Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 91

Introduction

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.


Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 91

Solar eclipses of Saros 91 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 -0159 Aug 06. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1175 Oct 16. The total duration of Saros series 91 is 1334.23 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -0159 Aug 06   16:17:02 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   1175 Oct 16   15:57:46 TD

                      Duration of Saros  91  =  1334.23 Years

Saros 91 is composed of 75 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 91
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 75100.0%
PartialP 33 44.0%
AnnularA 25 33.3%
TotalT 14 18.7%
Hybrid[3]H 3 4.0%

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 91 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 91
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 42100.0%
Central (two limits) 42100.0%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 75 eclipses in Saros 91: 23P 14T 3H 25A 10P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 91 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 91
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse 0977 Jun 1905m16s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse 0562 Oct 1400m05s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse 0382 Jun 2704m03s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse 0490 Aug 3102m19s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 0508 Sep 1101m45s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 0544 Oct 0200m31s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse 0238 Apr 02 - 0.95228
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 1175 Oct 16 - 0.00195

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 91

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 91. 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 91.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 91

                         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

04382 -40 -0159 Aug 06  16:17:02  12240 -26696   Pb   1.5260  0.0126  69.4N 137.1E   0             
04425 -39 -0141 Aug 18  00:07:27  12033 -26473   P    1.4734  0.1129  70.2N   6.2E   0             
04468 -38 -0123 Aug 28  08:05:47  11830 -26250   P    1.4272  0.2012  70.9N 127.3W   0             
04511 -37 -0105 Sep 08  16:13:09  11630 -26027   P    1.3881  0.2759  71.4N  96.5E   0             
04554 -36 -0087 Sep 19  00:29:08  11434 -25804   P    1.3559  0.3372  71.7N  42.3W   0             
04599 -35 -0069 Sep 30  08:52:47  11241 -25581   P    1.3300  0.3866  71.8N 176.8E   0             
04644 -34 -0051 Oct 10  17:24:36  11050 -25358   P    1.3105  0.4235  71.6N  33.9E   0             
04689 -33 -0033 Oct 22  02:03:25  10863 -25135   P    1.2967  0.4498  71.1N 110.4W   0             
04736 -32 -0015 Nov 01  10:48:19  10678 -24912   P    1.2881  0.4661  70.4N 104.3E   0             
04781 -31  0003 Nov 12  19:36:29  10495 -24689   P    1.2822  0.4772  69.6N  41.2W   0             

04827 -30  0021 Nov 23  04:28:42  10315 -24466   P    1.2797  0.4820  68.6N 172.9E   0             
04873 -29  0039 Dec 04  13:22:13  10136 -24243   P    1.2781  0.4850  67.5N  27.3E   0             
04918 -28  0057 Dec 14  22:15:33   9959 -24020   P    1.2766  0.4881  66.5N 117.6W   0             
04962 -27  0075 Dec 26  07:06:47   9784 -23797   P    1.2734  0.4942  65.4N  98.4E   0             
05006 -26  0094 Jan 05  15:55:02   9610 -23574   P    1.2679  0.5046  64.4N  44.3W   0             
05051 -25  0112 Jan 17  00:38:49   9437 -23351   P    1.2589  0.5217  63.5N 174.4E   0             
05095 -24  0130 Jan 27  09:15:57   9265 -23128   P    1.2446  0.5488  62.7N  35.1E   0             
05139 -23  0148 Feb 07  17:46:55   9093 -22905   P    1.2255  0.5854  62.0N 102.4W   0             
05181 -22  0166 Feb 18  02:09:50   8922 -22682   P    1.2001  0.6340  61.5N 122.2E   0             
05222 -21  0184 Feb 29  10:24:45   8751 -22459   P    1.1684  0.6947  61.1N  11.0W   0             

