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 79 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 -0434 May 21. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0828 Jun 16. The total duration of Saros series 79 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0434 May 21 00:03:26 TD
Last Eclipse = 0828 Jun 16 04:36:44 TD
Duration of Saros 79 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 79 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 79 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.7% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 42.3% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.5% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 16 | 22.5% |
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 79 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 79 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 55 | 96.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 2 | 3.5% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 79: 8P 11T 16H 30A 6P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 79 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -0254 Sep 06 Duration = 02m27s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -0110 Dec 02 Duration = 00m58s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0521 Dec 15 Duration = 07m28s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0197 Jun 03 Duration = 00m11s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0092 Dec 12 Duration = 00m46s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 0179 May 24 Duration = 00m06s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0308 Aug 04 Magnitude = 0.9201
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0434 May 21 Magnitude = 0.0279
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 79 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 079 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 -37 -0434 May 21 00:03:26 15504 -30100 Pb 1.5128 0.0279 62.7N 110.6E 0 45
02 -36 -0416 May 31 07:28:25 15260 -29877 P 1.4411 0.1676 63.4N 11.0W 0 36
03 -35 -0398 Jun 11 14:54:03 15020 -29654 P 1.3697 0.3067 64.3N 133.0W 0 27
04 -34 -0380 Jun 21 22:20:47 14783 -29431 P 1.2994 0.4435 65.2N 104.4E 0 18
05 -33 -0362 Jul 03 05:50:34 14550 -29208 P 1.2318 0.5745 66.1N 19.2W 0 8
06 -32 -0344 Jul 13 13:23:45 14320 -28985 P 1.1671 0.6993 67.1N 144.1W 0 357
07 -31 -0326 Jul 24 21:01:18 14093 -28762 P 1.1063 0.8155 68.1N 89.4E 0 346
08 -30 -0308 Aug 04 04:44:56 13870 -28539 P 1.0511 0.9201 69.1N 39.1W 0 335
09 -29 -0290 Aug 15 12:34:54 13649 -28316 T+ 1.0017 1.0127 70.0N 169.8W 0 323 - -
10 -28 -0272 Aug 25 20:31:42 13432 -28093 T 0.9583 1.0435 75.2N 2.5E 16 258 525 02m25s
11 -27 -0254 Sep 06 04:36:03 13217 -27870 T 0.9216 1.0404 68.8N 147.2W 22 231 353 02m27s
12 -26 -0236 Sep 16 12:48:23 13005 -27647 T 0.8919 1.0366 62.0N 76.6E 26 220 272 02m24s
13 -25 -0218 Sep 27 21:08:11 12795 -27424 T 0.8691 1.0324 55.8N 56.7W 29 213 220 02m16s
14 -24 -0200 Oct 08 05:34:03 12589 -27201 T 0.8517 1.0281 50.4N 170.4E 31 208 181 02m06s
15 -23 -0182 Oct 19 14:07:02 12384 -26978 T 0.8407 1.0239 45.8N 36.8E 32 204 149 01m53s
16 -22 -0164 Oct 29 22:45:19 12183 -26755 T 0.8343 1.0199 41.9N 97.6W 33 199 123 01m39s
17 -21 -0146 Nov 10 07:27:50 11983 -26532 T 0.8320 1.0163 38.9N 127.3E 33 194 101 01m25s
18 -20 -0128 Nov 20 16:12:27 11786 -26309 T 0.8319 1.0131 36.5N 8.2W 33 190 81 01m10s
19 -19 -0110 Dec 02 00:58:31 11591 -26086 T 0.8335 1.0104 34.8N 144.0W 33 184 65 00m58s
20 -18 -0092 Dec 12 09:44:07 11398 -25863 H 0.8354 1.0081 33.7N 80.3E 33 179 51 00m46s
21 -17 -0074 Dec 23 18:26:24 11207 -25640 H 0.8350 1.0066 32.9N 54.5W 33 174 41 00m37s
22 -16 -0055 Jan 03 03:05:23 11018 -25417 H 0.8326 1.0054 32.5N 171.5E 33 169 34 00m31s
23 -15 -0037 Jan 14 11:38:03 10831 -25194 H 0.8256 1.0048 32.3N 39.3E 34 164 30 00m27s
24 -14 -0019 Jan 24 20:04:24 10645 -24971 H 0.8142 1.0047 32.2N 91.0W 35 159 27 00m26s
25 -13 -0001 Feb 05 04:21:20 10461 -24748 H 0.7956 1.0049 32.2N 141.5E 37 154 27 00m26s
