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 121 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 0944 Apr 25. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2206 Jun 07. The total duration of Saros series 121 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0944 Apr 25 10:56:13 TD
Last Eclipse = 2206 Jun 07 15:05:59 TD
Duration of Saros 121 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 121 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 121 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 22.5% |
| Annular | A | 11 | 15.5% |
| Total | T | 42 | 59.2% |
| 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 121 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 121 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 55 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 54 | 98.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 121: 7P 42T 2H 11A 9P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 121 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1629 Jun 21 Duration = 06m20s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1809 Oct 09 Duration = 01m02s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2044 Feb 28 Duration = 02m27s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1863 Nov 11 Duration = 00m22s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1827 Oct 20 Duration = 00m30s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1845 Oct 30 Duration = 00m02s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2062 Mar 11 Magnitude = 0.9331
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 0944 Apr 25 Magnitude = 0.0666
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 121 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 121 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 0944 Apr 25 10:56:13 1921 -13057 Pb 1.5044 0.0666 62.0N 96.9W 0 57
02 -35 0962 May 06 18:15:23 1813 -12834 P 1.4334 0.1965 62.6N 143.8E 0 48
03 -34 0980 May 17 01:32:03 1705 -12611 P 1.3592 0.3338 63.3N 24.9E 0 39
04 -33 0998 May 28 08:46:18 1598 -12388 P 1.2820 0.4782 64.2N 93.6W 0 30
05 -32 1016 Jun 07 16:00:58 1506 -12165 P 1.2042 0.6246 65.1N 147.6E 0 20
06 -31 1034 Jun 18 23:16:23 1417 -11942 P 1.1262 0.7724 66.0N 28.2E 0 10
07 -30 1052 Jun 29 06:33:32 1327 -11719 P 1.0488 0.9196 67.0N 92.0W 0 0
08 -29 1070 Jul 10 13:54:30 1237 -11496 T 0.9739 1.0404 80.0N 133.8E 12 338 636 02m05s
09 -28 1088 Jul 20 21:20:06 1148 -11273 T 0.9023 1.0453 80.7N 83.2W 25 234 356 02m36s
10 -27 1106 Aug 01 04:51:33 1064 -11050 T 0.8348 1.0481 70.8N 142.2E 33 214 292 03m00s
11 -26 1124 Aug 11 12:28:49 993 -10827 T 0.7716 1.0497 61.4N 20.4E 39 209 259 03m19s
12 -25 1142 Aug 22 20:14:13 921 -10604 T 0.7147 1.0504 52.9N 100.7W 44 207 238 03m36s
13 -24 1160 Sep 02 04:07:30 860 -10381 T 0.6640 1.0504 44.9N 137.1E 48 205 222 03m49s
14 -23 1178 Sep 13 12:08:37 806 -10158 T 0.6196 1.0500 37.6N 13.4E 51 203 210 03m59s
15 -22 1196 Sep 23 20:18:46 752 -9935 T 0.5821 1.0491 30.9N 112.2W 54 201 199 04m06s
16 -21 1214 Oct 05 04:37:19 699 -9712 T 0.5513 1.0480 24.8N 120.4E 56 198 190 04m11s
17 -20 1232 Oct 15 13:04:38 645 -9489 T 0.5277 1.0469 19.5N 8.9W 58 196 183 04m14s
18 -19 1250 Oct 26 21:37:26 591 -9266 T 0.5085 1.0458 14.9N 139.2W 59 193 177 04m16s
19 -18 1268 Nov 06 06:18:16 545 -9043 T 0.4959 1.0448 11.2N 88.8E 60 189 172 04m16s
20 -17 1286 Nov 17 15:03:22 498 -8820 T 0.4865 1.0441 8.2N 44.0W 61 185 168 04m17s
21 -16 1304 Nov 27 23:53:25 456 -8597 T 0.4812 1.0438 6.2N 177.8W 61 181 167 04m17s
22 -15 1322 Dec 09 08:44:26 424 -8374 T 0.4767 1.0439 5.0N 48.3E 61 177 167 04m17s
23 -14 1340 Dec 19 17:37:50 391 -8151 T 0.4741 1.0444 4.7N 86.1W 62 172 168 04m17s
24 -13 1358 Dec 31 02:29:35 361 -7928 T 0.4701 1.0454 5.1N 139.9E 62 168 171 04m18s
25 -12 1377 Jan 10 11:19:31 332 -7705 T 0.4646 1.0469 6.1N 6.4E 62 164 175 04m19s
