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 108 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 0550 Jan 04. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 1902 Apr 08. The total duration of Saros series 108 is 1352.26 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0550 Jan 04 00:04:07 TD
Last Eclipse = 1902 Apr 08 14:05:06 TD
Duration of Saros 108 = 1352.26 Years
Saros 108 is composed of 76 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 108 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 76 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 33 | 43.4% |
| Annular | A | 20 | 26.3% |
| Total | T | 18 | 23.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 6.6% |
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 108 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 108 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 95.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 2 | 4.7% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 76 eclipses in Saros 108: 12P 20A 5H 18T 21P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 108 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1361 May 05 Duration = 05m07s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1217 Feb 07 Duration = 02m15s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 0766 May 13 Duration = 03m35s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1108 Dec 04 Duration = 00m08s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1199 Jan 28 Duration = 01m45s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1126 Dec 15 Duration = 00m08s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1541 Aug 21 Magnitude = 0.9172
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0550 Jan 04 Magnitude = 0.0067
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 108 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 108 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 0550 Jan 04 00:04:07 5174 -17934 Pb -1.5674 0.0067 67.3S 19.4E 0 183
02 -35 0568 Jan 15 07:57:59 4995 -17711 P -1.5538 0.0280 68.4S 111.0W 0 195
03 -34 0586 Jan 25 15:47:13 4815 -17488 P -1.5361 0.0559 69.4S 119.1E 0 207
04 -33 0604 Feb 05 23:29:00 4644 -17265 P -1.5118 0.0948 70.3S 9.6W 0 219
05 -32 0622 Feb 16 07:04:22 4500 -17042 P -1.4819 0.1434 71.0S 137.1W 0 232
06 -31 0640 Feb 27 14:30:29 4356 -16819 P -1.4439 0.2060 71.6S 97.1E 0 246
07 -30 0658 Mar 09 21:49:57 4196 -16596 P -1.3999 0.2794 71.9S 27.4W 0 260
08 -29 0676 Mar 20 05:00:44 4017 -16373 P -1.3481 0.3667 72.0S 150.0W 0 273
09 -28 0694 Mar 31 12:04:07 3837 -16150 P -1.2894 0.4669 71.8S 89.3E 0 287
10 -27 0712 Apr 10 18:59:59 3682 -15927 P -1.2234 0.5805 71.4S 29.1W 0 301
