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 85 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 -0170 Mar 14. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1110 Apr 20. The total duration of Saros series 85 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0170 Mar 14 10:28:38 TD Last Eclipse = 1110 Apr 20 23:08:10 TD Duration of Saros 85 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 85 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 85 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 27 | 37.5% |
| Annular | A | 29 | 40.3% |
| Total | T | 12 | 16.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.6% |
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 85 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 85 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 45 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 93.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.2% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 2 | 4.4% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 85: 8P 12T 4H 29A 19P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 85 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 85 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0713 Aug 26 | 05m52s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0262 Nov 29 | 00m11s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 0046 Jul 22 | 03m34s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 0172 Oct 05 | 01m56s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0190 Oct 16 | 01m30s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0244 Nov 17 | 00m12s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0044 May 28 | - | 0.87011 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0170 Mar 14 | - | 0.03564 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 85. 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 85.
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
04355 -38 -0170 Mar 14 10:28:38 12373 -26837 Pb 1.5120 0.0356 61.0N 5.4W 0
04399 -37 -0152 Mar 24 18:24:00 12163 -26614 P 1.4645 0.1261 60.9N 133.9W 0
04441 -36 -0134 Apr 05 02:10:19 11958 -26391 P 1.4096 0.2311 61.0N 99.9E 0
04484 -35 -0116 Apr 15 09:51:58 11756 -26168 P 1.3512 0.3437 61.2N 25.2W 0
04527 -34 -0098 Apr 26 17:26:44 11558 -25945 P 1.2874 0.4672 61.6N 148.5W 0
04570 -33 -0080 May 07 00:58:19 11362 -25722 P 1.2210 0.5958 62.1N 88.8E 0
04615 -32 -0062 May 18 08:24:31 11170 -25499 P 1.1504 0.7326 62.7N 32.7W 0
04660 -31 -0044 May 28 15:49:54 10981 -25276 P 1.0793 0.8701 63.4N 154.2W 0
04706 -30 -0026 Jun 08 23:13:01 10795 -25053 T+ 1.0068 1.0095 64.3N 84.7E 0
04752 -29 -0008 Jun 19 06:36:42 10610 -24830 T 0.9352 1.0602 82.0N 10.9E 20 573 03m08s
04797 -28 0010 Jun 30 14:01:10 10429 -24607 T 0.8645 1.0599 83.1N 11.6W 30 397 03m22s
04843 -27 0028 Jul 10 21:28:53 10249 -24384 T 0.7971 1.0582 75.9N 95.4W 37 320 03m30s
04889 -26 0046 Jul 22 05:00:32 10071 -24161 T 0.7334 1.0552 68.1N 158.1E 43 270 03m34s
04933 -25 0064 Aug 01 12:36:13 9895 -23938 T 0.6735 1.0515 60.5N 45.5E 47 231 03m33s
04977 -24 0082 Aug 12 20:18:16 9720 -23715 T 0.6196 1.0470 53.0N 70.7W 51 199 03m27s
05022 -23 0100 Aug 23 04:06:15 9546 -23492 T 0.5713 1.0421 45.8N 170.6E 55 171 03m17s
05066 -22 0118 Sep 03 12:01:49 9374 -23269 T 0.5298 1.0368 38.9N 49.5E 58 145 03m02s
05110 -21 0136 Sep 13 20:03:55 9202 -23046 T 0.4944 1.0314 32.4N 73.4W 60 121 02m43s
05154 -20 0154 Sep 25 04:14:23 9030 -22823 T 0.4664 1.0258 26.2N 161.4E 62 99 02m20s
05196 -19 0172 Oct 05 12:31:27 8859 -22600 T 0.4449 1.0204 20.6N 34.7E 63 77 01m56s
05237 -18 0190 Oct 16 20:54:58 8688 -22377 H3 0.4293 1.0152 15.6N 93.5W 64 57 01m30s
05278 -17 0208 Oct 27 05:23:55 8517 -22154 H 0.4189 1.0103 11.2N 137.1E 65 39 01m03s
05319 -16 0226 Nov 07 13:58:09 8346 -21931 H 0.4133 1.0058 7.5N 6.7E 66 22 00m37s
05360 -15 0244 Nov 17 22:34:57 8174 -21708 H 0.4108 1.0019 4.6N 124.2W 66 7 00m12s
