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 70 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 -0821 Sep 05. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0676 Feb 19. The total duration of Saros series 70 is 1496.50 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0821 Sep 05 00:54:14 TD
Last Eclipse = 0676 Feb 19 13:37:43 TD
Duration of Saros 70 = 1496.50 Years
Saros 70 is composed of 84 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 70 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 84 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 44 | 52.4% |
| Annular | A | 32 | 38.1% |
| Total | T | 5 | 6.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 3.6% |
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 70 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 70 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 84 eclipses in Saros 70: 23P 5T 3H 32A 21P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 70 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0370 Jun 02 Duration = 02m17s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0334 Jun 24 Duration = 01m55s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0027 Jan 26 Duration = 07m34s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0262 Aug 06 Duration = 00m13s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0316 Jul 04 Duration = 01m30s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0280 Jul 26 Duration = 00m24s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0424 Apr 30 Magnitude = 0.9663
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0676 Feb 19 Magnitude = 0.0335
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 70 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 070 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 -49 -0821 Sep 05 00:54:14 21491 -34883 Pb -1.5106 0.0413 61.3S 173.9W 0 68
02 -48 -0803 Sep 15 09:13:10 21199 -34660 P -1.4824 0.0966 61.0S 51.4E 0 77
03 -47 -0785 Sep 26 17:39:36 20908 -34437 P -1.4605 0.1394 60.8S 85.2W 0 86
04 -46 -0767 Oct 07 02:13:14 20619 -34214 P -1.4446 0.1707 60.8S 136.5E 0 95
05 -45 -0749 Oct 18 10:53:50 20332 -33991 P -1.4347 0.1904 61.0S 3.6W 0 104
06 -44 -0731 Oct 28 19:38:52 20047 -33768 P -1.4286 0.2025 61.3S 144.8W 0 113
07 -43 -0713 Nov 09 04:28:32 19764 -33545 P -1.4268 0.2066 61.8S 72.7E 0 123
08 -42 -0695 Nov 19 13:20:05 19475 -33322 P -1.4268 0.2071 62.5S 70.5W 0 132
09 -41 -0677 Nov 30 22:13:15 19170 -33099 P -1.4286 0.2040 63.3S 145.7E 0 142
10 -40 -0659 Dec 11 07:03:44 18870 -32876 P -1.4287 0.2038 64.2S 2.2E 0 152
11 -39 -0641 Dec 22 15:53:17 18575 -32653 P -1.4287 0.2039 65.1S 141.3W 0 163
12 -38 -0622 Jan 02 00:37:29 18284 -32430 P -1.4255 0.2098 66.2S 76.1E 0 173
13 -37 -0604 Jan 13 09:16:42 17998 -32207 P -1.4187 0.2223 67.2S 65.7W 0 184
14 -36 -0586 Jan 23 17:47:38 17716 -31984 P -1.4060 0.2458 68.2S 154.1E 0 196
