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 76 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 -0575 Jun 18. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0705 Jul 25. The total duration of Saros series 76 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0575 Jun 18 02:27:50 TD
Last Eclipse = 0705 Jul 25 13:52:37 TD
Duration of Saros 76 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 76 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 76 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 40.3% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 41.7% |
| Total | T | 8 | 11.1% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 6.9% |
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 76 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 76 | ||
| 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 72 eclipses in Saros 76: 22P 8T 5H 30A 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 76 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0052 Apr 27 Duration = 01m25s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0178 Feb 11 Duration = 00m26s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0363 Jan 02 Duration = 10m44s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0056 Jul 01 Duration = 00m20s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0034 May 09 Duration = 01m23s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 0038 Jun 21 Duration = 00m11s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0196 Feb 01 Magnitude = 0.9924
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0575 Jun 18 Magnitude = 0.0156
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 76 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 076 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 -38 -0575 Jun 18 02:27:50 17541 -31843 Pb -1.5192 0.0156 66.7S 146.7W 0 1
02 -37 -0557 Jun 29 09:56:05 17266 -31620 P -1.4503 0.1502 65.7S 89.5E 0 11
03 -36 -0539 Jul 09 17:29:47 16996 -31397 P -1.3859 0.2759 64.8S 35.2W 0 21
04 -35 -0521 Jul 21 01:06:17 16730 -31174 P -1.3239 0.3964 63.9S 160.3W 0 31
05 -34 -0503 Jul 31 08:50:27 16468 -30951 P -1.2681 0.5044 63.0S 73.1E 0 40
06 -33 -0485 Aug 11 16:39:41 16210 -30728 P -1.2165 0.6036 62.3S 54.6W 0 50
07 -32 -0467 Aug 22 00:36:58 15956 -30505 P -1.1716 0.6889 61.7S 176.0E 0 59
08 -31 -0449 Sep 02 08:41:00 15705 -30282 P -1.1326 0.7625 61.2S 45.0E 0 68
09 -30 -0431 Sep 12 16:53:58 15459 -30059 P -1.1012 0.8209 60.9S 88.0W 0 77
10 -29 -0413 Sep 24 01:14:10 15216 -29836 P -1.0760 0.8671 60.8S 137.2E 0 86
11 -28 -0395 Oct 04 09:41:25 14976 -29613 P -1.0569 0.9014 60.8S 0.7E 0 95
12 -27 -0377 Oct 15 18:15:21 14740 -29390 P -1.0438 0.9244 60.9S 137.4W 0 104
13 -26 -0359 Oct 26 02:55:14 14508 -29167 P -1.0362 0.9369 61.3S 82.9E 0 113
14 -25 -0341 Nov 06 11:39:10 14278 -28944 P -1.0323 0.9426 61.8S 57.9W 0 123
15 -24 -0323 Nov 16 20:25:59 14052 -28721 P -1.0315 0.9427 62.4S 160.4E 0 132
16 -23 -0305 Nov 28 05:14:09 13829 -28498 P -1.0324 0.9400 63.2S 18.2E 0 142
17 -22 -0287 Dec 08 14:02:31 13609 -28275 P -1.0341 0.9359 64.1S 124.3W 0 152
18 -21 -0269 Dec 19 22:47:56 13392 -28052 P -1.0343 0.9349 65.1S 93.5E 0 162
19 -20 -0251 Dec 30 07:30:44 13178 -27829 P -1.0329 0.9369 66.2S 48.4W 0 173
20 -19 -0232 Jan 10 16:07:48 12966 -27606 P -1.0278 0.9461 67.3S 170.7E 0 184
21 -18 -0214 Jan 21 00:38:49 12757 -27383 P -1.0182 0.9634 68.3S 30.8E 0 195
22 -17 -0196 Feb 01 09:01:17 12551 -27160 P -1.0024 0.9924 69.3S 107.6W 0 207
23 -16 -0178 Feb 11 17:16:19 12347 -26937 T -0.9813 1.0078 76.5S 86.7E 10 247 153 00m26s
24 -15 -0160 Feb 23 01:22:05 12146 -26714 T -0.9536 1.0099 74.2S 77.9W 17 288 117 00m36s
25 -14 -0142 Mar 05 09:17:45 11947 -26491 T -0.9180 1.0118 67.5S 138.4E 23 311 103 00m46s
26 -13 -0124 Mar 15 17:04:11 11750 -26268 T -0.8757 1.0131 59.5S 7.6E 28 323 93 00m56s
27 -12 -0106 Mar 27 00:41:08 11555 -26045 T -0.8261 1.0142 51.0S 116.4W 34 331 86 01m07s
