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 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 central eclipses of Saros 71 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 71 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0107 Sep 29 | 06m12s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0146 Feb 28 | 00m27s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0326 Jun 16 | 03m43s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0218 Apr 12 | 01m49s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0200 Apr 01 | 01m17s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0164 Mar 10 | 00m09s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0380 Jul 18 | - | 0.98689 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0684 Oct 19 | - | 0.01582 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 71. 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 71.
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
03127 -33 -0684 Oct 19 05:26:05 19941 -33187 Pb 1.5574 0.0158 71.3N 114.3W 0
03172 -32 -0666 Oct 30 13:27:48 19655 -32964 P 1.5517 0.0273 70.8N 110.4E 0
03217 -31 -0648 Nov 09 21:32:17 19370 -32741 P 1.5487 0.0338 70.0N 25.0W 0
03262 -30 -0630 Nov 21 05:39:10 19088 -32518 P 1.5478 0.0364 69.1N 160.3W 0
03308 -29 -0612 Dec 01 13:45:29 18807 -32295 P 1.5469 0.0388 68.1N 65.1E 0
03355 -28 -0594 Dec 12 21:51:21 18529 -32072 P 1.5457 0.0411 67.1N 68.8W 0
03402 -27 -0576 Dec 23 05:51:59 18253 -31849 P 1.5407 0.0497 66.0N 159.3E 0
03449 -26 -0557 Jan 03 13:48:54 17979 -31626 P 1.5329 0.0626 65.0N 28.7E 0
03494 -25 -0539 Jan 13 21:37:44 17707 -31403 P 1.5187 0.0859 64.0N 99.4W 0
03539 -24 -0521 Jan 25 05:20:10 17437 -31180 P 1.4997 0.1170 63.1N 134.4E 0
03584 -23 -0503 Feb 04 12:51:39 17169 -30957 P 1.4717 0.1630 62.3N 11.2E 0
03629 -22 -0485 Feb 15 20:15:44 16857 -30734 P 1.4379 0.2191 61.7N 110.1W 0
03672 -21 -0467 Feb 26 03:28:46 16544 -30511 P 1.3949 0.2908 61.2N 131.5E 0
03716 -20 -0449 Mar 09 10:32:43 16241 -30288 P 1.3445 0.3753 60.9N 15.5E 0
03760 -19 -0431 Mar 19 17:26:30 15946 -30065 P 1.2856 0.4745 60.7N 97.9W 0
03803 -18 -0413 Mar 31 00:12:50 15658 -29842 P 1.2205 0.5850 60.6N 150.7E 0
03845 -17 -0395 Apr 10 06:51:24 15378 -29619 P 1.1483 0.7080 60.8N 41.2E 0
03887 -16 -0377 Apr 21 13:22:31 15105 -29396 P 1.0698 0.8424 61.0N 66.4W 0
03928 -15 -0359 May 01 19:49:10 14838 -29173 An 0.9871 0.9357 64.7N 156.3W 8 - 04m13s
03967 -14 -0341 May 13 02:12:00 14578 -28950 A 0.9010 0.9417 67.4N 141.8E 25 497 04m15s
04007 -13 -0323 May 23 08:32:52 14323 -28727 A 0.8126 0.9453 66.8N 66.3E 35 345 04m15s
