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 118 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 0803 May 24. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2083 Jul 15. The total duration of Saros series 118 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0803 May 24 13:35:52 TD
Last Eclipse = 2083 Jul 15 00:14:23 TD
Duration of Saros 118 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 118 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 118 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.8% |
| Annular | A | 15 | 20.8% |
| Total | T | 40 | 55.6% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 2 | 2.8% |
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 118 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 118 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 98.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 118: 8P 40T 2H 15A 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 118 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1398 May 16 Duration = 06m59s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1650 Oct 25 Duration = 01m26s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1849 Feb 23 Duration = 01m58s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1704 Nov 27 Duration = 00m01s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1668 Nov 04 Duration = 00m57s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1686 Nov 15 Duration = 00m28s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0929 Aug 07 Magnitude = 0.9880
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0803 May 24 Magnitude = 0.0122
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 118 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 118 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 0803 May 24 13:35:52 2956 -14800 Pb -1.5325 0.0122 68.1S 0.5W 0 348
02 -35 0821 Jun 03 20:45:44 2812 -14577 P -1.4545 0.1561 67.1S 119.7W 0 359
03 -34 0839 Jun 15 03:56:24 2668 -14354 P -1.3758 0.3023 66.1S 121.4E 0 9
04 -33 0857 Jun 25 11:08:23 2525 -14131 P -1.2972 0.4494 65.1S 2.6E 0 19
05 -32 0875 Jul 06 18:24:50 2381 -13908 P -1.2210 0.5929 64.2S 117.0W 0 29
06 -31 0893 Jul 17 01:45:18 2237 -13685 P -1.1469 0.7327 63.4S 122.8E 0 38
07 -30 0911 Jul 28 09:12:23 2116 -13462 P -1.0774 0.8640 62.6S 1.2E 0 47
08 -29 0929 Aug 07 16:45:08 2009 -13239 P -1.0118 0.9880 62.0S 121.5W 0 56
09 -28 0947 Aug 19 00:26:53 1901 -13016 T -0.9527 1.0357 51.3S 139.2E 17 44 393 02m29s
10 -27 0965 Aug 29 08:15:51 1793 -12793 T -0.8990 1.0377 47.1S 24.9E 26 43 283 02m41s
11 -26 0983 Sep 09 16:13:17 1686 -12570 T -0.8518 1.0386 45.7S 93.7W 31 44 242 02m44s
12 -25 1001 Sep 20 00:19:08 1580 -12347 T -0.8111 1.0388 46.1S 145.0E 36 44 218 02m43s
13 -24 1019 Oct 01 08:34:20 1490 -12124 T -0.7781 1.0386 47.8S 21.1E 39 45 202 02m40s
14 -23 1037 Oct 11 16:57:23 1400 -11901 T -0.7512 1.0382 50.3S 104.6W 41 45 191 02m36s
15 -22 1055 Oct 23 01:27:47 1310 -11678 T -0.7301 1.0377 53.4S 128.3E 43 44 183 02m32s
16 -21 1073 Nov 02 10:05:13 1221 -11455 T -0.7148 1.0373 56.8S 0.2E 44 42 178 02m29s
17 -20 1091 Nov 13 18:48:57 1131 -11232 T -0.7047 1.0371 60.3S 128.2W 45 38 175 02m26s
18 -19 1109 Nov 24 03:36:12 1051 -11009 T -0.6974 1.0372 63.5S 104.6E 46 32 175 02m26s
19 -18 1127 Dec 05 12:27:08 979 -10786 T -0.6930 1.0377 65.9S 21.1W 46 23 176 02m28s
20 -17 1145 Dec 15 21:18:46 908 -10563 T -0.6892 1.0387 67.0S 145.0W 46 12 180 02m32s
21 -16 1163 Dec 27 06:11:27 850 -10340 T -0.6860 1.0400 66.6S 91.5E 46 1 185 02m38s
22 -15 1182 Jan 06 15:00:32 796 -10117 T -0.6802 1.0419 64.4S 32.6W 47 351 192 02m48s
23 -14 1200 Jan 17 23:48:29 742 -9894 T -0.6731 1.0443 61.0S 159.1W 47 344 200 03m01s
24 -13 1218 Jan 28 08:30:17 689 -9671 T -0.6613 1.0470 56.5S 73.2E 48 340 209 03m17s
25 -12 1236 Feb 08 17:07:28 635 -9448 T -0.6454 1.0501 51.3S 55.5W 50 337 217 03m36s
