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 81 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 -0322 May 12. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0958 Jun 19. The total duration of Saros series 81 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0322 May 12 11:41:16 TD
Last Eclipse = 0958 Jun 19 23:06:54 TD
Duration of Saros 81 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 81 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 81 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 14 | 19.4% |
| Annular | A | 5 | 6.9% |
| Total | T | 44 | 61.1% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 9 | 12.5% |
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 81 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 81 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 58 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 58 | 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 81: 7P 5A 9H 44T 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 81 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 0363 Jun 27 Duration = 07m24s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 0832 Apr 04 Duration = 00m47s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0196 Jul 26 Duration = 00m31s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -0124 Sep 07 Duration = 00m00s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 0038 Dec 14 Duration = 01m19s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -0106 Sep 19 Duration = 00m03s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0214 Jul 16 Magnitude = 0.9072
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -0322 May 12 Magnitude = 0.0338
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 81 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 081 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 -35 -0322 May 12 11:41:16 14046 -28715 Pb 1.5329 0.0338 62.1N 63.3W 0 52
02 -34 -0304 May 22 18:26:38 13823 -28492 P 1.4496 0.1804 62.8N 174.7W 0 43
03 -33 -0286 Jun 03 01:10:51 13603 -28269 P 1.3641 0.3323 63.6N 74.0E 0 34
04 -32 -0268 Jun 13 07:59:41 13386 -28046 P 1.2811 0.4807 64.5N 38.7W 0 25
05 -31 -0250 Jun 24 14:50:42 13172 -27823 P 1.1987 0.6289 65.4N 152.3W 0 15
06 -30 -0232 Jul 04 21:48:29 12960 -27600 P 1.1203 0.7704 66.4N 92.0E 0 5
07 -29 -0214 Jul 16 04:51:12 12752 -27377 P 1.0448 0.9072 67.4N 25.3W 0 355
08 -28 -0196 Jul 26 12:03:26 12545 -27154 A 0.9758 0.9909 79.3N 163.5W 12 326 157 00m31s
09 -27 -0178 Aug 06 19:23:28 12342 -26931 A 0.9123 0.9949 79.2N 1.8W 24 240 44 00m19s
10 -26 -0160 Aug 17 02:53:04 12140 -26708 A 0.8557 0.9973 70.2N 137.6W 31 220 18 00m11s
11 -25 -0142 Aug 28 10:32:25 11941 -26485 A 0.8060 0.9988 61.7N 98.5E 36 213 7 00m05s
12 -24 -0124 Sep 07 18:22:16 11745 -26262 A 0.7642 0.9999 54.1N 24.8W 40 209 1 00m00s
13 -23 -0106 Sep 19 02:21:57 11550 -26039 H 0.7298 1.0006 47.1N 149.4W 43 207 3 00m03s
14 -22 -0088 Sep 29 10:30:23 11358 -25816 H 0.7020 1.0013 40.8N 84.3E 45 204 6 00m07s
15 -21 -0070 Oct 10 18:48:28 11167 -25593 H 0.6815 1.0020 35.2N 43.9W 47 201 9 00m11s
16 -20 -0052 Oct 21 03:14:09 10978 -25370 H 0.6666 1.0028 30.3N 173.7W 48 198 13 00m16s
17 -19 -0034 Nov 01 11:46:46 10791 -25147 H 0.6569 1.0040 26.1N 54.9E 49 195 18 00m23s
18 -18 -0016 Nov 11 20:24:21 10606 -24924 H 0.6508 1.0054 22.7N 77.5W 49 191 25 00m33s
19 -17 0002 Nov 23 05:06:15 10423 -24701 H 0.6476 1.0074 20.0N 149.2E 49 187 33 00m45s
20 -16 0020 Dec 03 13:49:49 10240 -24478 H 0.6453 1.0098 18.0N 15.5E 50 183 44 01m01s
21 -15 0038 Dec 14 22:33:40 10060 -24255 H 0.6427 1.0128 16.7N 118.1W 50 178 57 01m19s
22 -14 0056 Dec 25 07:16:33 9881 -24032 T 0.6386 1.0163 15.9N 108.6E 50 173 73 01m40s
23 -13 0075 Jan 05 15:57:02 9703 -23809 T 0.6317 1.0204 15.6N 24.1W 51 169 89 02m01s
24 -12 0093 Jan 16 00:32:32 9526 -23586 T 0.6202 1.0250 15.7N 155.3W 52 164 107 02m25s
25 -11 0111 Jan 27 09:03:03 9350 -23363 T 0.6041 1.0299 16.3N 74.8E 53 160 126 02m47s
26 -10 0129 Feb 06 17:27:01 9175 -23140 T 0.5820 1.0354 17.1N 53.2W 54 156 144 03m10s
