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 78 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 -0463 Jun 09. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0817 Jul 18. The total duration of Saros series 78 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0463 Jun 09 14:14:46 TD
Last Eclipse = 0817 Jul 18 01:39:41 TD
Duration of Saros 78 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 78 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 78 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 22.2% |
| Annular | A | 9 | 12.5% |
| Total | T | 45 | 62.5% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 2 | 2.8% |
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 78 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 78 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 56 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 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 78: 9P 9A 2H 45T 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 78 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 0132 Jun 01 Duration = 07m14s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0102 Jan 12 Duration = 00m39s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0301 Sep 15 Duration = 01m16s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0157 Dec 11 Duration = 00m09s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0120 Jan 01 Duration = 00m21s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0139 Dec 21 Duration = 00m05s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0319 Sep 03 Magnitude = 0.9758
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0463 Jun 09 Magnitude = 0.0174
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 78 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 078 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 -36 -0463 Jun 09 14:14:46 15903 -30458 Pb -1.5420 0.0174 67.4S 36.9E 0 354
02 -35 -0445 Jun 20 20:59:47 15653 -30235 P -1.4589 0.1643 66.4S 76.2W 0 5
03 -34 -0427 Jul 01 03:49:51 15407 -30012 P -1.3784 0.3073 65.4S 169.8E 0 15
04 -33 -0409 Jul 12 10:46:02 15165 -29789 P -1.3014 0.4445 64.4S 54.8E 0 25
05 -32 -0391 Jul 22 17:50:17 14926 -29566 P -1.2296 0.5730 63.5S 61.9W 0 34
06 -31 -0373 Aug 03 01:03:18 14691 -29343 P -1.1635 0.6914 62.7S 179.5E 0 43
07 -30 -0355 Aug 13 08:24:46 14459 -29120 P -1.1031 0.7997 62.0S 59.0E 0 52
08 -29 -0337 Aug 24 15:56:49 14230 -28897 P -1.0503 0.8944 61.5S 63.9W 0 61
09 -28 -0319 Sep 03 23:38:48 14005 -28674 P -1.0048 0.9758 61.0S 170.9E 0 70
10 -27 -0301 Sep 15 07:31:43 13782 -28451 A -0.9674 0.9823 55.7S 68.1E 14 58 248 01m16s
11 -26 -0283 Sep 25 15:33:09 13563 -28228 A -0.9361 0.9842 54.6S 50.5W 20 57 157 01m08s
12 -25 -0265 Oct 06 23:44:55 13347 -28005 A -0.9125 0.9855 55.6S 174.5W 24 59 123 01m01s
13 -24 -0247 Oct 17 08:04:31 13133 -27782 A -0.8945 0.9867 57.8S 58.6E 26 61 103 00m55s
14 -23 -0229 Oct 28 16:31:34 12922 -27559 A -0.8822 0.9882 61.0S 70.6W 28 62 88 00m47s
15 -22 -0211 Nov 08 01:04:24 12714 -27336 A -0.8739 0.9898 64.8S 158.7E 29 64 74 00m40s
16 -21 -0193 Nov 19 09:41:51 12508 -27113 A -0.8689 0.9919 68.9S 27.4E 29 65 58 00m31s
17 -20 -0175 Nov 29 18:22:07 12305 -26890 A -0.8654 0.9944 73.3S 103.0W 30 64 39 00m21s
18 -19 -0157 Dec 11 03:02:37 12104 -26667 A -0.8616 0.9976 77.4S 131.1E 30 58 17 00m09s
19 -18 -0139 Dec 21 11:43:23 11905 -26444 H -0.8574 1.0012 80.8S 14.8E 31 43 8 00m05s
20 -17 -0120 Jan 01 20:21:20 11709 -26221 H -0.8509 1.0056 81.9S 86.4W 31 13 37 00m21s
21 -16 -0102 Jan 12 04:55:26 11515 -25998 T -0.8403 1.0104 79.5S 169.9E 32 346 67 00m39s
22 -15 -0084 Jan 23 13:23:46 11322 -25775 T -0.8246 1.0158 74.8S 52.7E 34 334 97 01m01s
23 -14 -0066 Feb 02 21:46:36 11132 -25552 T -0.8039 1.0217 69.1S 71.3W 36 331 125 01m26s
24 -13 -0048 Feb 14 06:02:38 10944 -25329 T -0.7773 1.0279 62.7S 162.8E 39 330 150 01m54s
25 -12 -0030 Feb 24 14:10:39 10757 -25106 T -0.7435 1.0343 55.7S 37.3E 42 332 172 02m27s
26 -11 -0012 Mar 06 22:11:44 10572 -24883 T -0.7036 1.0407 48.4S 87.2W 45 334 191 03m03s