05401 -14 0262 Nov 29 07:13:23 8002 -21485 A 0.4102 0.9984 2.5N 104.6E 66 6 00m11s
05441 -13 0280 Dec 09 15:51:37 7829 -21262 A 0.4102 0.9955 1.1N 26.3W 66 17 00m30s
05481 -12 0298 Dec 21 00:29:21 7656 -21039 A 0.4101 0.9932 0.5N 157.1W 66 26 00m46s
05520 -11 0316 Dec 31 09:02:13 7481 -20816 A 0.4067 0.9915 0.4N 73.3E 66 33 00m58s
05560 -10 0335 Jan 11 17:31:30 7306 -20593 A 0.4009 0.9901 1.1N 55.3W 66 38 01m05s
05600 -09 0353 Jan 22 01:53:03 7130 -20370 A 0.3893 0.9894 2.1N 178.0E 67 40 01m09s
05640 -08 0371 Feb 02 10:08:42 6953 -20147 A 0.3735 0.9889 3.7N 52.8E 68 42 01m10s
05682 -07 0389 Feb 12 18:13:26 6775 -19924 A 0.3491 0.9887 5.3N 69.6W 70 42 01m10s
05723 -06 0407 Feb 24 02:11:01 6597 -19701 A 0.3195 0.9887 7.3N 170.0E 71 42 01m08s
05764 -05 0425 Mar 06 09:57:04 6419 -19478 A 0.2811 0.9887 9.2N 52.7E 74 41 01m07s
05805 -04 0443 Mar 17 17:33:56 6241 -19255 A 0.2358 0.9887 11.0N 62.0W 76 41 01m06s
05846 -03 0461 Mar 28 00:59:22 6062 -19032 A 0.1820 0.9885 12.6N 173.6W 79 41 01m08s
05889 -02 0479 Apr 08 08:16:42 5885 -18809 Am 0.1223 0.9881 13.8N 77.2E 83 42 01m11s
05932 -01 0497 Apr 18 15:24:14 5709 -18586 A 0.0554 0.9873 14.3N 29.3W 87 45 01m18s
05976 00 0515 Apr 29 22:23:38 5532 -18363 A -0.0175 0.9861 14.1N 133.6W 89 49 01m28s
06020 01 0533 May 10 05:15:53 5356 -18140 A -0.0950 0.9844 13.0N 123.8E 85 56 01m43s
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
06066 02 0551 May 21 12:03:02 5181 -17917 A -0.1757 0.9822 10.9N 22.4E 80 64 02m03s
06112 03 0569 May 31 18:45:18 5007 -17694 A -0.2596 0.9794 7.7N 78.2W 75 76 02m29s
06159 04 0587 Jun 12 01:24:29 4835 -17471 A -0.3451 0.9761 3.4N 178.6W 70 91 03m01s
06204 05 0605 Jun 22 08:02:39 4664 -17248 A -0.4305 0.9722 1.8S 80.6E 64 110 03m35s
06249 06 0623 Jul 03 14:41:23 4494 -17025 A -0.5142 0.9678 8.0S 21.1W 59 135 04m11s
06294 07 0641 Jul 13 21:20:57 4326 -16802 A -0.5962 0.9630 15.0S 123.9W 53 167 04m45s
06340 08 0659 Jul 25 04:04:28 4159 -16579 A -0.6740 0.9577 22.7S 131.5E 47 208 05m13s
06386 09 0677 Aug 04 10:52:22 3995 -16356 A -0.7474 0.9521 31.0S 24.7E 41 262 05m33s
06430 10 0695 Aug 15 17:47:00 3832 -16133 A -0.8142 0.9463 39.7S 84.9W 35 338 05m46s
06473 11 0713 Aug 26 00:46:30 3671 -15910 A -0.8762 0.9401 49.0S 162.1E 28 458 05m52s
06516 12 0731 Sep 06 07:54:58 3513 -15687 A -0.9299 0.9338 58.5S 43.3E 21 673 05m51s
06558 13 0749 Sep 16 15:10:13 3357 -15464 As -0.9773 0.9269 68.3S 89.2W 11 - 05m42s
06600 14 0767 Sep 27 22:34:38 3205 -15241 A- -1.0165 0.9270 72.0S 112.6E 0
06641 15 0785 Oct 08 06:06:06 3055 -15018 P -1.0495 0.8699 71.7S 15.0W 0
06683 16 0803 Oct 19 13:46:27 2908 -14795 P -1.0747 0.8264 71.2S 144.4W 0
06724 17 0821 Oct 29 21:33:18 2764 -14572 P -1.0942 0.7929 70.4S 85.1E 0
06764 18 0839 Nov 10 05:25:44 2624 -14349 P -1.1088 0.7679 69.5S 46.1W 0
06804 19 0857 Nov 20 13:23:00 2488 -14126 P -1.1192 0.7502 68.4S 177.9W 0
06844 20 0875 Dec 01 21:23:41 2356 -13903 P -1.1270 0.7370 67.3S 50.1E 0
06884 21 0893 Dec 12 05:25:39 2228 -13680 P -1.1334 0.7264 66.2S 81.6W 0
06924 22 0911 Dec 23 13:26:37 2104 -13457 P -1.1406 0.7146 65.2S 147.4E 0
06964 23 0930 Jan 02 21:26:03 1984 -13234 P -1.1490 0.7010 64.2S 17.3E 0
07005 24 0948 Jan 14 05:22:02 1869 -13011 P -1.1604 0.6824 63.3S 111.6W 0
07046 25 0966 Jan 24 13:11:50 1758 -12788 P -1.1766 0.6559 62.5S 121.3E 0
07086 26 0984 Feb 04 20:55:19 1652 -12565 P -1.1979 0.6210 61.8S 3.9W 0
07128 27 1002 Feb 15 04:30:46 1551 -12342 P -1.2256 0.5752 61.3S 127.0W 0
07170 28 1020 Feb 26 11:58:42 1454 -12119 P -1.2592 0.5190 61.0S 111.9E 0
07212 29 1038 Mar 08 19:16:36 1361 -11896 P -1.3010 0.4487 60.9S 6.6W 0
07255 30 1056 Mar 19 02:27:00 1274 -11673 P -1.3488 0.3678 60.9S 123.2W 0
07298 31 1074 Mar 30 09:28:21 1191 -11450 P -1.4035 0.2745 61.0S 122.5E 0
07342 32 1092 Apr 09 16:21:49 1112 -11227 P -1.4644 0.1696 61.4S 10.1E 0
07388 33 1110 Apr 20 23:08:10 1038 -11004 Pe -1.5310 0.0544 61.8S 100.7W 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)"