27 -09 0147 Feb 18 01:45:03 9002 -22917 T 0.5541 1.0409 18.2N 179.4W 56 153 162 03m32s
28 -08 0165 Feb 28 09:54:09 8829 -22694 T 0.5184 1.0467 19.4N 57.0E 59 151 179 03m54s
29 -07 0183 Mar 11 17:57:10 8656 -22471 T 0.4771 1.0523 20.9N 64.7W 61 149 195 04m14s
30 -06 0201 Mar 22 01:51:41 8485 -22248 T 0.4284 1.0578 22.3N 176.3E 65 148 209 04m35s
31 -05 0219 Apr 02 09:40:55 8314 -22025 T 0.3748 1.0629 23.7N 58.9E 68 148 221 04m56s
32 -04 0237 Apr 12 17:21:56 8144 -21802 T 0.3138 1.0677 24.8N 55.9W 72 150 232 05m18s
33 -03 0255 Apr 24 00:59:20 7973 -21579 T 0.2494 1.0718 25.5N 169.4W 75 152 241 05m39s
34 -02 0273 May 04 08:30:52 7804 -21356 T 0.1800 1.0753 25.5N 78.8E 79 155 248 06m02s
35 -01 0291 May 15 16:00:04 7634 -21133 T 0.1081 1.0781 24.7N 32.2W 84 159 254 06m24s
36 00 0309 May 25 23:26:08 7465 -20910 T 0.0334 1.0799 23.1N 142.7W 88 164 258 06m45s
37 01 0327 Jun 06 06:52:21 7295 -20687 Tm -0.0413 1.0810 20.5N 106.6E 88 347 261 07m03s
38 02 0345 Jun 16 14:18:48 7126 -20464 T -0.1162 1.0811 17.0N 4.8W 83 352 263 07m17s
39 03 0363 Jun 27 21:46:29 6956 -20241 T -0.1899 1.0804 12.7N 117.1W 79 357 264 07m24s
40 04 0381 Jul 08 05:17:09 6787 -20018 T -0.2612 1.0788 7.6N 129.1E 75 1 264 07m22s
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 05 0399 Jul 19 12:51:41 6617 -19795 T -0.3290 1.0764 2.0N 13.7E 71 5 262 07m11s
42 06 0417 Jul 29 20:31:08 6446 -19572 T -0.3928 1.0734 4.1S 103.5W 67 9 259 06m50s
43 07 0435 Aug 10 04:16:06 6275 -19349 T -0.4516 1.0697 10.6S 137.3E 63 12 254 06m22s
44 08 0453 Aug 20 12:07:55 6104 -19126 T -0.5045 1.0656 17.2S 16.1E 60 15 247 05m50s
45 09 0471 Aug 31 20:07:11 5932 -18903 T -0.5507 1.0611 23.8S 107.2W 56 18 239 05m15s
46 10 0489 Sep 11 04:13:02 5759 -18680 T -0.5912 1.0564 30.4S 127.7E 54 20 229 04m40s
47 11 0507 Sep 22 12:27:05 5585 -18457 T -0.6247 1.0516 36.8S 0.7E 51 23 217 04m06s
48 12 0525 Oct 02 20:48:13 5411 -18234 T -0.6521 1.0469 43.1S 127.8W 49 24 205 03m35s
49 13 0543 Oct 14 05:17:10 5235 -18011 T -0.6726 1.0424 48.9S 102.5E 47 25 191 03m07s
50 14 0561 Oct 24 13:50:59 5057 -17788 T -0.6888 1.0381 54.5S 27.4W 46 24 176 02m43s
51 15 0579 Nov 04 22:31:45 4877 -17565 T -0.6991 1.0344 59.4S 157.2W 45 22 162 02m24s
52 16 0597 Nov 15 07:16:12 4697 -17342 T -0.7064 1.0310 63.7S 74.3E 45 18 148 02m07s
53 17 0615 Nov 26 16:04:23 4550 -17119 T -0.7105 1.0282 67.0S 51.8W 44 10 137 01m54s
54 18 0633 Dec 07 00:53:04 4406 -16896 T -0.7139 1.0258 68.9S 174.9W 44 359 126 01m43s
55 19 0651 Dec 18 09:42:29 4258 -16673 T -0.7167 1.0241 69.2S 63.3E 44 346 118 01m36s
56 20 0669 Dec 28 18:29:34 4079 -16450 T -0.7212 1.0227 68.0S 58.8W 44 334 112 01m30s
57 21 0688 Jan 09 03:13:09 3899 -16227 T -0.7284 1.0218 65.6S 177.5E 43 325 108 01m27s
58 22 0706 Jan 19 11:51:48 3731 -16004 T -0.7395 1.0211 62.5S 52.6E 42 319 107 01m24s
59 23 0724 Jan 30 20:24:34 3588 -15781 T -0.7552 1.0207 59.2S 72.7W 41 315 107 01m23s
60 24 0742 Feb 10 04:48:57 3444 -15558 T -0.7774 1.0203 56.2S 162.8E 39 312 109 01m22s
61 25 0760 Feb 21 13:05:15 3300 -15335 T -0.8057 1.0199 53.6S 39.8E 36 310 113 01m22s
62 26 0778 Mar 03 21:12:24 3157 -15112 T -0.8411 1.0192 51.9S 81.1W 32 310 119 01m20s
63 27 0796 Mar 14 05:11:10 3013 -14889 T -0.8830 1.0181 51.4S 160.5E 28 309 129 01m16s
64 28 0814 Mar 25 12:59:04 2869 -14666 T -0.9332 1.0161 52.9S 46.9E 21 307 152 01m07s
65 29 0832 Apr 04 20:39:15 2726 -14443 T -0.9888 1.0120 58.4S 55.9W 8 298 305 00m47s
66 30 0850 Apr 16 04:09:53 2582 -14220 P -1.0515 0.9045 61.4S 164.1W 0 295
67 31 0868 Apr 26 11:34:04 2438 -13997 P -1.1188 0.7799 61.9S 75.4E 0 303
68 32 0886 May 07 18:49:14 2294 -13774 P -1.1926 0.6435 62.6S 43.1W 0 312
69 33 0904 May 18 02:00:21 2159 -13551 P -1.2687 0.5031 63.3S 160.7W 0 321
70 34 0922 May 29 09:05:23 2052 -13328 P -1.3483 0.3570 64.2S 83.1E 0 331
71 35 0940 Jun 08 16:07:41 1944 -13105 P -1.4291 0.2096 65.1S 32.8W 0 340
72 36 0958 Jun 19 23:06:54 1836 -12882 Pe -1.5110 0.0612 66.1S 148.2W 0 350
[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)"
