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 126 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 1179 Mar 10. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2459 May 03. The total duration of Saros series 126 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1179 Mar 10 07:39:51 TD
Last Eclipse = 2459 May 03 02:35:54 TD
Duration of Saros 126 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 126 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 126 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 31 | 43.1% |
| Annular | A | 28 | 38.9% |
| Total | T | 10 | 13.9% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.2% |
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 126 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 126 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 40 | 97.6% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.4% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 126: 8P 28A 3H 10T 23P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 126 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1972 Jul 10 Duration = 02m36s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1882 May 17 Duration = 01m50s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1359 Jun 26 Duration = 06m30s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1810 Apr 04 Duration = 00m21s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1864 May 06 Duration = 01m25s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1828 Apr 14 Duration = 00m18s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2062 Sep 03 Magnitude = 0.9749
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2459 May 03 Magnitude = 0.0214
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 126 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 126 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 -32 1179 Mar 10 07:39:51 805 -10152 Pb -1.5356 0.0536 72.0S 165.5E 0 265
02 -31 1197 Mar 20 14:48:56 751 -9929 P -1.4880 0.1327 72.0S 43.9E 0 279
03 -30 1215 Mar 31 21:50:41 697 -9706 P -1.4344 0.2222 71.7S 75.8W 0 292
04 -29 1233 Apr 11 04:41:24 643 -9483 P -1.3717 0.3278 71.2S 167.7E 0 306
05 -28 1251 Apr 22 11:26:32 590 -9260 P -1.3041 0.4423 70.5S 53.1E 0 319
06 -27 1269 May 02 18:03:15 544 -9037 P -1.2291 0.5699 69.7S 58.9W 0 331
07 -26 1287 May 14 00:35:25 497 -8814 P -1.1500 0.7052 68.8S 169.0W 0 342
08 -25 1305 May 24 07:02:17 455 -8591 P -1.0658 0.8496 67.8S 82.7E 0 353
09 -24 1323 Jun 04 13:27:55 423 -8368 As -0.9799 0.9383 56.1S 23.5W 11 3 - 05m59s
10 -23 1341 Jun 14 19:52:10 391 -8145 A -0.8922 0.9433 39.6S 123.4W 27 7 465 06m25s
11 -22 1359 Jun 26 02:16:31 360 -7922 A -0.8038 0.9463 29.9S 138.2E 36 11 330 06m30s
12 -21 1377 Jul 06 08:43:28 332 -7699 A -0.7168 0.9484 22.8S 40.1E 44 15 269 06m24s
13 -20 1395 Jul 17 15:14:16 303 -7476 A -0.6318 0.9497 17.7S 58.3W 51 18 234 06m12s
14 -19 1413 Jul 27 21:50:24 277 -7253 A -0.5506 0.9506 14.1S 157.6W 57 22 214 05m58s
15 -18 1431 Aug 08 04:33:00 252 -7030 A -0.4737 0.9509 12.0S 101.9E 62 25 201 05m45s
16 -17 1449 Aug 18 11:24:05 227 -6807 A -0.4030 0.9509 11.1S 0.6W 66 27 194 05m35s
17 -16 1467 Aug 29 18:24:29 209 -6584 A -0.3391 0.9505 11.3S 105.3W 70 29 191 05m29s
18 -15 1485 Sep 09 01:33:06 191 -6361 A -0.2811 0.9500 12.4S 147.9E 74 30 190 05m26s
19 -14 1503 Sep 20 08:52:38 174 -6138 A -0.2314 0.9494 14.1S 38.5E 77 30 190 05m27s
20 -13 1521 Sep 30 16:21:42 160 -5915 A -0.1892 0.9489 16.2S 73.3W 79 29 191 05m30s
21 -12 1539 Oct 12 00:01:45 146 -5692 A -0.1551 0.9484 18.7S 172.2E 81 28 192 05m35s
22 -11 1557 Oct 22 07:49:28 133 -5469 A -0.1266 0.9482 21.1S 56.0E 83 25 192 05m40s
23 -10 1575 Nov 02 15:47:27 123 -5246 A -0.1061 0.9483 23.5S 62.6W 84 22 191 05m44s
24 -09 1593 Nov 22 23:52:06 112 -5023 A -0.0906 0.9488 25.4S 177.4E 85 18 189 05m46s
