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 71 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 -0684 Oct 19. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0777 Mar 14. The total duration of Saros series 71 is 1460.44 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0684 Oct 19 05:26:05 TD
Last Eclipse = 0777 Mar 14 05:52:01 TD
Duration of Saros 71 = 1460.44 Years
Saros 71 is composed of 82 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 71 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 82 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 41 | 50.0% |
| Annular | A | 29 | 35.4% |
| Total | T | 9 | 11.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 3.7% |
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 71 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 71 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 40 | 97.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.4% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 82 eclipses in Saros 71: 18P 29A 3H 9T 23P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 71 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 0326 Jun 16 Duration = 03m43s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 0218 Apr 12 Duration = 01m49s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0107 Sep 29 Duration = 06m12s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0146 Feb 28 Duration = 00m27s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 0200 Apr 01 Duration = 01m17s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 0164 Mar 10 Duration = 00m09s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0380 Jul 18 Magnitude = 0.9869
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0684 Oct 19 Magnitude = 0.0158
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 71 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 071 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 -33 -0684 Oct 19 05:26:05 19289 -33187 Pb 1.5574 0.0158 71.3N 117.0W 0 246
02 -32 -0666 Oct 30 13:27:48 18988 -32964 P 1.5517 0.0273 70.8N 107.6E 0 232
03 -31 -0648 Nov 09 21:32:17 18691 -32741 P 1.5487 0.0338 70.0N 27.8W 0 219
04 -30 -0630 Nov 21 05:39:10 18398 -32518 P 1.5478 0.0364 69.1N 163.2W 0 206
05 -29 -0612 Dec 01 13:45:29 18110 -32295 P 1.5469 0.0388 68.1N 62.2E 0 194
06 -28 -0594 Dec 12 21:51:21 17827 -32072 P 1.5457 0.0411 67.1N 71.7W 0 182
07 -27 -0576 Dec 23 05:51:59 17548 -31849 P 1.5407 0.0497 66.0N 156.3E 0 171
08 -26 -0557 Jan 03 13:48:54 17273 -31626 P 1.5329 0.0626 65.0N 25.8E 0 161
09 -25 -0539 Jan 13 21:37:44 17003 -31403 P 1.5187 0.0859 64.0N 102.4W 0 151
10 -24 -0521 Jan 25 05:20:10 16737 -31180 P 1.4997 0.1170 63.1N 131.5E 0 141
11 -23 -0503 Feb 04 12:51:39 16475 -30957 P 1.4717 0.1630 62.3N 8.3E 0 131
12 -22 -0485 Feb 15 20:15:44 16217 -30734 P 1.4379 0.2191 61.7N 112.8W 0 122
13 -21 -0467 Feb 26 03:28:46 15962 -30511 P 1.3949 0.2908 61.2N 129.1E 0 113