11 -26 0730 Apr 22 01:50:35 3538 -15704 P -1.1522 0.7044 70.8S 145.7W 0 314
12 -25 0748 May 02 08:36:33 3394 -15481 P -1.0762 0.8378 70.0S 99.4E 0 326
13 -24 0766 May 13 15:18:08 3251 -15258 As -0.9955 0.9562 66.1S 16.9W 3 341 - 03m35s
14 -23 0784 May 23 21:58:34 3107 -15035 A -0.9126 0.9653 44.6S 132.3W 24 354 309 03m30s
15 -22 0802 Jun 04 04:38:09 2963 -14812 A -0.8275 0.9711 33.2S 122.1E 34 360 185 03m12s
16 -21 0820 Jun 14 11:19:09 2820 -14589 A -0.7426 0.9759 24.5S 18.1E 42 4 128 02m49s
17 -20 0838 Jun 25 18:01:51 2676 -14366 A -0.6578 0.9798 17.4S 85.2W 49 8 95 02m24s
18 -19 0856 Jul 06 00:49:20 2532 -14143 A -0.5758 0.9831 12.0S 171.2E 55 12 73 02m00s
19 -18 0874 Jul 17 07:42:26 2389 -13920 A -0.4970 0.9856 8.0S 66.8E 60 16 58 01m39s
20 -17 0892 Jul 27 14:41:15 2245 -13697 A -0.4218 0.9877 5.2S 38.6W 65 20 48 01m22s
21 -16 0910 Aug 07 21:48:49 2122 -13474 A -0.3526 0.9891 3.8S 145.8W 69 23 41 01m10s
22 -15 0928 Aug 18 05:04:32 2015 -13251 A -0.2893 0.9902 3.5S 105.2E 73 26 36 01m01s
23 -14 0946 Aug 29 12:31:00 1907 -13028 A -0.2337 0.9909 4.3S 6.5W 76 28 33 00m55s
24 -13 0964 Sep 08 20:05:22 1799 -12805 A -0.1838 0.9914 5.8S 120.2W 79 29 31 00m51s
25 -12 0982 Sep 20 03:51:25 1691 -12582 A -0.1426 0.9916 8.0S 123.1E 82 29 30 00m49s
26 -11 1000 Sep 30 11:45:53 1584 -12359 A -0.1075 0.9919 10.6S 4.2E 84 29 29 00m47s
27 -10 1018 Oct 11 19:50:54 1495 -12136 A -0.0806 0.9923 13.5S 117.2W 85 27 27 00m45s
28 -09 1036 Oct 22 04:03:26 1405 -11913 A -0.0593 0.9928 16.4S 119.7E 87 25 25 00m42s
29 -08 1054 Nov 02 12:25:18 1315 -11690 A -0.0451 0.9937 19.2S 5.6W 87 22 22 00m38s
30 -07 1072 Nov 12 20:52:43 1226 -11467 A -0.0348 0.9948 21.6S 132.0W 88 18 18 00m31s
31 -06 1090 Nov 24 05:25:50 1136 -11244 A -0.0286 0.9965 23.5S 100.4E 88 14 12 00m21s
32 -05 1108 Dec 04 14:02:16 1055 -11021 A -0.0245 0.9986 24.7S 27.7W 88 9 5 00m08s
33 -04 1126 Dec 15 22:41:48 983 -10798 H -0.0228 1.0013 25.0S 156.3W 89 5 5 00m08s
34 -03 1144 Dec 26 07:20:32 912 -10575 H -0.0195 1.0046 24.3S 75.1E 89 1 16 00m28s
35 -02 1163 Jan 06 15:58:40 853 -10352 H -0.0151 1.0084 22.6S 53.4W 89 357 29 00m51s
36 -01 1181 Jan 17 00:33:25 799 -10129 H -0.0073 1.0127 19.8S 178.5E 89 354 44 01m17s
37 00 1199 Jan 28 09:05:27 745 -9906 H2 0.0033 1.0174 16.2S 50.6E 90 156 60 01m45s
38 01 1217 Feb 07 17:30:25 692 -9683 T 0.0204 1.0226 11.7S 76.1W 89 165 77 02m15s
39 02 1235 Feb 19 01:50:49 638 -9460 Tm 0.0419 1.0280 6.6S 157.8E 88 164 95 02m45s
40 03 1253 Mar 01 10:02:56 585 -9237 T 0.0710 1.0336 0.8S 33.3E 86 163 113 03m15s
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 1271 Mar 12 18:09:34 539 -9014 T 0.1052 1.0392 5.4N 90.0W 84 162 132 03m44s