26 -12 0017 Feb 15 12:30:45 10279 -24525 H 0.7717 1.0053 32.4N 16.4E 39 150 28 00m28s
27 -11 0035 Feb 26 20:29:54 10098 -24302 H 0.7398 1.0059 32.8N 105.4W 42 147 30 00m31s
28 -10 0053 Mar 09 04:19:20 9918 -24079 H 0.7006 1.0065 33.4N 135.9E 45 145 31 00m33s
29 -09 0071 Mar 20 11:58:48 9740 -23856 H 0.6541 1.0069 34.1N 20.4E 49 144 31 00m35s
30 -08 0089 Mar 30 19:29:18 9563 -23633 H 0.6008 1.0071 35.0N 92.2W 53 144 30 00m36s
31 -07 0107 Apr 11 02:51:12 9387 -23410 H 0.5410 1.0069 35.8N 158.2E 57 145 28 00m35s
32 -06 0125 Apr 21 10:04:01 9212 -23187 H 0.4745 1.0063 36.3N 51.4E 61 147 24 00m32s
33 -05 0143 May 02 17:10:28 9038 -22964 H 0.4035 1.0051 36.4N 53.2W 66 151 19 00m27s
34 -04 0161 May 13 00:10:12 8865 -22741 H 0.3280 1.0034 35.8N 155.7W 71 155 12 00m18s
35 -03 0179 May 24 07:05:09 8693 -22518 H 0.2493 1.0011 34.4N 102.9E 75 160 4 00m06s
36 -02 0197 Jun 03 13:56:11 8521 -22295 Am 0.1683 0.9981 31.9N 2.3E 80 165 7 00m11s
37 -01 0215 Jun 14 20:45:22 8350 -22072 A 0.0867 0.9946 28.5N 98.5W 85 171 19 00m34s
38 00 0233 Jun 25 03:34:11 8179 -21849 A 0.0061 0.9905 24.1N 160.1E 90 177 34 01m04s
39 01 0251 Jul 06 10:22:43 8009 -21626 A -0.0738 0.9859 19.0N 57.9E 86 360 50 01m40s
40 02 0269 Jul 16 17:14:24 7839 -21403 A -0.1498 0.9808 13.2N 45.9W 81 4 69 02m21s
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 03 0287 Jul 28 00:08:38 7670 -21180 A -0.2228 0.9754 6.9N 151.1W 77 7 90 03m04s
42 04 0305 Aug 07 07:08:56 7500 -20957 A -0.2898 0.9697 0.2N 101.6E 73 11 114 03m48s
43 05 0323 Aug 18 14:13:22 7331 -20734 A -0.3525 0.9638 6.7S 7.2W 69 14 139 04m29s
44 06 0341 Aug 28 21:26:32 7162 -20511 A -0.4068 0.9579 13.5S 118.5W 66 16 167 05m06s
45 07 0359 Sep 09 04:45:34 6992 -20288 A -0.4555 0.9520 20.4S 128.6E 63 18 196 05m38s
46 08 0377 Sep 19 12:13:48 6823 -20065 A -0.4959 0.9464 27.1S 13.5E 60 20 225 06m05s
47 09 0395 Sep 30 19:48:39 6653 -19842 A -0.5302 0.9411 33.6S 103.0W 58 21 255 06m27s
48 10 0413 Oct 11 03:32:32 6482 -19619 A -0.5566 0.9362 39.7S 138.8E 56 22 284 06m44s
49 11 0431 Oct 22 11:22:11 6311 -19396 A -0.5773 0.9318 45.4S 20.0E 54 21 311 06m58s
50 12 0449 Nov 01 19:17:57 6140 -19173 A -0.5925 0.9280 50.6S 99.1W 53 19 335 07m09s
51 13 0467 Nov 13 03:18:02 5968 -18950 A -0.6035 0.9248 55.1S 142.4E 53 15 356 07m17s
52 14 0485 Nov 23 11:22:19 5796 -18727 A -0.6109 0.9222 58.6S 24.8E 52 10 372 07m23s
53 15 0503 Dec 04 19:27:10 5622 -18504 A -0.6172 0.9204 61.1S 90.9W 52 2 384 07m27s
54 16 0521 Dec 15 03:32:14 5448 -18281 A -0.6230 0.9193 62.2S 154.7E 51 352 393 07m28s
55 17 0539 Dec 26 11:34:40 5272 -18058 A -0.6305 0.9188 62.0S 41.3E 51 343 398 07m26s
56 18 0558 Jan 05 19:34:45 5095 -17835 A -0.6398 0.9189 60.5S 72.4W 50 334 400 07m23s
57 19 0576 Jan 17 03:27:40 4915 -17612 A -0.6547 0.9196 58.4S 174.4E 49 327 402 07m17s
58 20 0594 Jan 27 11:15:35 4735 -17389 A -0.6735 0.9207 55.7S 60.8E 47 322 403 07m10s
59 21 0612 Feb 07 18:54:14 4580 -17166 A -0.6997 0.9221 53.0S 51.5W 45 318 407 07m02s
60 22 0630 Feb 18 02:26:01 4436 -16943 A -0.7313 0.9239 50.5S 162.8W 43 316 413 06m53s
61 23 0648 Feb 29 09:46:24 4293 -16720 A -0.7722 0.9257 48.8S 88.5E 39 315 430 06m44s
62 24 0666 Mar 11 16:59:40 4117 -16497 A -0.8187 0.9275 47.9S 18.7W 35 314 461 06m34s
63 25 0684 Mar 22 00:02:14 3937 -16274 A -0.8738 0.9290 48.6S 122.4W 29 313 531 06m23s
64 26 0702 Apr 02 06:56:41 3762 -16051 A -0.9353 0.9299 51.7S 138.1E 20 310 725 06m09s
65 27 0720 Apr 12 13:42:10 3618 -15828 A- -1.0037 0.9531 61.2S 60.5E 0 291 - -
66 28 0738 Apr 23 20:21:34 3474 -15605 P -1.0767 0.8301 61.7S 48.8W 0 300
67 29 0756 May 04 02:54:59 3331 -15382 P -1.1544 0.6982 62.3S 156.7W 0 309
68 30 0774 May 15 09:22:59 3187 -15159 P -1.2361 0.5588 63.0S 96.6E 0 318
69 31 0792 May 25 15:48:34 3043 -14936 P -1.3193 0.4161 63.8S 9.8W 0 327
70 32 0810 Jun 05 22:12:29 2900 -14713 P -1.4034 0.2714 64.7S 116.1W 0 336
71 33 0828 Jun 16 04:36:44 2756 -14490 Pe -1.4870 0.1273 65.7S 137.2E 0 346
[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)"