28 -11 -0088 Apr 06 08:09:48 11363 -25822 T -0.7707 1.0148 42.5S 123.9E 39 336 79 01m16s
29 -10 -0070 Apr 17 15:29:01 11172 -25599 T -0.7084 1.0149 34.0S 7.8E 45 341 72 01m22s
30 -09 -0052 Apr 27 22:41:58 10983 -25376 T -0.6416 1.0143 25.7S 105.7W 50 345 63 01m25s
31 -08 -0034 May 09 05:47:57 10796 -25153 H -0.5697 1.0131 17.7S 143.3E 55 348 55 01m23s
32 -07 -0016 May 19 12:49:09 10611 -24930 H -0.4948 1.0112 10.1S 34.3E 60 352 44 01m15s
33 -06 0002 May 30 19:45:43 10427 -24707 H -0.4168 1.0087 3.1S 72.8W 65 356 33 01m00s
34 -05 0020 Jun 10 02:40:35 10245 -24484 H -0.3383 1.0055 3.2N 178.7W 70 360 20 00m38s
35 -04 0038 Jun 21 09:34:16 10065 -24261 H -0.2595 1.0016 8.7N 76.4E 75 4 6 00m11s
36 -03 0056 Jul 01 16:27:58 9885 -24038 A -0.1816 0.9972 13.2N 27.6W 80 8 10 00m20s
37 -02 0074 Jul 12 23:23:58 9707 -23815 Am -0.1064 0.9922 16.7N 131.7W 84 13 27 00m52s
38 -01 0092 Jul 23 06:23:12 9531 -23592 A -0.0345 0.9868 19.0N 124.0E 88 18 46 01m26s
39 00 0110 Aug 03 13:27:32 9355 -23369 A 0.0323 0.9812 20.1N 18.7E 88 200 67 02m00s
40 01 0128 Aug 13 20:36:30 9180 -23146 A 0.0943 0.9752 20.3N 87.8W 84 204 89 02m35s
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 0146 Aug 25 03:52:42 9006 -22923 A 0.1497 0.9692 19.4N 163.7E 81 207 112 03m11s
42 03 0164 Sep 04 11:15:41 8833 -22700 A 0.1987 0.9632 17.8N 53.1E 78 209 136 03m48s
43 04 0182 Sep 15 18:45:44 8661 -22477 A 0.2409 0.9574 15.6N 59.5W 76 210 159 04m27s
44 05 0200 Sep 26 02:23:46 8490 -22254 A 0.2758 0.9517 13.0N 174.6W 74 210 183 05m08s
45 06 0218 Oct 07 10:08:56 8319 -22031 A 0.3038 0.9465 10.2N 68.3E 72 209 205 05m51s
46 07 0236 Oct 17 18:01:50 8148 -21808 A 0.3248 0.9417 7.4N 51.1W 71 207 226 06m37s
47 08 0254 Oct 29 01:58:53 7978 -21585 A 0.3418 0.9374 4.7N 171.5W 70 205 246 07m23s
48 09 0272 Nov 08 10:02:12 7808 -21362 A 0.3528 0.9337 2.2N 66.4E 69 201 262 08m10s
49 10 0290 Nov 19 18:07:55 7639 -21139 A 0.3609 0.9307 0.3N 56.2W 69 198 276 08m56s
50 11 0308 Nov 30 02:16:27 7469 -20916 A 0.3664 0.9284 1.1S 179.5W 69 194 288 09m37s
51 12 0326 Dec 11 10:23:27 7300 -20693 A 0.3724 0.9267 1.7S 57.7E 68 189 296 10m11s
52 13 0344 Dec 21 18:30:19 7131 -20470 A 0.3783 0.9258 1.5S 65.2W 68 185 302 10m34s
53 14 0363 Jan 02 02:32:58 6961 -20247 A 0.3870 0.9254 0.3S 173.0E 67 180 305 10m44s
54 15 0381 Jan 12 10:30:55 6791 -20024 A 0.3991 0.9256 1.9N 52.1E 66 176 305 10m40s
55 16 0399 Jan 23 18:21:42 6621 -19801 A 0.4165 0.9263 5.2N 67.3W 65 172 304 10m25s
56 17 0417 Feb 03 02:05:28 6451 -19578 A 0.4393 0.9274 9.4N 174.6E 64 169 302 09m59s
57 18 0435 Feb 14 09:39:34 6280 -19355 A 0.4697 0.9289 14.5N 58.6E 62 166 300 09m26s
58 19 0453 Feb 24 17:04:40 6109 -19132 A 0.5070 0.9305 20.6N 55.7W 59 163 299 08m48s
59 20 0471 Mar 08 00:19:40 5936 -18909 A 0.5522 0.9323 27.4N 167.9W 56 160 301 08m07s
60 21 0489 Mar 18 07:26:06 5764 -18686 A 0.6038 0.9340 35.0N 81.5E 53 158 306 07m25s
61 22 0507 Mar 29 14:20:55 5590 -18463 A 0.6647 0.9356 43.3N 26.9W 48 156 318 06m42s
62 23 0525 Apr 08 21:08:45 5416 -18240 A 0.7309 0.9369 52.4N 134.4W 43 153 342 06m01s
63 24 0543 Apr 20 03:47:29 5240 -18017 A 0.8044 0.9378 62.4N 118.0E 36 148 389 05m23s
64 25 0561 Apr 30 10:21:38 5062 -17794 A 0.8811 0.9379 73.1N 3.8E 28 135 491 04m48s
65 26 0579 May 11 16:48:05 4882 -17571 A 0.9638 0.9365 80.3N 163.5W 15 67 926 04m15s
66 27 0597 May 21 23:13:25 4702 -17348 P 1.0472 0.8815 68.5N 45.8E 0 15
67 28 0615 Jun 02 05:35:00 4553 -17125 P 1.1337 0.7339 67.4N 61.3W 0 4
68 29 0633 Jun 12 11:57:22 4410 -16902 P 1.2191 0.5877 66.4N 168.2W 0 354
69 30 0651 Jun 23 18:19:23 4263 -16679 P 1.3048 0.4409 65.4N 85.5E 0 344
70 31 0669 Jul 04 00:46:07 4084 -16456 P 1.3865 0.3008 64.5N 21.8W 0 335
71 32 0687 Jul 15 07:16:25 3904 -16233 P 1.4655 0.1655 63.7N 129.7W 0 325
72 33 0705 Jul 25 13:52:37 3735 -16010 Pe 1.5397 0.0384 62.9N 121.2E 0 316
[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)"