42 05 1289 Mar 23 02:07:05 492 -8791 T 0.1475 1.0448 12.1N 148.8E 81 162 151 04m10s
43 06 1307 Apr 03 09:59:42 452 -8568 T 0.1946 1.0501 18.9N 28.9E 79 163 169 04m33s
44 07 1325 Apr 13 17:44:29 419 -8345 T 0.2487 1.0551 26.0N 88.9W 75 164 188 04m50s
45 08 1343 Apr 25 01:24:16 387 -8122 T 0.3077 1.0597 33.1N 155.1E 72 166 206 05m02s
46 09 1361 May 05 08:58:03 357 -7899 T 0.3722 1.0635 40.2N 41.3E 68 169 224 05m07s
47 10 1379 May 16 16:28:59 329 -7676 T 0.4396 1.0668 47.0N 70.6W 64 172 243 05m07s
48 11 1397 May 26 23:56:51 300 -7453 T 0.5101 1.0692 53.4N 180.0W 59 178 263 05m01s
49 12 1415 Jun 07 07:22:41 275 -7230 T 0.5827 1.0708 59.2N 73.6E 54 185 284 04m51s
50 13 1433 Jun 17 14:48:42 250 -7007 T 0.6558 1.0714 64.0N 29.6W 49 196 309 04m38s
51 14 1451 Jun 28 22:15:28 225 -6784 T 0.7287 1.0711 67.5N 129.0W 43 210 339 04m23s
52 15 1469 Jul 09 05:44:22 207 -6561 T 0.8000 1.0697 69.3N 134.6E 37 226 380 04m06s
53 16 1487 Jul 20 13:15:36 190 -6338 T 0.8696 1.0673 69.3N 39.5E 29 244 446 03m47s
54 17 1505 Jul 30 20:51:55 173 -6115 T 0.9352 1.0635 67.9N 55.7W 20 263 593 03m25s
55 18 1523 Aug 11 04:33:16 159 -5892 Tn 0.9969 1.0558 62.7N 135.9W 2 294 - 02m44s
56 19 1541 Aug 21 12:20:07 144 -5669 P 1.0541 0.9172 61.3N 101.9E 0 289
57 20 1559 Sep 01 20:13:59 132 -5446 P 1.1056 0.8172 61.1N 25.3W 0 280
58 21 1577 Sep 12 04:15:22 122 -5223 P 1.1507 0.7297 61.0N 154.4W 0 271
59 22 1595 Oct 03 12:24:36 111 -5000 P 1.1896 0.6546 61.1N 74.5E 0 262
60 23 1613 Oct 13 20:40:24 97 -4777 P 1.2232 0.5902 61.3N 58.2W 0 253
61 24 1631 Oct 25 05:04:15 79 -4554 P 1.2502 0.5384 61.7N 167.0E 0 244
62 25 1649 Nov 04 13:35:08 47 -4331 P 1.2716 0.4977 62.2N 30.2E 0 235
63 26 1667 Nov 15 22:12:06 27 -4108 P 1.2880 0.4667 62.9N 108.2W 0 225
64 27 1685 Nov 26 06:54:43 11 -3885 P 1.3000 0.4442 63.7N 111.8E 0 215
65 28 1703 Dec 08 15:41:30 8 -3662 P 1.3086 0.4281 64.6N 29.5W 0 205
66 29 1721 Dec 19 00:31:51 10 -3439 P 1.3144 0.4172 65.7N 172.0W 0 195
67 30 1739 Dec 30 09:22:03 11 -3216 P 1.3203 0.4062 66.7N 45.1E 0 184
68 31 1758 Jan 09 18:13:42 14 -2993 P 1.3251 0.3972 67.8N 98.7W 0 173
69 32 1776 Jan 21 03:02:27 17 -2770 P 1.3318 0.3847 68.8N 117.6E 0 161
70 33 1794 Jan 31 11:48:45 16 -2547 P 1.3407 0.3680 69.8N 26.0W 0 149
71 34 1812 Feb 12 20:28:40 12 -2324 P 1.3545 0.3422 70.7N 168.8W 0 136
72 35 1830 Feb 23 05:04:13 7 -2101 P 1.3716 0.3100 71.3N 49.0E 0 123
73 36 1848 Mar 05 13:31:35 7 -1878 P 1.3950 0.2662 71.8N 91.7W 0 109
74 37 1866 Mar 16 21:51:25 5 -1655 P 1.4241 0.2114 72.0N 129.2E 0 95
75 38 1884 Mar 27 06:02:11 -6 -1432 P 1.4602 0.1436 72.0N 7.7W 0 81
76 39 1902 Apr 08 14:05:06 0 -1209 Pe 1.5024 0.0643 71.7N 142.4W 0 67
[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)"
