The periodicity and recurrence of solar 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. For more information, see Periodicity of Solar Eclipses.
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 central eclipses of Saros 126 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 126 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1359 Jun 26 | 06m30s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1810 Apr 04 | 00m21s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 1972 Jul 10 | 02m36s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 1882 May 17 | 01m50s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1864 May 06 | 01m25s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1828 Apr 14 | 00m18s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2062 Sep 03 | - | 0.97490 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2459 May 03 | - | 0.02141 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 126. A description or explanation of each parameter listed in the catalog can be found in Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.
Several fields in the catalog link to web pages or files containing additional information for each eclipse (for the years -1999 through +3000). The following gives a brief explanation of each link.
For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Animation of Saros 126.
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat Long Alt Width Dur.
s ° ° ° km
07562 -32 1179 Mar 10 07:39:51 792 -10152 Pb -1.5356 0.0536 72.0S 165.4E 0
07607 -31 1197 Mar 20 14:48:56 737 -9929 P -1.4880 0.1327 72.0S 43.8E 0
07652 -30 1215 Mar 31 21:50:41 686 -9706 P -1.4344 0.2222 71.7S 75.8W 0
07698 -29 1233 Apr 11 04:41:24 638 -9483 P -1.3717 0.3278 71.2S 167.7E 0
07743 -28 1251 Apr 22 11:26:32 593 -9260 P -1.3041 0.4423 70.5S 53.1E 0
07787 -27 1269 May 02 18:03:15 551 -9037 P -1.2291 0.5699 69.7S 58.8W 0
07830 -26 1287 May 14 00:35:25 512 -8814 P -1.1500 0.7052 68.8S 169.0W 0
07873 -25 1305 May 24 07:02:17 476 -8591 P -1.0658 0.8496 67.8S 82.8E 0
07915 -24 1323 Jun 04 13:27:55 441 -8368 As -0.9799 0.9383 56.1S 23.4W 11 - 05m59s
07956 -23 1341 Jun 14 19:52:10 409 -8145 A -0.8922 0.9433 39.6S 123.3W 27 465 06m25s
07997 -22 1359 Jun 26 02:16:31 379 -7922 A -0.8038 0.9463 29.9S 138.3E 36 330 06m30s
08038 -21 1377 Jul 06 08:43:28 351 -7699 A -0.7168 0.9484 22.8S 40.2E 44 269 06m24s
08079 -20 1395 Jul 17 15:14:16 324 -7476 A -0.6318 0.9497 17.7S 58.2W 51 234 06m12s
08119 -19 1413 Jul 27 21:50:24 299 -7253 A -0.5506 0.9506 14.1S 157.5W 57 214 05m58s
08159 -18 1431 Aug 08 04:33:00 275 -7030 A -0.4737 0.9509 12.0S 102.0E 62 201 05m45s
08199 -17 1449 Aug 18 11:24:05 252 -6807 A -0.4030 0.9509 11.1S 0.5W 66 194 05m35s
08239 -16 1467 Aug 29 18:24:29 231 -6584 A -0.3391 0.9505 11.3S 105.2W 70 191 05m29s
08279 -15 1485 Sep 09 01:33:06 211 -6361 A -0.2811 0.9500 12.4S 148.0E 74 190 05m26s
08320 -14 1503 Sep 20 08:52:38 192 -6138 A -0.2314 0.9494 14.1S 38.5E 77 190 05m27s
08362 -13 1521 Sep 30 16:21:42 174 -5915 A -0.1892 0.9489 16.2S 73.3W 79 191 05m30s
08403 -12 1539 Oct 12 00:01:45 158 -5692 A -0.1551 0.9484 18.7S 172.2E 81 192 05m35s
08444 -11 1557 Oct 22 07:49:28 144 -5469 A -0.1266 0.9482 21.1S 56.0E 83 192 05m40s
08485 -10 1575 Nov 02 15:47:27 131 -5246 A -0.1061 0.9483 23.5S 62.6W 84 191 05m44s
08526 -09 1593 Nov 22 23:52:06 121 -5023 A -0.0906 0.9488 25.4S 177.5E 85 189 05m46s
08566 -08 1611 Dec 04 08:03:43 105 -4800 A -0.0803 0.9498 26.9S 56.0E 85 185 05m44s
08610 -07 1629 Dec 14 16:19:07 79 -4577 A -0.0725 0.9513 27.6S 66.2W 86 179 05m38s
08655 -06 1647 Dec 26 00:38:35 52 -4354 A -0.0675 0.9535 27.4S 170.6E 86 170 05m25s
08701 -05 1666 Jan 05 08:58:51 28 -4131 A -0.0624 0.9562 26.3S 47.1E 86 160 05m07s
08747 -04 1684 Jan 16 17:18:53 12 -3908 A -0.0565 0.9596 24.2S 76.7W 87 147 04m43s
08792 -03 1702 Jan 28 01:37:10 8 -3685 A -0.0484 0.9636 21.2S 159.6E 87 132 04m14s
08837 -02 1720 Feb 08 09:52:31 10 -3462 A -0.0375 0.9681 17.4S 36.1E 88 115 03m40s
08883 -01 1738 Feb 18 18:02:31 11 -3239 A -0.0211 0.9732 12.8S 86.7W 89 96 03m03s
08929 00 1756 Mar 01 02:07:09 14 -3016 A 0.0006 0.9787 7.5S 151.4E 90 76 02m24s
08974 01 1774 Mar 12 10:05:14 16 -2793 A 0.0284 0.9845 1.7S 30.8E 88 55 01m43s
09020 02 1792 Mar 22 17:57:34 16 -2570 A 0.0618 0.9905 4.5N 88.7W 86 33 01m02s
09065 03 1810 Apr 04 01:41:19 12 -2347 A 0.1031 0.9967 11.1N 153.8E 84 12 00m21s
09110 04 1828 Apr 14 09:19:38 8 -2124 Hm 0.1498 1.0029 17.9N 37.7E 81 10 00m18s
09154 05 1846 Apr 25 16:50:30 6 -1901 H 0.2038 1.0088 24.8N 76.2W 78 31 00m53s
09197 06 1864 May 06 00:16:48 6 -1678 H 0.2622 1.0146 31.6N 171.5E 75 52 01m25s
09239 07 1882 May 17 07:36:27 -5 -1455 T 0.3269 1.0200 38.4N 61.6E 71 72 01m50s
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat Long Alt Width Dur.
