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 124 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 1049 Mar 06. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2347 May 11. The total duration of Saros series 124 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1049 Mar 06 16:00:57 TD
Last Eclipse = 2347 May 11 12:07:08 TD
Duration of Saros 124 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 124 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 124 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 39.7% |
| Annular | A | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | T | 43 | 58.9% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 1 | 1.4% |
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 124 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 124 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 124: 9P 43T 1H 20P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 124 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1734 May 03 Duration = 05m46s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1968 Sep 22 Duration = 00m40s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1986 Oct 03 Duration = 00m00s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1986 Oct 03 Duration = 00m00s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1193 Jun 01 Magnitude = 0.9331
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1049 Mar 06 Magnitude = 0.0138
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 124 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 124 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 -37 1049 Mar 06 16:00:57 1343 -11760 Pb -1.5374 0.0138 71.9S 47.8E 0 260
02 -36 1067 Mar 17 23:50:58 1254 -11537 P -1.4938 0.0904 71.9S 84.2W 0 274
03 -35 1085 Mar 28 07:34:42 1164 -11314 P -1.4444 0.1790 71.8S 145.4E 0 287
04 -34 1103 Apr 08 15:12:10 1078 -11091 P -1.3890 0.2797 71.4S 16.9E 0 301
05 -33 1121 Apr 18 22:43:16 1006 -10868 P -1.3276 0.3929 70.7S 109.4W 0 314
06 -32 1139 Apr 30 06:10:02 934 -10645 P -1.2616 0.5159 70.0S 125.8E 0 326
07 -31 1157 May 10 13:32:54 870 -10422 P -1.1912 0.6486 69.1S 2.7E 0 338
08 -30 1175 May 21 20:53:01 816 -10199 P -1.1176 0.7882 68.1S 119.2W 0 349
09 -29 1193 Jun 01 04:11:37 762 -9976 P -1.0418 0.9331 67.1S 119.9E 0 360
10 -28 1211 Jun 12 11:30:10 709 -9753 T -0.9649 1.0434 51.7S 3.4E 15 6 569 03m20s
11 -27 1229 Jun 22 18:50:32 655 -9530 T -0.8886 1.0496 39.0S 109.7W 27 11 360 04m10s
12 -26 1247 Jul 04 02:11:47 601 -9307 T -0.8122 1.0539 30.9S 137.9E 35 14 304 04m42s
13 -25 1265 Jul 14 09:37:31 553 -9084 T -0.7388 1.0568 25.3S 25.0E 42 18 275 04m59s
14 -24 1283 Jul 25 17:06:40 507 -8861 T -0.6677 1.0587 21.4S 88.2W 48 21 256 05m07s
15 -23 1301 Aug 05 00:42:42 462 -8638 T -0.6019 1.0597 19.1S 157.2E 53 24 242 05m07s
16 -22 1319 Aug 16 08:23:22 429 -8415 T -0.5396 1.0600 18.0S 41.8E 57 27 231 05m01s
17 -21 1337 Aug 26 16:12:58 397 -8192 T -0.4842 1.0596 18.1S 75.8W 61 29 221 04m53s
18 -20 1355 Sep 07 00:09:07 366 -7969 T -0.4340 1.0586 19.2S 165.2E 64 31 212 04m43s
19 -19 1373 Sep 17 08:14:16 338 -7746 T -0.3912 1.0573 21.0S 43.9E 67 31 204 04m33s
20 -18 1391 Sep 28 16:26:31 309 -7523 T -0.3541 1.0557 23.4S 79.0W 69 31 195 04m23s
21 -17 1409 Oct 09 00:48:09 282 -7300 T -0.3249 1.0539 26.2S 156.0E 71 30 188 04m15s
22 -16 1427 Oct 20 09:16:36 257 -7077 T -0.3009 1.0521 29.1S 29.5E 72 28 180 04m07s
23 -15 1445 Oct 30 17:52:12 232 -6854 T -0.2828 1.0505 32.0S 98.3W 73 25 174 04m01s
24 -14 1463 Nov 11 02:33:46 213 -6631 T -0.2696 1.0490 34.5S 132.9E 74 21 169 03m56s
25 -13 1481 Nov 21 11:21:13 195 -6408 T -0.2617 1.0479 36.6S 3.2E 75 17 165 03m53s
26 -12 1499 Dec 02 20:11:32 177 -6185 T -0.2557 1.0471 37.9S 126.8W 75 12 162 03m51s