14 -20 -0449 Mar 09 10:32:43 15712 -30288 P 1.3445 0.3753 60.9N 13.3E 0 104
15 -19 -0431 Mar 19 17:26:30 15465 -30065 P 1.2856 0.4745 60.7N 99.9W 0 95
16 -18 -0413 Mar 31 00:12:50 15222 -29842 P 1.2205 0.5850 60.6N 148.9E 0 87
17 -17 -0395 Apr 10 06:51:24 14983 -29619 P 1.1483 0.7080 60.8N 39.6E 0 78
18 -16 -0377 Apr 21 13:22:31 14747 -29396 P 1.0698 0.8424 61.0N 67.9W 0 69
19 -15 -0359 May 01 19:49:10 14514 -29173 An 0.9871 0.9357 64.7N 157.6W 8 76 - 04m13s
20 -14 -0341 May 13 02:12:00 14284 -28950 A 0.9010 0.9417 67.4N 140.6E 25 108 497 04m15s
21 -13 -0323 May 23 08:32:52 14058 -28727 A 0.8126 0.9453 66.8N 65.2E 35 128 345 04m15s
22 -12 -0305 Jun 03 14:53:00 13835 -28504 A 0.7228 0.9481 64.8N 14.5W 43 145 276 04m17s
23 -11 -0287 Jun 13 21:15:08 13615 -28281 A 0.6341 0.9501 61.4N 98.6W 50 158 237 04m22s
24 -10 -0269 Jun 25 03:40:35 13398 -28058 A 0.5476 0.9515 56.8N 173.0E 57 169 213 04m31s
25 -09 -0251 Jul 05 10:09:32 13183 -27835 A 0.4633 0.9524 51.3N 80.6E 62 177 197 04m44s
26 -08 -0233 Jul 16 16:45:14 12972 -27612 A 0.3839 0.9528 45.2N 15.8W 67 183 187 04m58s
27 -07 -0215 Jul 26 23:28:05 12763 -27389 A 0.3097 0.9528 38.7N 115.7W 72 187 182 05m14s
28 -06 -0197 Aug 07 06:20:16 12556 -27166 A 0.2424 0.9525 32.0N 140.8E 76 191 179 05m29s
29 -05 -0179 Aug 17 13:20:51 12353 -26943 A 0.1813 0.9519 25.2N 34.4E 79 194 179 05m43s
30 -04 -0161 Aug 28 20:32:49 12151 -26720 A 0.1290 0.9513 18.5N 75.3W 82 196 180 05m54s
31 -03 -0143 Sep 08 03:54:50 11952 -26497 A 0.0843 0.9505 11.9N 172.1E 85 197 182 06m03s
32 -02 -0125 Sep 19 11:27:28 11755 -26274 A 0.0475 0.9500 5.6N 56.7E 87 198 184 06m08s
33 -01 -0107 Sep 29 19:10:01 11561 -26051 A 0.0183 0.9495 0.4S 61.0W 89 198 185 06m12s
34 00 -0089 Oct 11 03:02:29 11368 -25828 A -0.0036 0.9494 6.0S 179.0E 90 14 186 06m12s
35 01 -0071 Oct 21 11:03:45 11177 -25605 A -0.0186 0.9495 11.1S 57.2E 89 15 185 06m09s
36 02 -0053 Nov 01 19:11:14 10988 -25382 A -0.0294 0.9503 15.7S 65.8W 88 13 182 06m02s
37 03 -0035 Nov 12 03:25:54 10801 -25159 A -0.0348 0.9515 19.4S 170.0E 88 10 178 05m51s
38 04 -0017 Nov 23 11:44:10 10616 -24936 A -0.0384 0.9533 22.5S 45.4E 88 7 171 05m35s
39 05 0001 Dec 03 20:05:38 10432 -24713 A -0.0397 0.9558 24.7S 79.6W 88 3 161 05m14s
40 06 0019 Dec 15 04:26:24 10250 -24490 A -0.0425 0.9589 26.0S 155.9E 87 358 150 04m47s
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 07 0037 Dec 25 12:47:35 10070 -24267 A -0.0458 0.9626 26.4S 31.5E 87 353 136 04m15s
42 08 0056 Jan 05 21:05:29 9890 -24044 Am -0.0529 0.9669 26.1S 92.1W 87 349 119 03m39s
43 09 0074 Jan 16 05:19:43 9712 -23821 A -0.0638 0.9718 25.0S 145.1E 86 344 101 03m01s
44 10 0092 Jan 27 13:28:08 9535 -23598 A -0.0807 0.9772 23.4S 23.6E 85 340 82 02m22s
45 11 0110 Feb 06 21:31:05 9360 -23375 A -0.1029 0.9829 21.4S 96.8W 84 336 61 01m43s
46 12 0128 Feb 18 05:26:41 9185 -23152 A -0.1321 0.9890 19.2S 144.4E 82 333 39 01m04s