s ° ° ° km
09281 08 1900 May 28 14:53:56 -2 -1232 T 0.3943 1.0249 44.8N 46.5W 67 92 02m10s
09324 09 1918 Jun 08 22:07:43 20 -1009 T 0.4658 1.0292 50.9N 152.0W 62 112 02m23s
09367 10 1936 Jun 19 05:20:31 24 -786 T 0.5389 1.0329 56.1N 104.7E 57 132 02m31s
09408 11 1954 Jun 30 12:32:38 31 -563 T 0.6135 1.0357 60.5N 4.2E 52 153 02m35s
09448 12 1972 Jul 10 19:46:38 43 -340 T 0.6872 1.0379 63.5N 94.2W 46 175 02m36s
09487 13 1990 Jul 22 03:03:07 57 -117 T 0.7597 1.0391 65.2N 168.9E 40 201 02m33s
09526 14 2008 Aug 01 10:22:12 66 106 T 0.8307 1.0394 65.7N 72.3E 34 237 02m27s
09566 15 2026 Aug 12 17:47:06 75 329 T 0.8977 1.0386 65.2N 25.2W 26 294 02m18s
09606 16 2044 Aug 23 01:17:02 88 552 T 0.9613 1.0364 64.3N 120.4W 15 453 02m04s
09647 17 2062 Sep 03 08:54:27 119 775 P 1.0191 0.9749 61.3N 150.3E 0
09688 18 2080 Sep 13 16:38:09 158 998 P 1.0723 0.8743 61.1N 25.8E 0
09729 19 2098 Sep 25 00:31:16 199 1221 P 1.1184 0.7871 61.1N 101.0W 0
09770 20 2116 Oct 06 08:31:51 243 1444 P 1.1589 0.7105 61.2N 130.4E 0
09811 21 2134 Oct 17 16:40:42 288 1667 P 1.1931 0.6458 61.5N 0.4W 0
09853 22 2152 Oct 28 00:57:34 334 1890 P 1.2213 0.5926 61.9N 133.3W 0
09895 23 2170 Nov 08 09:23:07 373 2113 P 1.2426 0.5524 62.5N 91.6E 0
09939 24 2188 Nov 18 17:55:25 415 2336 P 1.2591 0.5212 63.2N 45.5W 0
09984 25 2206 Dec 01 02:33:55 458 2559 P 1.2711 0.4985 64.1N 175.7E 0
10027 26 2224 Dec 11 11:17:51 504 2782 P 1.2791 0.4834 65.0N 35.2E 0
10071 27 2242 Dec 22 20:06:40 551 3005 P 1.2836 0.4750 66.0N 106.9W 0
10116 28 2261 Jan 02 04:56:54 601 3228 P 1.2873 0.4679 67.1N 110.2E 0
10161 29 2279 Jan 13 13:49:06 653 3451 P 1.2899 0.4630 68.2N 33.7W 0
10207 30 2297 Jan 23 22:39:47 707 3674 P 1.2940 0.4550 69.2N 177.8W 0
10252 31 2315 Feb 05 07:29:49 763 3897 P 1.2991 0.4453 70.1N 37.6E 0
10297 32 2333 Feb 15 16:14:20 821 4120 P 1.3087 0.4270 70.9N 106.2W 0
10343 33 2351 Feb 27 00:56:12 881 4343 P 1.3209 0.4037 71.5N 110.1E 0
10388 34 2369 Mar 09 09:30:24 943 4566 P 1.3392 0.3686 71.9N 32.2W 0
10432 35 2387 Mar 20 17:59:08 1007 4789 P 1.3624 0.3241 72.1N 173.3W 0
10476 36 2405 Mar 31 02:18:52 1073 5012 P 1.3928 0.2654 71.9N 47.9E 0
10519 37 2423 Apr 11 10:32:41 1142 5235 P 1.4282 0.1970 71.6N 89.1W 0
10562 38 2441 Apr 21 18:37:49 1212 5458 P 1.4706 0.1149 71.0N 136.4E 0
10605 39 2459 May 03 02:35:54 1285 5681 Pe 1.5188 0.0214 70.3N 4.3E 0
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.
[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 Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is nearly equal 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 information presented on this web page is based on data published in Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. The individual global maps appearing in links (both GIF an animation) were extracted from full page plates appearing in Five Millennium Canon by Dan McGlaun. The Besselian elements were provided by Jean Meeus. Fred Espenak assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all eclipse calculations.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)"
