5631 -18516 P -1.2652 0.5088 66.2S 128.1E 0 189
70 27 0520 Dec 26 00:48:33 5457 -18293 P -1.2721 0.4969 65.1S 9.0W 0 199
71 28 0539 Jan 06 09:08:45 5282 -18070 P -1.2818 0.4803 64.1S 144.6W 0 209
72 29 0557 Jan 16 17:22:42 5104 -17847 P -1.2959 0.4558 63.2S 81.7E 0 219
73 30 0575 Jan 28 01:30:01 4925 -17624 P -1.3147 0.4234 62.4S 50.1W 0 229
74 31 0593 Feb 07 09:29:17 4745 -17401 P -1.3396 0.3804 61.8S 179.6W 0 238
75 32 0611 Feb 18 17:18:20 4588 -17178 P -1.3719 0.3245 61.3S 53.7E 0 247
76 33 0629 Mar 01 00:58:09 4444 -16955 P -1.4107 0.2572 61.0S 70.6W 0 256
77 34 0647 Mar 12 08:27:23 4300 -16732 P -1.4573 0.1764 60.8S 167.8E 0 265
78 35 0665 Mar 22 15:47:20 4126 -16509 Pe -1.5106 0.0840 60.8S 48.4E 0 274
[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)"
