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 115 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 0662 Jun 21. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1942 Aug 12. The total duration of Saros series 115 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0662 Jun 21 15:58:36 TD
Last Eclipse = 1942 Aug 12 02:45:12 TD
Duration of Saros 115 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 115 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 115 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 17 | 23.6% |
| Annular | A | 14 | 19.4% |
| Total | T | 37 | 51.4% |
| 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 115 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 115 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 55 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 55 | 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 115: 10P 37T 4H 14A 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 115 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1293 Jul 05 Duration = 06m24s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 0842 Oct 07 Duration = 01m30s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1816 May 27 Duration = 01m54s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1581 Dec 25 Duration = 00m04s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1509 Nov 12 Duration = 01m06s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1563 Dec 15 Duration = 00m10s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0824 Sep 26 Magnitude = 0.9929
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0662 Jun 21 Magnitude = 0.0030
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 115 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 115 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 0662 Jun 21 15:58:36 4154 -16543 Pb 1.5377 0.0030 66.0N 149.0E 0 11
02 -35 0680 Jul 01 23:10:18 3974 -16320 P 1.4605 0.1456 67.0N 29.8E 0 0
03 -34 0698 Jul 13 06:25:23 3794 -16097 P 1.3851 0.2855 68.0N 90.6W 0 350
04 -33 0716 Jul 23 13:47:09 3648 -15874 P 1.3140 0.4180 68.9N 146.8E 0 339
05 -32 0734 Aug 03 21:14:27 3504 -15651 P 1.2467 0.5437 69.9N 22.3E 0 327
06 -31 0752 Aug 14 04:50:37 3360 -15428 P 1.1859 0.6576 70.7N 105.0W 0 315
07 -30 0770 Aug 25 12:34:31 3217 -15205 P 1.1309 0.7603 71.3N 125.1E 0 302
08 -29 0788 Sep 04 20:26:59 3073 -14982 P 1.0824 0.8508 71.8N 7.4W 0 288
09 -28 0806 Sep 16 04:28:29 2929 -14759 P 1.0409 0.9284 72.0N 142.5W 0 274
10 -27 0824 Sep 26 12:39:01 2786 -14536 P 1.0062 0.9929 71.9N 80.0E 0 260
11 -26 0842 Oct 07 20:58:30 2642 -14313 T 0.9787 1.0229 65.2N 84.2W 11 223 403 01m30s
12 -25 0860 Oct 18 05:25:01 2498 -14090 T 0.9565 1.0241 58.5N 134.1E 16 209 286 01m42s
13 -24 0878 Oct 29 13:59:59 2354 -13867 T 0.9411 1.0246 53.5N 3.6W 19 201 250 01m50s
14 -23 0896 Nov 08 22:40:33 2211 -13644 T 0.9297 1.0251 49.5N 140.7W 21 194 234 01m57s
15 -22 0914 Nov 20 07:26:39 2097 -13421 T 0.9225 1.0258 46.5N 81.9E 22 188 229 02m04s
16 -21 0932 Nov 30 16:15:34 1989 -13198 T 0.9174 1.0267 44.3N 55.8W 23 182 230 02m11s
17 -20 0950 Dec 12 01:07:14 1881 -12975 T 0.9143 1.0281 42.9N 166.2E 24 176 237 02m19s
18 -19 0968 Dec 22 09:58:17 1774 -12752 T 0.9105 1.0300 41.8N 28.5E 24 170 246 02m28s
19 -18 0987 Jan 02 18:48:09 1666 -12529 T 0.9056 1.0323 41.2N 108.7W 25 164 257 02m37s
20 -17 1005 Jan 13 03:34:49 1563 -12306 T 0.8978 1.0352 40.7N 115.2E 26 158 267 02m48s
21 -16 1023 Jan 24 12:18:00 1473 -12083 T 0.8869 1.0385 40.5N 19.5W 27 153 276 03m00s
22 -15 1041 Feb 03 20:54:13 1384 -11860 T 0.8704 1.0424 40.4N 151.9W 29 149 283 03m13s
23 -14 1059 Feb 15 05:24:50 1294 -11637 T 0.8492 1.0465 40.6N 77.9E 32 145 287 03m26s
24 -13 1077 Feb 25 13:47:25 1204 -11414 T 0.8214 1.0510 41.0N 49.6W 35 142 290 03m40s
25 -12 1095 Mar 08 22:03:57 1115 -11191 T 0.7883 1.0553 41.8N 174.7W 38 140 291 03m54s
26 -11 1113 Mar 19 06:10:38 1038 -10968 T 0.7471 1.0598 42.7N 63.7E 41 139 290 04m08s