05263 -20  0202 Mar 11  18:30:53   8580 -22236   P    1.1299  0.7688  60.9N 142.0W   0             
05304 -19  0220 Mar 22  02:29:25   8409 -22013   P    1.0855  0.8543  60.8N  88.9E   0             
05345 -18  0238 Apr 02  10:19:52   8237 -21790   P    1.0347  0.9523  60.9N  38.1W   0             
05386 -17  0256 Apr 12  18:02:10   8065 -21567   T    0.9776  1.0522  62.9N 139.0W  11  857  02m50s
05427 -16  0274 Apr 24  01:38:24   7893 -21344   T    0.9159  1.0564  63.5N 124.8E  23  463  03m14s
05467 -15  0292 May 04  09:08:37   7720 -21121   T    0.8497  1.0586  63.9N  24.2E  31  364  03m29s
05506 -14  0310 May 15  16:34:57   7545 -20898   T    0.7804  1.0596  63.9N  76.4W  38  313  03m41s
05545 -13  0328 May 25  23:56:30   7370 -20675   T    0.7077  1.0596  63.0N 175.9W  45  277  03m50s
05585 -12  0346 Jun 06  07:17:19   7195 -20452   T    0.6346  1.0586  60.9N  83.5E  50  250  03m58s
05625 -11  0364 Jun 16  14:36:12   7018 -20229   T    0.5608  1.0566  57.4N  18.6W  56  226  04m02s

05666 -10  0382 Jun 27  21:55:37   6841 -20006   T    0.4878  1.0538  52.9N 123.1W  61  204  04m03s
05707 -09  0400 Jul 08  05:16:04   6663 -19783   T    0.4163  1.0502  47.5N 129.9E  65  183  04m00s
05749 -08  0418 Jul 19  12:39:47   6485 -19560   T    0.3481  1.0459  41.5N  20.4E  69  163  03m52s
05790 -07  0436 Jul 29  20:07:35   6306 -19337   T    0.2842  1.0409  35.1N  91.5W  73  143  03m37s
05830 -06  0454 Aug 10  03:39:07   6128 -19114   T    0.2243  1.0355  28.5N 154.6E  77  122  03m17s
05873 -05  0472 Aug 20  11:17:31   5950 -18891   T    0.1710  1.0296  21.8N  38.5E  80  102  02m50s
05916 -04  0490 Aug 31  19:01:26   5774 -18668   T    0.1232  1.0235  15.1N  79.5W  83   81  02m19s
05960 -03  0508 Sep 11  02:53:05   5597 -18445   H3   0.0826  1.0173   8.6N 160.4E  85   59  01m45s
06004 -02  0526 Sep 22  10:50:19   5420 -18222   H    0.0476  1.0111   2.3N  38.9E  87   38  01m08s
06049 -01  0544 Oct 02  18:56:04   5245 -17999   H    0.0206  1.0050   3.5S  84.5W  89   17  00m31s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 91

                         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

06095  00  0562 Oct 14  03:07:26   5071 -17776   A   -0.0010  0.9992   9.0S 150.9E  90    3  00m05s
06141  01  0580 Oct 24  11:25:33   4898 -17553   A   -0.0163  0.9938  13.9S  25.2E  89   22  00m40s
06187  02  0598 Nov 04  19:48:16   4726 -17330   A   -0.0271  0.9888  18.0S 101.3W  88   40  01m13s
06232  03  0616 Nov 15  04:16:21   4556 -17107   A   -0.0331  0.9843  21.4S 131.5E  88   56  01m43s
06277  04  0634 Nov 26  12:46:01   4388 -16884   A   -0.0369  0.9804  23.9S   4.4E  88   70  02m09s
06323  05  0652 Dec 06  21:16:51   4220 -16661   A   -0.0391  0.9771  25.5S 122.6W  88   82  02m31s
06370  06  0670 Dec 18  05:46:46   4055 -16438   A   -0.0415  0.9744  26.1S 110.8E  87   92  02m49s
06415  07  0688 Dec 28  14:15:19   3892 -16215   A   -0.0447  0.9723  25.8S  15.4W  87   99  03m02s
06459  08  0707 Jan 08  22:38:11   3730 -15992   A   -0.0520  0.9708  24.8S 140.3W  87  105  03m09s
06501  09  0725 Jan 19  06:56:11   3571 -15769   A   -0.0624  0.9696  23.1S  95.8E  86  109  03m14s