47 13 0146 Feb 28 13:15:23 9011 -22929 A -0.1681 0.9953 17.0S 27.1E 80 331 17 00m27s
48 14 0164 Mar 10 20:56:48 8838 -22706 H -0.2112 1.0016 14.9S 88.4W 78 330 6 00m09s
49 15 0182 Mar 22 04:32:06 8666 -22483 H -0.2602 1.0078 13.1S 157.6E 75 330 28 00m44s
50 16 0200 Apr 01 11:59:38 8494 -22260 H -0.3166 1.0139 11.8S 45.4E 71 331 50 01m17s
51 17 0218 Apr 12 19:22:42 8323 -22037 T -0.3774 1.0195 11.2S 65.7W 68 332 71 01m49s
52 18 0236 Apr 23 02:40:05 8153 -21814 T -0.4436 1.0248 11.5S 175.5W 64 334 93 02m20s
53 19 0254 May 04 09:55:34 7983 -21591 T -0.5125 1.0294 12.7S 75.1E 59 337 114 02m49s
54 20 0272 May 14 17:06:05 7813 -21368 T -0.5860 1.0334 15.2S 33.5W 54 340 137 03m13s
55 21 0290 May 26 00:17:58 7643 -21145 T -0.6592 1.0365 18.8S 142.8W 49 344 162 03m32s
56 22 0308 Jun 05 07:28:21 7474 -20922 T -0.7341 1.0389 23.7S 107.7E 43 347 191 03m42s
57 23 0326 Jun 16 14:42:01 7304 -20699 T -0.8071 1.0403 30.0S 3.4W 36 352 228 03m43s
58 24 0344 Jun 26 21:56:50 7135 -20476 T -0.8798 1.0405 38.3S 115.8W 28 356 286 03m32s
59 25 0362 Jul 08 05:17:57 6966 -20253 T -0.9480 1.0393 49.2S 128.4E 18 1 421 03m07s
60 26 0380 Jul 18 12:43:15 6796 -20030 P -1.0132 0.9869 68.2S 4.0E 0 13
61 27 0398 Jul 29 20:15:04 6626 -19807 P -1.0735 0.8727 69.2S 121.4W 0 25
62 28 0416 Aug 09 03:53:39 6455 -19584 P -1.1288 0.7677 70.0S 110.9E 0 37
63 29 0434 Aug 20 11:40:53 6285 -19361 P -1.1776 0.6752 70.8S 19.5W 0 49
64 30 0452 Aug 30 19:36:11 6113 -19138 P -1.2202 0.5944 71.3S 152.4W 0 62
65 31 0470 Sep 11 03:39:39 5941 -18915 P -1.2566 0.5255 71.7S 72.1E 0 76
66 32 0488 Sep 21 11:52:21 5768 -18692 P -1.2858 0.4701 71.8S 65.8W 0 90
67 33 0506 Oct 02 20:13:20 5595 -18469 P -1.3089 0.4266 71.7S 154.1E 0 104
68 34 0524 Oct 13 04:41:57 5420 -18246 P -1.3264 0.3939 71.3S 12.3E 0 118
69 35 0542 Oct 24 13:17:39 5245 -18023 P -1.3386 0.3711 70.7S 130.9W 0 131
70 36 0560 Nov 03 21:59:47 5066 -17800 P -1.3461 0.3570 69.9S 84.9E 0 144
71 37 0578 Nov 15 06:46:52 4887 -17577 P -1.3501 0.3496 69.0S 60.0W 0 157
72 38 0596 Nov 25 15:36:49 4707 -17354 P -1.3524 0.3455 68.0S 155.1E 0 169
73 39 0614 Dec 07 00:29:40 4557 -17131 P -1.3529 0.3445 67.0S 10.1E 0 180
74 40 0632 Dec 17 09:22:54 4414 -16908 P -1.3539 0.3426 65.9S 134.4W 0 191
75 41 0650 Dec 28 18:14:40 4268 -16685 P -1.3564 0.3379 64.9S 81.9E 0 202
76 42 0669 Jan 08 03:03:18 4088 -16462 P -1.3617 0.3275 63.9S 60.8W 0 212
77 43 0687 Jan 19 11:48:03 3909 -16239 P -1.3707 0.3102 63.1S 157.9E 0 222
78 44 0705 Jan 29 20:27:40 3739 -16016 P -1.3844 0.2840 62.4S 18.1E 0 231
79 45 0723 Feb 10 04:59:52 3595 -15793 P -1.4042 0.2457 61.8S 119.6W 0 241
80 46 0741 Feb 20 13:25:25 3452 -15570 P -1.4296 0.1966 61.4S 104.6E 0 250
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 47 0759 Mar 03 21:42:22 3308 -15347 P -1.4620 0.1340 61.1S 29.0W 0 259
82 48 0777 Mar 14 05:52:01 3164 -15124 Pe -1.5004 0.0595 61.0S 160.7W 0 268
[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)"