27 -10 1131 Mar 30 14:11:49 966 -10745 T 0.7012 1.0639 43.9N 55.8W 45 139 289 04m22s
28 -09 1149 Apr 09 22:04:02 895 -10522 T 0.6479 1.0676 44.9N 171.9W 49 141 286 04m38s
29 -08 1167 Apr 21 05:51:40 840 -10299 T 0.5906 1.0709 45.8N 74.0E 54 145 284 04m53s
30 -07 1185 May 01 13:30:57 786 -10076 T 0.5264 1.0736 46.0N 37.1W 58 149 280 05m10s
31 -06 1203 May 12 21:07:30 733 -9853 T 0.4596 1.0755 45.5N 147.2W 62 155 275 05m26s
32 -05 1221 May 23 04:38:19 679 -9630 T 0.3885 1.0767 43.9N 104.3E 67 161 269 05m43s
33 -04 1239 Jun 03 12:07:17 625 -9407 T 0.3157 1.0771 41.3N 4.2W 71 167 263 05m58s
34 -03 1257 Jun 13 19:33:21 574 -9184 T 0.2409 1.0765 37.6N 112.8W 76 173 255 06m11s
35 -02 1275 Jun 25 02:59:56 528 -8961 T 0.1668 1.0752 33.0N 137.5E 80 178 247 06m21s
36 -01 1293 Jul 05 10:26:45 481 -8738 T 0.0933 1.0730 27.5N 26.6E 84 183 238 06m24s
37 00 1311 Jul 16 17:55:04 444 -8515 Tm 0.0216 1.0700 21.4N 85.5W 89 186 228 06m20s
38 01 1329 Jul 27 01:26:16 412 -8292 T -0.0471 1.0662 14.9N 160.9E 87 11 217 06m08s
39 02 1347 Aug 07 09:01:38 380 -8069 T -0.1116 1.0618 8.1N 45.6E 84 13 204 05m48s
40 03 1365 Aug 17 16:41:46 351 -7846 T -0.1716 1.0569 1.1N 71.3W 80 15 190 05m22s
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 1383 Aug 29 00:27:38 322 -7623 T -0.2262 1.0516 5.9S 170.1E 77 17 175 04m50s
42 05 1401 Sep 08 08:20:21 294 -7400 T -0.2746 1.0459 12.8S 49.8E 74 18 159 04m15s
43 06 1419 Sep 19 16:20:21 269 -7177 T -0.3162 1.0401 19.5S 72.2W 71 19 141 03m40s
44 07 1437 Sep 30 00:26:45 244 -6954 T -0.3519 1.0343 25.9S 164.6E 69 19 123 03m05s
45 08 1455 Oct 11 08:40:44 221 -6731 T -0.3809 1.0286 31.8S 40.1E 67 18 104 02m31s
46 09 1473 Oct 21 17:01:28 203 -6508 T -0.4040 1.0230 37.3S 85.2W 66 16 86 02m00s
47 10 1491 Nov 02 01:28:47 185 -6285 T -0.4209 1.0179 42.0S 148.9E 65 13 68 01m32s
48 11 1509 Nov 12 10:00:15 170 -6062 H -0.4338 1.0131 45.8S 23.1E 64 9 50 01m06s
49 12 1527 Nov 23 18:36:38 155 -5839 H -0.4422 1.0089 48.6S 102.6W 64 3 34 00m45s
50 13 1545 Dec 04 03:15:42 141 -5616 H -0.4480 1.0051 50.1S 132.0E 63 357 20 00m25s
51 14 1563 Dec 15 11:55:49 130 -5393 H -0.4524 1.0020 50.3S 6.8E 63 350 8 00m10s
52 15 1581 Dec 25 20:35:20 119 -5170 A -0.4567 0.9993 49.4S 118.6W 63 343 3 00m04s
53 16 1600 Jan 16 05:12:46 108 -4947 A -0.4623 0.9972 47.4S 115.9E 62 337 11 00m14s
54 17 1618 Jan 26 13:46:44 93 -4724 A -0.4700 0.9955 44.7S 9.7W 62 333 18 00m23s
55 18 1636 Feb 06 22:14:33 68 -4501 A -0.4825 0.9943 41.6S 134.7W 61 329 23 00m29s
56 19 1654 Feb 17 06:36:38 43 -4278 A -0.4991 0.9933 38.3S 100.9E 60 327 27 00m34s
57 20 1672 Feb 28 14:50:43 23 -4055 A -0.5218 0.9926 35.2S 22.0W 58 326 30 00m38s
58 21 1690 Mar 10 22:56:00 9 -3832 A -0.5512 0.9920 32.5S 143.0W 56 325 33 00m42s
59 22 1708 Mar 22 06:51:37 9 -3609 A -0.5879 0.9913 30.4S 98.3E 54 326 37 00m46s
60 23 1726 Apr 02 14:38:16 10 -3386 A -0.6313 0.9906 29.2S 18.3W 51 327 42 00m52s
61 24 1744 Apr 12 22:15:24 12 -3163 A -0.6819 0.9895 29.1S 132.6W 47 329 49 00m59s
62 25 1762 Apr 24 05:42:10 15 -2940 A -0.7402 0.9881 30.3S 115.7E 42 331 61 01m08s
63 26 1780 May 04 13:00:42 17 -2717 A -0.8043 0.9861 33.3S 5.9E 36 334 81 01m21s
64 27 1798 May 15 20:10:32 14 -2494 A -0.8744 0.9832 38.6S 101.6W 29 336 121 01m36s
65 28 1816 May 27 03:13:24 12 -2271 A -0.9492 0.9791 48.0S 153.5E 18 338 238 01m54s
66 29 1834 Jun 07 10:08:38 6 -2048 P -1.0291 0.9295 64.6S 55.4E 0 334
67 30 1852 Jun 17 16:59:50 7 -1825 P -1.1111 0.7828 65.6S 57.3W 0 344
68 31 1870 Jun 28 23:46:43 1 -1602 P -1.1949 0.6335 66.6S 169.4W 0 354
69 32 1888 Jul 09 06:30:52 -6 -1379 P -1.2797 0.4832 67.6S 78.8E 0 4
70 33 1906 Jul 21 13:14:19 6 -1156 P -1.3637 0.3355 68.6S 33.3W 0 15
71 34 1924 Jul 31 19:58:20 24 -933 P -1.4459 0.1920 69.6S 146.0W 0 27
72 35 1942 Aug 12 02:45:12 26 -710 Pe -1.5244 0.0561 70.4S 99.9E 0 39
[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)"