27 -11 1517 Dec 13 05:04:13 163 -5962 T -0.2520 1.0468 38.2S 102.9E 75 6 161 03m52s
28 -10 1535 Dec 24 13:56:57 149 -5739 T -0.2482 1.0469 37.5S 27.5W 75 1 161 03m55s
29 -09 1554 Jan 03 22:49:38 136 -5516 T -0.2447 1.0474 35.8S 158.2W 76 355 163 04m00s
30 -08 1572 Jan 15 07:38:12 125 -5293 T -0.2380 1.0485 33.0S 71.5E 76 351 166 04m07s
31 -07 1590 Feb 04 16:24:05 114 -5070 T -0.2293 1.0498 29.3S 58.8W 77 347 170 04m17s
32 -06 1608 Feb 16 01:03:28 102 -4847 T -0.2154 1.0515 24.8S 171.6E 77 345 175 04m29s
33 -05 1626 Feb 26 09:37:27 87 -4624 T -0.1971 1.0535 19.7S 42.7E 79 343 180 04m42s
34 -04 1644 Mar 08 18:02:43 54 -4401 T -0.1717 1.0555 14.0S 84.7W 80 342 186 04m57s
35 -03 1662 Mar 20 02:21:49 34 -4178 T -0.1414 1.0576 7.9S 149.1E 82 342 191 05m11s
36 -02 1680 Mar 30 10:32:01 15 -3955 T -0.1039 1.0595 1.5S 24.9E 84 343 197 05m25s
37 -01 1698 Apr 10 18:34:26 8 -3732 Tm -0.0599 1.0613 5.1N 97.3W 87 344 201 05m36s
38 00 1716 Apr 22 02:28:33 10 -3509 T -0.0091 1.0625 11.8N 142.6E 90 343 205 05m43s
39 01 1734 May 03 10:15:56 11 -3286 T 0.0472 1.0635 18.4N 24.6E 87 168 208 05m46s
40 02 1752 May 13 17:56:29 13 -3063 T 0.1090 1.0637 24.9N 91.1W 84 171 210 05m42s
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 03 1770 May 25 01:30:12 16 -2840 T 0.1760 1.0634 31.2N 155.6E 80 174 211 05m31s
42 04 1788 Jun 04 08:59:31 17 -2617 T 0.2465 1.0623 37.0N 44.4E 76 179 211 05m15s
43 05 1806 Jun 16 16:24:27 12 -2394 T 0.3204 1.0604 42.2N 64.6W 71 184 210 04m55s
44 06 1824 Jun 26 23:46:33 10 -2171 T 0.3960 1.0578 46.6N 171.4W 66 190 207 04m31s
45 07 1842 Jul 08 07:06:27 6 -1948 T 0.4727 1.0543 50.1N 83.6E 62 198 204 04m05s
46 08 1860 Jul 18 14:26:24 8 -1725 T 0.5487 1.0500 52.5N 20.3W 56 205 198 03m39s
47 09 1878 Jul 29 21:47:18 -5 -1502 T 0.6232 1.0450 53.8N 124.0W 51 213 191 03m11s
48 10 1896 Aug 09 05:09:00 -6 -1279 T 0.6964 1.0392 54.4N 132.2E 46 220 182 02m43s
49 11 1914 Aug 21 12:34:27 17 -1056 T 0.7655 1.0328 54.5N 27.1E 40 227 170 02m14s
50 12 1932 Aug 31 20:03:41 24 -833 T 0.8307 1.0257 54.5N 79.5W 34 232 155 01m45s
51 13 1950 Sep 12 03:38:47 29 -610 T 0.8903 1.0182 54.8N 172.3E 27 236 134 01m14s
52 14 1968 Sep 22 11:18:46 39 -387 T 0.9451 1.0099 56.2N 64.0E 19 240 104 00m40s
53 15 1986 Oct 03 19:06:15 55 -164 H 0.9931 1.0000 59.9N 37.1W 5 252 1 00m00s
54 16 2004 Oct 14 03:00:23 65 59 P 1.0348 0.9282 61.2N 153.7W 0 253
55 17 2022 Oct 25 11:01:20 72 282 P 1.0701 0.8619 61.6N 77.4E 0 244
56 18 2040 Nov 04 19:09:02 84 505 P 1.0993 0.8074 62.2N 53.4W 0 234
57 19 2058 Nov 16 03:23:07 112 728 P 1.1224 0.7644 62.9N 174.2E 0 225
58 20 2076 Nov 26 11:43:01 151 951 P 1.1401 0.7315 63.7N 40.1E 0 215
59 21 2094 Dec 07 20:05:56 191 1174 P 1.1547 0.7046 64.7N 95.0W 0 205
60 22 2112 Dec 19 04:33:16 234 1397 P 1.1648 0.6858 65.7N 128.5E 0 195
61 23 2130 Dec 30 13:01:34 279 1620 P 1.1730 0.6708 66.8N 8.8W 0 185
62 24 2149 Jan 09 21:30:38 325 1843 P 1.1802 0.6575 67.9N 146.7W 0 173
63 25 2167 Jan 21 05:56:25 365 2066 P 1.1892 0.6413 68.9N 75.5E 0 162
64 26 2185 Jan 31 14:20:20 406 2289 P 1.1991 0.6238 69.9N 62.4W 0 149
65 27 2203 Feb 12 22:38:35 449 2512 P 1.2128 0.5998 70.8N 160.4E 0 136
66 28 2221 Feb 23 06:50:48 494 2735 P 1.2305 0.5688 71.5N 24.2E 0 123
67 29 2239 Mar 06 14:54:58 541 2958 P 1.2541 0.5278 72.0N 110.6W 0 109
68 30 2257 Mar 16 22:51:29 590 3181 P 1.2833 0.4770 72.2N 116.2E 0 95
69 31 2275 Mar 28 06:37:50 642 3404 P 1.3199 0.4133 72.2N 14.4W 0 81
70 32 2293 Apr 07 14:14:55 695 3627 P 1.3632 0.3380 71.8N 142.5W 0 67
71 33 2311 Apr 19 21:41:49 751 3850 P 1.4139 0.2499 71.3N 92.3E 0 53
72 34 2329 Apr 30 04:59:58 808 4073 P 1.4705 0.1514 70.6N 30.1W 0 40
73 35 2347 May 11 12:07:08 868 4296 Pe 1.5351 0.0391 69.7N 149.1W 0 28
[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)"