25 -08 1611 Dec 04 08:03:43 99 -4800 A -0.0803 0.9498 26.9S 56.0E 85 13 185 05m44s
26 -07 1629 Dec 14 16:19:07 84 -4577 A -0.0725 0.9513 27.6S 66.2W 86 9 179 05m38s
27 -06 1647 Dec 26 00:38:35 49 -4354 A -0.0675 0.9535 27.4S 170.6E 86 4 170 05m25s
28 -05 1666 Jan 05 08:58:51 30 -4131 A -0.0624 0.9562 26.3S 47.1E 86 359 160 05m07s
29 -04 1684 Jan 16 17:18:53 12 -3908 A -0.0565 0.9596 24.2S 76.7W 87 355 147 04m43s
30 -03 1702 Jan 28 01:37:10 8 -3685 A -0.0484 0.9636 21.2S 159.6E 87 351 132 04m14s
31 -02 1720 Feb 08 09:52:31 10 -3462 A -0.0375 0.9681 17.4S 36.1E 88 348 115 03m40s
32 -01 1738 Feb 18 18:02:31 11 -3239 A -0.0211 0.9732 12.8S 86.7W 89 346 96 03m03s
33 00 1756 Mar 01 02:07:09 14 -3016 A 0.0006 0.9787 7.5S 151.4E 90 31 76 02m24s
34 01 1774 Mar 12 10:05:14 16 -2793 A 0.0284 0.9845 1.7S 30.8E 88 162 55 01m43s
35 02 1792 Mar 22 17:57:34 16 -2570 A 0.0618 0.9905 4.5N 88.7W 86 162 33 01m02s
36 03 1810 Apr 04 01:41:19 12 -2347 A 0.1031 0.9967 11.1N 153.8E 84 163 12 00m21s
37 04 1828 Apr 14 09:19:38 8 -2124 Hm 0.1498 1.0029 17.9N 37.7E 81 164 10 00m18s
38 05 1846 Apr 25 16:50:30 6 -1901 H 0.2038 1.0088 24.8N 76.2W 78 165 31 00m53s
39 06 1864 May 06 00:16:48 6 -1678 H 0.2622 1.0146 31.6N 171.5E 75 168 52 01m25s
40 07 1882 May 17 07:36:27 -5 -1455 T 0.3269 1.0200 38.4N 61.6E 71 171 72 01m50s
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 08 1900 May 28 14:53:56 -2 -1232 T 0.3943 1.0249 44.8N 46.5W 67 175 92 02m10s
42 09 1918 Jun 08 22:07:43 21 -1009 T 0.4658 1.0292 50.9N 152.0W 62 180 112 02m23s
43 10 1936 Jun 19 05:20:31 24 -786 T 0.5389 1.0329 56.1N 104.7E 57 188 132 02m31s
44 11 1954 Jun 30 12:32:38 31 -563 T 0.6135 1.0357 60.5N 4.2E 52 197 153 02m35s
45 12 1972 Jul 10 19:46:38 43 -340 T 0.6872 1.0379 63.5N 94.2W 46 209 175 02m36s
46 13 1990 Jul 22 03:03:07 57 -117 T 0.7597 1.0391 65.2N 168.9E 40 222 201 02m33s
47 14 2008 Aug 01 10:22:12 65 106 T 0.8307 1.0394 65.7N 72.3E 34 235 237 02m27s
48 15 2026 Aug 12 17:47:06 75 329 T 0.8977 1.0386 65.2N 25.2W 26 248 294 02m18s
49 16 2044 Aug 23 01:17:02 87 552 T 0.9613 1.0364 64.3N 120.5W 15 264 453 02m04s
50 17 2062 Sep 03 08:54:27 120 775 P 1.0191 0.9749 61.3N 150.3E 0 286
51 18 2080 Sep 13 16:38:09 159 998 P 1.0723 0.8743 61.1N 25.8E 0 277
52 19 2098 Sep 25 00:31:16 200 1221 P 1.1184 0.7871 61.1N 101.0W 0 268
53 20 2116 Oct 06 08:31:51 243 1444 P 1.1589 0.7105 61.2N 130.4E 0 259
54 21 2134 Oct 17 16:40:42 288 1667 P 1.1931 0.6458 61.5N 0.4W 0 250
55 22 2152 Oct 28 00:57:34 334 1890 P 1.2213 0.5926 61.9N 133.3W 0 241
56 23 2170 Nov 08 09:23:07 373 2113 P 1.2426 0.5524 62.5N 91.6E 0 232
57 24 2188 Nov 18 17:55:25 415 2336 P 1.2591 0.5212 63.2N 45.5W 0 222
58 25 2206 Dec 01 02:33:55 458 2559 P 1.2711 0.4985 64.1N 175.7E 0 212
59 26 2224 Dec 11 11:17:51 504 2782 P 1.2791 0.4834 65.0N 35.2E 0 202
60 27 2242 Dec 22 20:06:40 551 3005 P 1.2836 0.4750 66.0N 106.9W 0 192
61 28 2261 Jan 02 04:56:54 601 3228 P 1.2873 0.4679 67.1N 110.2E 0 181
62 29 2279 Jan 13 13:49:06 653 3451 P 1.2899 0.4630 68.2N 33.7W 0 170
63 30 2297 Jan 23 22:39:47 707 3674 P 1.2940 0.4550 69.2N 177.8W 0 158
64 31 2315 Feb 05 07:29:49 763 3897 P 1.2991 0.4453 70.1N 37.6E 0 145
65 32 2333 Feb 15 16:14:20 821 4120 P 1.3087 0.4270 70.9N 106.2W 0 132
66 33 2351 Feb 27 00:56:12 881 4343 P 1.3209 0.4037 71.5N 110.1E 0 119
67 34 2369 Mar 09 09:30:24 943 4566 P 1.3392 0.3686 71.9N 32.2W 0 105
68 35 2387 Mar 20 17:59:08 1007 4789 P 1.3624 0.3241 72.1N 173.3W 0 90
69 36 2405 Mar 31 02:18:52 1073 5012 P 1.3928 0.2654 71.9N 47.9E 0 76
70 37 2423 Apr 11 10:32:41 1142 5235 P 1.4282 0.1970 71.6N 89.1W 0 63
71 38 2441 Apr 21 18:37:49 1212 5458 P 1.4706 0.1149 71.0N 136.4E 0 50
72 39 2459 May 03 02:35:54 1285 5681 Pe 1.5188 0.0214 70.3N 4.3E 0 37
[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)"