26 -11 1254 Feb 19 01:36:18 583 -9225 T -0.6227 1.0534 45.4S 176.3E 51 337 225 03m59s
27 -10 1272 Mar 01 09:59:32 536 -9002 T -0.5954 1.0569 39.2S 48.5E 53 337 232 04m24s
28 -09 1290 Mar 12 18:13:59 490 -8779 T -0.5611 1.0604 32.7S 77.7W 56 339 238 04m52s
29 -08 1308 Mar 23 02:21:00 450 -8556 T -0.5205 1.0638 25.9S 157.8E 58 341 243 05m21s
30 -07 1326 Apr 03 10:19:38 418 -8333 T -0.4731 1.0668 19.0S 35.2E 62 343 246 05m49s
31 -06 1344 Apr 13 18:11:36 385 -8110 T -0.4200 1.0695 12.0S 85.5W 65 345 249 06m15s
32 -05 1362 Apr 25 01:56:16 356 -7887 T -0.3611 1.0717 5.2S 155.8E 69 348 249 06m37s
33 -04 1380 May 05 09:34:58 327 -7664 T -0.2973 1.0732 1.5N 39.1E 73 351 249 06m52s
34 -03 1398 May 16 17:08:41 299 -7441 T -0.2294 1.0741 7.7N 75.8W 77 355 247 06m59s
35 -02 1416 May 27 00:38:48 273 -7218 T -0.1584 1.0742 13.5N 170.9E 81 359 244 06m56s
36 -01 1434 Jun 07 08:05:20 248 -6995 T -0.0847 1.0735 18.7N 59.2E 85 3 239 06m45s
37 00 1452 Jun 17 15:30:42 224 -6772 Tm -0.0102 1.0719 23.0N 51.4W 90 10 234 06m26s
38 01 1470 Jun 28 22:54:56 206 -6549 T 0.0650 1.0695 26.4N 161.1W 86 192 227 06m02s
39 02 1488 Jul 09 06:20:51 189 -6326 T 0.1384 1.0663 28.9N 89.4E 82 197 219 05m36s
40 03 1506 Jul 20 13:46:58 172 -6103 T 0.2112 1.0623 30.4N 19.9W 78 202 209 05m08s
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 1524 Jul 30 21:17:39 158 -5880 T 0.2797 1.0577 30.8N 130.2W 74 206 198 04m40s
42 05 1542 Aug 11 04:51:06 144 -5657 T 0.3454 1.0525 30.6N 118.5E 70 209 184 04m12s
43 06 1560 Aug 21 12:30:55 132 -5434 T 0.4050 1.0469 29.7N 5.2E 66 212 170 03m44s
44 07 1578 Sep 01 20:15:08 121 -5211 T 0.4602 1.0408 28.4N 109.7W 62 213 152 03m17s
45 08 1596 Sep 22 04:07:03 110 -4988 T 0.5085 1.0346 26.8N 132.9E 59 213 134 02m50s
46 09 1614 Oct 03 12:04:51 96 -4765 T 0.5511 1.0282 25.2N 13.5E 56 212 113 02m22s
47 10 1632 Oct 13 20:09:39 76 -4542 T 0.5873 1.0220 23.7N 108.2W 54 210 91 01m55s
48 11 1650 Oct 25 04:21:25 46 -4319 T 0.6170 1.0159 22.3N 127.8E 52 207 68 01m26s
49 12 1668 Nov 04 12:40:05 26 -4096 H 0.6401 1.0102 21.1N 1.8E 50 204 45 00m57s
50 13 1686 Nov 15 21:05:00 10 -3873 H 0.6578 1.0048 20.2N 126.0W 49 200 22 00m28s
51 14 1704 Nov 27 05:33:53 8 -3650 A 0.6716 0.9999 19.7N 104.9E 48 196 1 00m01s
52 15 1722 Dec 08 14:07:35 10 -3427 A 0.6808 0.9955 19.5N 25.4W 47 191 21 00m28s
53 16 1740 Dec 18 22:43:17 12 -3204 A 0.6876 0.9917 19.9N 156.4W 46 187 40 00m53s
54 17 1758 Dec 30 07:20:12 14 -2981 A 0.6929 0.9885 20.8N 72.2E 46 182 56 01m15s
55 18 1777 Jan 09 15:55:35 17 -2758 A 0.6988 0.9859 22.4N 58.9W 46 177 70 01m32s
56 19 1795 Jan 21 00:29:13 16 -2535 A 0.7055 0.9837 24.8N 170.3E 45 173 81 01m44s
57 20 1813 Feb 01 08:58:27 12 -2312 A 0.7152 0.9820 27.9N 40.4E 44 169 91 01m53s
58 21 1831 Feb 12 17:21:45 7 -2089 A 0.7288 0.9807 31.9N 88.3W 43 165 100 01m57s
59 22 1849 Feb 23 01:38:09 7 -1866 A 0.7475 0.9796 36.7N 144.3E 41 161 108 01m58s
60 23 1867 Mar 06 09:46:48 4 -1643 A 0.7716 0.9787 42.3N 18.4E 39 157 118 01m57s
61 24 1885 Mar 16 17:45:43 -6 -1420 A 0.8030 0.9778 48.9N 106.1W 36 153 132 01m55s
62 25 1903 Mar 29 01:35:23 2 -1197 A 0.8413 0.9767 56.2N 130.3E 32 147 153 01m53s
63 26 1921 Apr 08 09:15:01 22 -974 A 0.8869 0.9753 64.5N 5.6E 27 139 192 01m50s
64 27 1939 Apr 19 16:45:53 24 -751 A 0.9388 0.9731 73.1N 129.1W 20 118 285 01m49s
65 28 1957 Apr 30 00:05:28 32 -528 A+ 0.9992 0.9799 70.6N 40.3E 0 41 - -
66 29 1975 May 11 07:17:33 46 -305 P 1.0647 0.8636 69.7N 80.2W 0 28
67 30 1993 May 21 14:20:15 59 -82 P 1.1372 0.7352 68.8N 162.3E 0 17
68 31 2011 Jun 01 21:17:18 66 141 P 1.2130 0.6010 67.8N 46.8E 0 6
69 32 2029 Jun 12 04:06:13 76 364 P 1.2943 0.4576 66.8N 66.2W 0 355
70 33 2047 Jun 23 10:52:31 90 587 P 1.3766 0.3129 65.8N 178.0W 0 346
71 34 2065 Jul 03 17:33:52 126 810 P 1.4619 0.1638 64.8N 71.9E 0 336
72 35 2083 Jul 15 00:14:23 165 1033 Pe 1.5465 0.0168 64.0N 37.7W 0 327
[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)"