15 -35 -0568 Feb 04 02:12:07 17439 -31761 P -1.3889 0.2776 69.2S 14.9E 0 208
16 -34 -0550 Feb 14 10:27:15 17166 -31538 P -1.3651 0.3219 70.1S 122.5W 0 220
17 -33 -0532 Feb 25 18:33:18 16898 -31315 P -1.3347 0.3787 70.8S 101.8E 0 233
18 -32 -0514 Mar 08 02:30:09 16633 -31092 P -1.2977 0.4481 71.3S 32.0W 0 246
19 -31 -0496 Mar 18 10:18:15 16372 -30869 P -1.2540 0.5302 71.6S 163.9W 0 260
20 -30 -0478 Mar 29 17:57:45 16116 -30646 P -1.2039 0.6240 71.7S 66.1E 0 273
21 -29 -0460 Apr 09 01:28:57 15863 -30423 P -1.1479 0.7291 71.5S 61.7W 0 287
22 -28 -0442 Apr 20 08:53:18 15614 -30200 P -1.0866 0.8437 71.2S 172.5E 0 300
23 -27 -0424 Apr 30 16:11:23 15369 -29977 P -1.0208 0.9663 70.6S 48.7E 0 313
24 -26 -0406 May 11 23:23:29 15127 -29754 T -0.9507 1.0249 54.1S 90.2W 18 340 278 01m56s
25 -25 -0388 May 22 06:32:18 14889 -29531 T -0.8785 1.0251 41.8S 152.1E 28 349 179 02m12s
26 -24 -0370 Jun 02 13:37:55 14654 -29308 T -0.8041 1.0238 32.1S 39.2E 36 355 136 02m17s
27 -23 -0352 Jun 12 20:43:07 14423 -29085 T -0.7303 1.0213 24.1S 71.8W 43 359 106 02m11s
28 -22 -0334 Jun 24 03:46:52 14195 -28862 T -0.6560 1.0179 17.3S 178.7E 49 4 81 01m55s
29 -21 -0316 Jul 04 10:53:21 13970 -28639 H3 -0.5847 1.0137 12.0S 69.4E 54 8 58 01m30s
30 -20 -0298 Jul 15 18:01:16 13748 -28416 H -0.5152 1.0089 7.7S 39.6W 59 12 36 00m59s
31 -19 -0280 Jul 26 01:13:50 13529 -28193 H -0.4506 1.0037 4.9S 149.2W 63 16 14 00m24s
32 -18 -0262 Aug 06 08:30:11 13313 -27970 A -0.3900 0.9979 3.2S 100.7E 67 20 8 00m13s
33 -17 -0244 Aug 16 15:53:47 13100 -27747 A -0.3361 0.9920 2.8S 11.1W 70 23 30 00m51s
34 -16 -0226 Aug 27 23:23:22 12889 -27524 A -0.2879 0.9858 3.4S 124.3W 73 26 52 01m28s
35 -15 -0208 Sep 07 07:00:00 12681 -27301 A -0.2462 0.9797 4.9S 120.8E 76 28 74 02m05s
36 -14 -0190 Sep 18 14:44:22 12476 -27078 A -0.2118 0.9736 7.3S 3.8E 78 29 96 02m41s
37 -13 -0172 Sep 28 22:36:11 12273 -26855 A -0.1846 0.9679 10.3S 115.1W 79 30 117 03m17s
38 -12 -0154 Oct 10 06:35:16 12072 -26632 A -0.1637 0.9624 13.7S 124.2E 80 29 138 03m52s
39 -11 -0136 Oct 20 14:39:14 11874 -26409 A -0.1476 0.9574 17.2S 2.5E 81 28 157 04m26s
40 -10 -0118 Oct 31 22:49:30 11678 -26186 A -0.1375 0.9529 20.8S 120.6W 82 26 174 05m00s
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 -09 -0100 Nov 11 07:02:52 11484 -25963 A -0.1308 0.9490 24.1S 115.9E 82 23 189 05m32s
42 -08 -0082 Nov 22 15:19:03 11292 -25740 A -0.1272 0.9458 27.0S 7.9W 83 19 201 06m01s
43 -07 -0064 Dec 02 23:34:49 11102 -25517 Am -0.1241 0.9432 29.1S 131.1W 83 15 212 06m28s
44 -06 -0046 Dec 14 07:50:16 10914 -25294 A -0.1213 0.9413 30.4S 106.2E 83 10 219 06m50s
45 -05 -0028 Dec 24 16:01:49 10728 -25071 A -0.1161 0.9400 30.5S 15.4W 83 5 224 07m08s
46 -04 -0009 Jan 05 00:08:42 10543 -24848 A -0.1079 0.9393 29.4S 135.9W 84 0 227 07m21s
47 -03 0009 Jan 15 08:08:55 10360 -24625 A -0.0949 0.9392 27.2S 104.8E 84 356 227 07m30s
48 -02 0027 Jan 26 16:02:14 10179 -24402 A -0.0771 0.9395 23.8S 13.3W 85 352 225 07m34s