06543  10  0743 Jan 30  15:05:55   3414 -15546   A   -0.0792  0.9690  21.0S  26.3W  85  112  03m15s
06585  11  0761 Feb 09  23:08:52   3260 -15323   A   -0.1007  0.9686  18.5S 146.9W  84  113  03m15s
06626  12  0779 Feb 21  07:00:09   3109 -15100   A   -0.1312  0.9685  16.1S  95.2E  82  114  03m14s
06667  13  0797 Mar 03  14:43:35   2961 -14877   A   -0.1675  0.9685  13.7S  20.8W  80  115  03m14s
06708  14  0815 Mar 14  22:15:01   2817 -14654   A   -0.2128  0.9684  11.7S 133.7W  78  116  03m15s
06749  15  0833 Mar 25  05:37:48   2675 -14431   A   -0.2645  0.9683  10.1S 115.4E  75  117  03m18s
06789  16  0851 Apr 05  12:48:54   2538 -14208   A   -0.3251  0.9680   9.3S   7.6E  71  121  03m25s
06829  17  0869 Apr 15  19:52:37   2404 -13985   A   -0.3909  0.9674   9.3S  98.4W  67  126  03m35s
06869  18  0887 Apr 27  02:46:27   2275 -13762   A   -0.4641  0.9664  10.4S 157.9E  62  135  03m50s
06909  19  0905 May 07  09:33:22   2149 -13539   A   -0.5422  0.9649  12.8S  55.8E  57  149  04m07s

06949  20  0923 May 18  16:13:31   2028 -13316   A   -0.6247  0.9629  16.6S  44.9W  51  170  04m28s
06990  21  0941 May 28  22:49:33   1911 -13093   A   -0.7096  0.9603  21.9S 145.2W  45  203  04m49s
07031  22  0959 Jun 09  05:22:03   1799 -12870   A   -0.7965  0.9569  29.1S 114.7E  37  259  05m06s
07071  23  0977 Jun 19  11:52:12   1691 -12647   A   -0.8844  0.9526  38.8S  14.2E  27  373  05m16s
07113  24  0995 Jun 30  18:22:43   1587 -12424   A   -0.9708  0.9465  53.9S  88.3W  13  854  05m11s
07155  25  1013 Jul 11  00:53:58   1489 -12201   P   -1.0554  0.8698  68.1S 162.5E   0             
07197  26  1031 Jul 22  07:27:48   1395 -11978   P   -1.1369  0.7287  69.1S  52.1E   0             
07240  27  1049 Aug 01  14:05:43   1305 -11755   P   -1.2142  0.5957  70.0S  59.8W   0             
07284  28  1067 Aug 12  20:49:40   1221 -11532   P   -1.2857  0.4734  70.8S 173.9W   0             
07328  29  1085 Aug 23  03:40:37   1140 -11309   P   -1.3506  0.3635  71.4S  69.7E   0             

07373  30  1103 Sep 03  10:38:20   1064 -11086   P   -1.4094  0.2646  71.8S  48.8W   0             
07418  31  1121 Sep 13  17:45:19    993 -10863   P   -1.4600  0.1802  72.0S 170.0W   0             
07463  32  1139 Sep 25  01:00:38    925 -10640   P   -1.5037  0.1081  72.0S  66.7E   0             
07508  33  1157 Oct 05  08:25:14    862 -10417   P   -1.5396  0.0494  71.7S  58.7W   0             
07553  34  1175 Oct 16  15:57:46    803 -10194   Pe  -1.5690  0.0019  71.1S 174.3E   0             


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Footnotes

[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.


Acknowledgments

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)"


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Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26