04048 -12 -0305 Jun 03 14:53:00 14075 -28504 A 0.7228 0.9481 64.8N 13.5W 43 276 04m17s
04089 -11 -0287 Jun 13 21:15:08 13831 -28281 A 0.6341 0.9501 61.4N 97.6W 50 237 04m22s
04129 -10 -0269 Jun 25 03:40:35 13593 -28058 A 0.5476 0.9515 56.8N 173.8E 57 213 04m31s
04169 -09 -0251 Jul 05 10:09:32 13360 -27835 A 0.4633 0.9524 51.3N 81.3E 62 197 04m44s
04210 -08 -0233 Jul 16 16:45:14 13132 -27612 A 0.3839 0.9528 45.2N 15.1W 67 187 04m58s
04251 -07 -0215 Jul 26 23:28:05 12908 -27389 A 0.3097 0.9528 38.7N 115.1W 72 182 05m14s
04292 -06 -0197 Aug 07 06:20:16 12689 -27166 A 0.2424 0.9525 32.0N 141.4E 76 179 05m29s
04334 -05 -0179 Aug 17 13:20:51 12474 -26943 A 0.1813 0.9519 25.2N 34.9E 79 179 05m43s
04377 -04 -0161 Aug 28 20:32:49 12262 -26720 A 0.1290 0.9513 18.5N 74.9W 82 180 05m54s
04420 -03 -0143 Sep 08 03:54:50 12055 -26497 A 0.0843 0.9505 11.9N 172.5E 85 182 06m03s
04463 -02 -0125 Sep 19 11:27:28 11852 -26274 A 0.0475 0.9500 5.6N 57.1E 87 184 06m08s
04506 -01 -0107 Sep 29 19:10:01 11652 -26051 A 0.0183 0.9495 0.4S 60.6W 89 185 06m12s
04549 00 -0089 Oct 11 03:02:29 11455 -25828 A -0.0036 0.9494 6.0S 179.4E 90 186 06m12s
04593 01 -0071 Oct 21 11:03:45 11261 -25605 A -0.0186 0.9495 11.1S 57.5E 89 185 06m09s
04638 02 -0053 Nov 01 19:11:14 11071 -25382 A -0.0294 0.9503 15.7S 65.4W 88 182 06m02s
04683 03 -0035 Nov 12 03:25:54 10883 -25159 A -0.0348 0.9515 19.4S 170.4E 88 178 05m51s
04730 04 -0017 Nov 23 11:44:10 10698 -24936 A -0.0384 0.9533 22.5S 45.7E 88 171 05m35s
04776 05 0001 Dec 03 20:05:38 10515 -24713 A -0.0397 0.9558 24.7S 79.2W 88 161 05m14s
04822 06 0019 Dec 15 04:26:24 10334 -24490 A -0.0425 0.9589 26.0S 156.3E 87 150 04m47s
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
04868 07 0037 Dec 25 12:47:35 10155 -24267 A -0.0458 0.9626 26.4S 31.9E 87 136 04m15s
04913 08 0056 Jan 05 21:05:29 9978 -24044 Am -0.0529 0.9669 26.1S 91.7W 87 119 03m39s
04957 09 0074 Jan 16 05:19:43 9803 -23821 A -0.0638 0.9718 25.0S 145.5E 86 101 03m01s
05001 10 0092 Jan 27 13:28:08 9629 -23598 A -0.0807 0.9772 23.4S 24.0E 85 82 02m22s
05046 11 0110 Feb 06 21:31:05 9456 -23375 A -0.1029 0.9829 21.4S 96.4W 84 61 01m43s
05090 12 0128 Feb 18 05:26:41 9283 -23152 A -0.1321 0.9890 19.2S 144.8E 82 39 01m04s
05134 13 0146 Feb 28 13:15:23 9112 -22929 A -0.1681 0.9953 17.0S 27.6E 80 17 00m27s
05176 14 0164 Mar 10 20:56:48 8940 -22706 H -0.2112 1.0016 14.9S 88.0W 78 6 00m09s
05217 15 0182 Mar 22 04:32:06 8769 -22483 H -0.2602 1.0078 13.1S 158.0E 75 28 00m44s
05258 16 0200 Apr 01 11:59:38 8598 -22260 H -0.3166 1.0139 11.8S 45.9E 71 50 01m17s