49 -01 0045 Feb 05 23:45:29 9999 -24179 A -0.0514 0.9402 19.2S 129.7W 87 349 222 07m34s
50 00 0063 Feb 17 07:19:50 9820 -23956 A -0.0188 0.9412 13.8S 115.5E 89 347 218 07m30s
51 01 0081 Feb 27 14:43:32 9642 -23733 A 0.0220 0.9424 7.6S 2.7E 89 163 213 07m23s
52 02 0099 Mar 10 21:58:35 9466 -23510 A 0.0692 0.9437 0.8S 108.4W 86 163 208 07m12s
53 03 0117 Mar 21 05:01:14 9290 -23287 A 0.1263 0.9449 6.6N 143.2E 83 162 205 06m59s
54 04 0135 Apr 01 11:56:36 9116 -23064 A 0.1888 0.9460 14.3N 36.5E 79 162 202 06m43s
55 05 0153 Apr 11 18:41:20 8943 -22841 A 0.2599 0.9470 22.5N 67.6W 75 162 202 06m24s
56 06 0171 Apr 23 01:20:33 8770 -22618 A 0.3349 0.9476 30.9N 170.1W 70 163 204 06m04s
57 07 0189 May 03 07:50:35 8598 -22395 A 0.4170 0.9478 39.5N 90.1E 65 164 211 05m43s
58 08 0207 May 14 14:17:53 8427 -22172 A 0.5008 0.9476 48.1N 8.1W 60 167 223 05m22s
59 09 0225 May 24 20:39:31 8256 -21949 A 0.5890 0.9468 56.8N 103.5W 54 170 243 05m02s
60 10 0243 Jun 05 03:00:14 8085 -21726 A 0.6774 0.9456 65.4N 164.3E 47 176 274 04m45s
61 11 0261 Jun 15 09:19:24 7916 -21503 A 0.7667 0.9436 73.7N 79.3E 40 188 326 04m31s
62 12 0279 Jun 26 15:41:17 7746 -21280 A 0.8534 0.9410 80.3N 15.3E 31 222 423 04m20s
63 13 0297 Jul 06 22:05:39 7576 -21057 A 0.9379 0.9373 78.8N 15.5W 20 288 688 04m12s
64 14 0315 Jul 18 04:34:43 7407 -20834 P 1.0183 0.9296 63.5N 74.9W 0 325
65 15 0333 Jul 28 11:09:49 7238 -20611 P 1.0937 0.8007 62.8N 176.3E 0 316
66 16 0351 Aug 08 17:52:21 7068 -20388 P 1.1632 0.6821 62.1N 65.9E 0 307
67 17 0369 Aug 19 00:43:14 6899 -20165 P 1.2258 0.5758 61.5N 46.5W 0 298
68 18 0387 Aug 30 07:43:13 6729 -19942 P 1.2812 0.4820 61.1N 161.0W 0 289
69 19 0405 Sep 09 14:53:32 6559 -19719 P 1.3285 0.4022 60.9N 82.1E 0 280
70 20 0423 Sep 20 22:13:51 6388 -19496 P 1.3680 0.3358 60.8N 37.4W 0 271
71 21 0441 Oct 01 05:43:30 6217 -19273 P 1.4003 0.2818 60.9N 159.1W 0 263
72 22 0459 Oct 12 13:23:10 6045 -19050 P 1.4248 0.2409 61.1N 76.6E 0 253
73 23 0477 Oct 22 21:11:13 5873 -18827 P 1.4426 0.2113 61.5N 49.9W 0 244
74 24 0495 Nov 03 05:07:15 5700 -18604 P 1.4546 0.1912 62.0N 178.5W 0 235
75 25 0513 Nov 13 13:08:18 5526 -18381 P 1.4630 0.1770 62.7N 51.5E 0 225
76 26 0531 Nov 24 21:15:03 5351 -18158 P 1.4671 0.1697 63.5N 80.2W 0 216
77 27 0549 Dec 05 05:24:33 5175 -17935 P 1.4693 0.1655 64.5N 147.1E 0 206
78 28 0567 Dec 16 13:35:23 4996 -17712 P 1.4708 0.1621 65.5N 13.8E 0 195
79 29 0585 Dec 26 21:45:28 4816 -17489 P 1.4733 0.1569 66.5N 119.9W 0 185
80 30 0604 Jan 07 05:53:30 4644 -17266 P 1.4780 0.1475 67.6N 106.5E 0 173
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 31 0622 Jan 17 13:58:14 4501 -17043 P 1.4858 0.1326 68.7N 26.7W 0 162
82 32 0640 Jan 28 21:57:14 4357 -16820 P 1.4986 0.1089 69.6N 159.1W 0 150
83 33 0658 Feb 08 05:51:03 4197 -16597 P 1.5160 0.0767 70.4N 69.1E 0 137
84 34 0676 Feb 19 13:37:43 4017 -16374 Pe 1.5396 0.0335 71.1N 61.6W 0 124
[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)"