26 -11 1395 Jan 21 20:05:24 304 -7482 T 0.4555 1.0487 7.7N 126.1W 63 160 180 04m21s
27 -10 1413 Feb 01 04:47:05 278 -7259 T 0.4429 1.0509 9.6N 102.5E 64 156 187 04m25s
28 -09 1431 Feb 12 13:21:50 253 -7036 T 0.4245 1.0534 11.9N 27.0W 65 153 193 04m30s
29 -08 1449 Feb 22 21:50:09 228 -6813 T 0.4008 1.0561 14.3N 154.7W 66 151 200 04m36s
30 -07 1467 Mar 06 06:10:42 210 -6590 T 0.3706 1.0588 16.7N 79.8E 68 150 207 04m44s
31 -06 1485 Mar 16 14:24:22 192 -6367 T 0.3345 1.0615 19.1N 43.7W 70 149 213 04m53s
32 -05 1503 Mar 27 22:28:20 175 -6144 T 0.2904 1.0640 21.1N 164.2W 73 150 218 05m04s
33 -04 1521 Apr 07 06:26:06 161 -5921 T 0.2414 1.0662 22.8N 77.2E 76 151 222 05m15s
34 -03 1539 Apr 18 14:15:07 146 -5698 T 0.1853 1.0680 23.7N 38.7W 79 154 225 05m28s
35 -02 1557 Apr 28 21:59:05 134 -5475 T 0.1251 1.0692 24.0N 153.2W 83 157 227 05m42s
36 -01 1575 May 10 05:34:45 123 -5252 Tm 0.0583 1.0697 23.1N 94.6E 87 162 227 05m56s
37 00 1593 May 30 13:07:31 112 -5029 T -0.0106 1.0696 21.4N 17.1W 90 342 227 06m08s
38 01 1611 Jun 10 20:34:26 99 -4806 T -0.0836 1.0686 18.4N 127.7W 85 350 224 06m16s
39 02 1629 Jun 21 03:59:24 84 -4583 T -0.1580 1.0670 14.5N 121.7E 81 354 221 06m20s
40 03 1647 Jul 02 11:21:21 50 -4360 T -0.2344 1.0643 9.6N 10.9E 77 359 217 06m15s
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 1665 Jul 12 18:44:06 30 -4137 T -0.3095 1.0611 3.9N 100.6W 72 3 211 06m02s
42 05 1683 Jul 24 02:07:00 12 -3914 T -0.3838 1.0569 2.5S 147.1E 67 7 203 05m38s
43 06 1701 Aug 04 09:31:44 8 -3691 T -0.4559 1.0521 9.4S 33.7E 63 10 193 05m06s
44 07 1719 Aug 15 16:59:51 10 -3468 T -0.5243 1.0466 16.8S 81.1W 58 13 181 04m27s
45 08 1737 Aug 26 00:32:08 11 -3245 T -0.5886 1.0407 24.4S 162.5E 54 17 167 03m44s
46 09 1755 Sep 06 08:09:46 14 -3022 T -0.6478 1.0342 32.1S 44.3E 49 20 150 03m00s
47 10 1773 Sep 16 15:52:23 16 -2799 T -0.7020 1.0275 39.9S 75.5W 45 23 130 02m18s
48 11 1791 Sep 27 23:42:30 16 -2576 T -0.7492 1.0206 47.6S 162.4E 41 27 106 01m38s
49 12 1809 Oct 09 07:38:42 12 -2353 T -0.7905 1.0137 55.1S 38.4E 37 30 77 01m02s
50 13 1827 Oct 20 15:42:05 8 -2130 H -0.8251 1.0070 62.3S 87.6W 34 34 43 00m30s
51 14 1845 Oct 30 23:51:58 6 -1907 H -0.8538 1.0005 69.1S 144.5E 31 39 3 00m02s
52 15 1863 Nov 11 08:09:03 6 -1684 A -0.8760 0.9943 75.4S 15.1E 28 43 42 00m22s
53 16 1881 Nov 21 16:31:10 -5 -1461 A -0.8931 0.9887 81.2S 114.5W 26 46 90 00m43s
54 17 1899 Dec 03 00:57:28 -3 -1238 A -0.9061 0.9836 86.6S 121.5E 25 43 140 01m01s
55 18 1917 Dec 14 09:27:20 20 -1015 A -0.9157 0.9791 88.0S 124.7E 23 271 189 01m17s
56 19 1935 Dec 25 17:59:52 24 -792 A -0.9228 0.9752 83.5S 9.4E 22 258 234 01m30s
57 20 1954 Jan 05 02:32:01 31 -569 A -0.9296 0.9720 79.1S 120.8W 21 260 278 01m42s
58 21 1972 Jan 16 11:03:22 42 -346 A -0.9365 0.9692 74.9S 107.7E 20 263 321 01m53s
59 22 1990 Jan 26 19:31:24 57 -123 A -0.9457 0.9670 71.0S 22.2W 18 266 373 02m03s
60 23 2008 Feb 07 03:56:10 65 100 A -0.9570 0.9650 67.6S 150.5W 16 269 444 02m12s
61 24 2026 Feb 17 12:13:06 74 323 A -0.9743 0.9630 64.7S 86.7E 12 268 616 02m20s
62 25 2044 Feb 28 20:24:39 87 546 As -0.9954 0.9600 62.2S 25.6W 4 260 - 02m27s
63 26 2062 Mar 11 04:26:16 119 769 P -1.0238 0.9331 61.0S 147.1W 0 263
64 27 2080 Mar 21 12:20:15 158 992 P -1.0578 0.8734 60.9S 85.9E 0 271
65 28 2098 Apr 01 20:02:31 199 1215 P -1.1005 0.7984 61.0S 38.1W 0 280
66 29 2116 Apr 13 03:36:55 242 1438 P -1.1487 0.7138 61.3S 160.2W 0 289
67 30 2134 Apr 24 10:59:59 287 1661 P -1.2052 0.6147 61.8S 80.5E 0 298
68 31 2152 May 04 18:14:02 333 1884 P -1.2679 0.5044 62.3S 36.8W 0 307
69 32 2170 May 16 01:18:33 372 2107 P -1.3371 0.3831 63.0S 151.9W 0 316
70 33 2188 May 26 08:15:53 414 2330 P -1.4109 0.2538 63.8S 94.6E 0 325
71 34 2206 Jun 07 15:05:59 457 2553 Pe -1.4894 0.1166 64.7S 17.3W 0 335
[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)"