05299 17 0218 Apr 12 19:22:42 8427 -22037 T -0.3774 1.0195 11.2S 65.2W 68 71 01m49s
05341 18 0236 Apr 23 02:40:05 8256 -21814 T -0.4436 1.0248 11.5S 175.0W 64 93 02m20s
05382 19 0254 May 04 09:55:34 8084 -21591 T -0.5125 1.0294 12.7S 75.5E 59 114 02m49s
05423 20 0272 May 14 17:06:05 7912 -21368 T -0.5860 1.0334 15.2S 33.0W 54 137 03m13s
05463 21 0290 May 26 00:17:58 7738 -21145 T -0.6592 1.0365 18.8S 142.4W 49 162 03m32s
05502 22 0308 Jun 05 07:28:21 7564 -20922 T -0.7341 1.0389 23.7S 108.1E 43 191 03m42s
05541 23 0326 Jun 16 14:42:01 7389 -20699 T -0.8071 1.0403 30.0S 3.0W 36 228 03m43s
05581 24 0344 Jun 26 21:56:50 7214 -20476 T -0.8798 1.0405 38.3S 115.5W 28 286 03m32s
05621 25 0362 Jul 08 05:17:57 7037 -20253 T -0.9480 1.0393 49.2S 128.7E 18 421 03m07s
05662 26 0380 Jul 18 12:43:15 6860 -20030 P -1.0132 0.9869 68.2S 4.3E 0
05703 27 0398 Jul 29 20:15:04 6682 -19807 P -1.0735 0.8727 69.2S 121.2W 0
05744 28 0416 Aug 09 03:53:39 6504 -19584 P -1.1288 0.7677 70.0S 111.1E 0
05785 29 0434 Aug 20 11:40:53 6325 -19361 P -1.1776 0.6752 70.8S 19.3W 0
05825 30 0452 Aug 30 19:36:11 6147 -19138 P -1.2202 0.5944 71.3S 152.3W 0
05868 31 0470 Sep 11 03:39:39 5969 -18915 P -1.2566 0.5255 71.7S 72.3E 0
05911 32 0488 Sep 21 11:52:21 5793 -18692 P -1.2858 0.4701 71.8S 65.7W 0
05955 33 0506 Oct 02 20:13:20 5616 -18469 P -1.3089 0.4266 71.7S 154.2E 0
05999 34 0524 Oct 13 04:41:57 5439 -18246 P -1.3264 0.3939 71.3S 12.4E 0
06044 35 0542 Oct 24 13:17:39 5264 -18023 P -1.3386 0.3711 70.7S 130.8W 0
06090 36 0560 Nov 03 21:59:47 5089 -17800 P -1.3461 0.3570 69.9S 85.0E 0
06136 37 0578 Nov 15 06:46:52 4917 -17577 P -1.3501 0.3496 69.0S 59.8W 0
06182 38 0596 Nov 25 15:36:49 4745 -17354 P -1.3524 0.3455 68.0S 155.2E 0
06227 39 0614 Dec 07 00:29:40 4575 -17131 P -1.3529 0.3445 67.0S 10.2E 0
06272 40 0632 Dec 17 09:22:54 4406 -16908 P -1.3539 0.3426 65.9S 134.4W 0
06317 41 0650 Dec 28 18:14:40 4238 -16685 P -1.3564 0.3379 64.9S 81.8E 0
06364 42 0669 Jan 08 03:03:18 4073 -16462 P -1.3617 0.3275 63.9S 60.8W 0
06409 43 0687 Jan 19 11:48:03 3909 -16239 P -1.3707 0.3102 63.1S 157.9E 0
06453 44 0705 Jan 29 20:27:40 3747 -16016 P -1.3844 0.2840 62.4S 18.1E 0
06496 45 0723 Feb 10 04:59:52 3588 -15793 P -1.4042 0.2457 61.8S 119.6W 0
06538 46 0741 Feb 20 13:25:25 3431 -15570 P -1.4296 0.1966 61.4S 104.5E 0
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
06580 47 0759 Mar 03 21:42:22 3277 -15347 P -1.4620 0.1340 61.1S 29.1W 0
06621 48 0777 Mar 14 05:52:01 3125 -15124 Pe -1.5004 0.0595 61.0S 160.9W 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)"