27 -10 0006 Mar 18 06:05:10 10389 -24660 T -0.6566 1.0470 40.8S 149.9E 49 336 206 03m42s
28 -09 0024 Mar 28 13:52:19 10207 -24437 T -0.6039 1.0531 33.0S 28.7E 53 339 219 04m24s
29 -08 0042 Apr 08 21:32:29 10027 -24214 T -0.5449 1.0588 25.1S 90.7W 57 341 229 05m05s
30 -07 0060 Apr 19 05:08:12 9848 -23991 T -0.4815 1.0640 17.3S 151.3E 61 344 238 05m45s
31 -06 0078 Apr 30 12:39:31 9670 -23768 T -0.4136 1.0685 9.7S 34.8E 66 347 244 06m19s
32 -05 0096 May 10 20:07:02 9493 -23545 T -0.3421 1.0723 2.3S 80.2W 70 350 250 06m47s
33 -04 0114 May 22 03:32:43 9318 -23322 T -0.2684 1.0753 4.6N 165.8E 74 353 253 07m06s
34 -03 0132 Jun 01 10:57:16 9143 -23099 T -0.1932 1.0775 10.9N 52.8E 79 357 255 07m14s
35 -02 0150 Jun 12 18:23:03 8970 -22876 T -0.1187 1.0787 16.5N 59.7W 83 1 256 07m13s
36 -01 0168 Jun 23 01:48:53 8797 -22653 T -0.0441 1.0792 21.3N 171.4W 88 6 256 07m03s
37 00 0186 Jul 04 09:18:54 8625 -22430 Tm 0.0275 1.0787 25.0N 76.5E 88 189 254 06m47s
38 01 0204 Jul 14 16:51:47 8453 -22207 T 0.0968 1.0774 27.6N 35.6W 84 195 252 06m27s
39 02 0222 Jul 26 00:30:26 8283 -21984 T 0.1612 1.0754 29.0N 148.9W 81 200 248 06m06s
40 03 0240 Aug 05 08:13:15 8112 -21761 T 0.2221 1.0728 29.4N 96.8E 77 204 242 05m45s
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 04 0258 Aug 16 16:04:16 7942 -21538 T 0.2761 1.0696 28.7N 19.8W 74 207 235 05m25s
42 05 0276 Aug 27 00:01:24 7772 -21315 T 0.3249 1.0660 27.3N 138.3W 71 210 227 05m06s
43 06 0294 Sep 07 08:06:29 7603 -21092 T 0.3671 1.0621 25.2N 100.6E 68 211 218 04m48s
44 07 0312 Sep 17 16:18:56 7434 -20869 T 0.4032 1.0581 22.8N 22.9W 66 212 207 04m33s
45 08 0330 Sep 29 00:40:17 7264 -20646 T 0.4313 1.0540 20.0N 149.1W 64 211 196 04m19s
46 09 0348 Oct 09 09:08:38 7095 -20423 T 0.4540 1.0501 17.2N 82.5E 63 210 185 04m07s
47 10 0366 Oct 20 17:43:30 6925 -20200 T 0.4710 1.0464 14.4N 47.8W 62 207 173 03m56s
48 11 0384 Oct 31 02:24:17 6755 -19977 T 0.4831 1.0431 11.9N 179.7W 61 204 163 03m47s
49 12 0402 Nov 11 11:10:32 6585 -19754 T 0.4904 1.0401 9.6N 47.0E 61 201 153 03m39s
50 13 0420 Nov 21 19:59:16 6415 -19531 T 0.4956 1.0377 7.9N 87.0W 60 196 145 03m33s
51 14 0438 Dec 03 04:50:38 6244 -19308 T 0.4982 1.0357 6.7N 138.3E 60 192 138 03m27s
52 15 0456 Dec 13 13:41:28 6072 -19085 T 0.5010 1.0342 6.3N 3.9E 60 188 133 03m23s
53 16 0474 Dec 24 22:31:52 5900 -18862 T 0.5039 1.0332 6.7N 130.5W 60 183 129 03m20s
54 17 0493 Jan 04 07:17:22 5727 -18639 T 0.5104 1.0326 8.1N 96.2E 59 179 128 03m16s
55 18 0511 Jan 15 16:00:05 5553 -18416 T 0.5189 1.0323 10.3N 36.5W 59 175 128 03m14s
56 19 0529 Jan 26 00:35:32 5379 -18193 T 0.5327 1.0323 13.6N 167.7W 58 171 129 03m10s
57 20 0547 Feb 06 09:04:44 5203 -17970 T 0.5516 1.0325 17.7N 62.4E 56 167 131 03m07s
58 21 0565 Feb 16 17:24:37 5024 -17747 T 0.5777 1.0327 22.8N 65.6W 55 164 134 03m02s
59 22 0583 Feb 28 01:37:28 4844 -17524 T 0.6092 1.0329 28.7N 167.7E 52 161 139 02m55s
60 23 0601 Mar 10 09:40:34 4667 -17301 T 0.6483 1.0327 35.3N 42.9E 49 158 144 02m47s
61 24 0619 Mar 21 17:34:36 4523 -17078 T 0.6944 1.0323 42.8N 80.0W 46 155 150 02m36s
62 25 0637 Apr 01 01:19:52 4380 -16855 T 0.7473 1.0312 50.9N 158.3E 41 152 158 02m21s
63 26 0655 Apr 12 08:56:58 4225 -16632 T 0.8065 1.0296 59.8N 36.9E 36 147 169 02m05s
64 27 0673 Apr 22 16:26:17 4046 -16409 T 0.8714 1.0270 69.6N 87.9W 29 138 188 01m44s
65 28 0691 May 03 23:48:12 3866 -16186 T 0.9415 1.0229 78.9N 122.9E 19 102 238 01m20s
66 29 0709 May 14 07:04:35 3705 -15963 P 1.0154 0.9736 69.1N 68.7W 0 22
67 30 0727 May 25 14:15:57 3561 -15740 P 1.0925 0.8295 68.1N 171.3E 0 11
68 31 0745 Jun 04 21:22:42 3418 -15517 P 1.1724 0.6809 67.1N 53.0E 0 0
69 32 0763 Jun 16 04:27:29 3274 -15294 P 1.2526 0.5326 66.1N 64.4W 0 350
70 33 0781 Jun 26 11:30:45 3130 -15071 P 1.3330 0.3849 65.1N 179.1E 0 340
71 34 0799 Jul 07 18:35:08 2987 -14848 P 1.4112 0.2426 64.2N 62.6E 0 331
72 35 0817 Jul 18 01:39:41 2843 -14625 Pe 1.4880 0.1042 63.4N 53.6W 0 322
[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)"
