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 127 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 0991 Oct 10. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2452 Mar 21. The total duration of Saros series 127 is 1460.44 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0991 Oct 10 14:31:21 TD Last Eclipse = 2452 Mar 21 17:01:31 TD Duration of Saros 127 = 1460.44 Years
Saros 127 is composed of 82 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 127 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 82 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 40 | 48.8% |
| Annular | A | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | T | 42 | 51.2% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 0 | 0.0% |
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 127 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 127 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 82 eclipses in Saros 127: 20P 42T 20P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 127 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 127 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 1532 Aug 30 | 05m40s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 2091 Aug 15 | 01m38s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1334 May 04 | - | 0.98297 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2452 Mar 21 | - | 0.02617 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 127. 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 127.
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
07105 -45 0991 Oct 10 14:31:21 1608 -12470 Pb 1.5370 0.0321 71.5N 28.4E 0
07147 -44 1009 Oct 20 22:36:10 1509 -12247 P 1.5123 0.0753 70.9N 106.7W 0
07189 -43 1027 Nov 01 06:48:58 1414 -12024 P 1.4930 0.1088 70.1N 116.7E 0
07231 -42 1045 Nov 11 15:09:04 1323 -11801 P 1.4792 0.1328 69.1N 21.0W 0
07275 -41 1063 Nov 22 23:33:39 1238 -11578 P 1.4681 0.1517 68.1N 159.2W 0
07319 -40 1081 Dec 03 08:03:27 1156 -11355 P 1.4607 0.1642 67.0N 62.0E 0
07364 -39 1099 Dec 14 16:35:04 1080 -11132 P 1.4537 0.1757 65.9N 76.8W 0
07409 -38 1117 Dec 25 01:07:37 1007 -10909 P 1.4469 0.1867 64.9N 144.7E 0
07454 -37 1136 Jan 05 09:38:55 939 -10686 P 1.4383 0.2010 63.9N 6.9E 0
07499 -36 1154 Jan 15 18:08:17 875 -10463 P 1.4274 0.2192 63.1N 130.1W 0
07544 -35 1172 Jan 27 02:33:05 815 -10240 P 1.4121 0.2453 62.4N 94.3E 0
07590 -34 1190 Feb 06 10:53:04 758 -10017 P 1.3921 0.2801 61.8N 39.8W 0
07635 -33 1208 Feb 17 19:06:58 706 -9794 P 1.3664 0.3257 61.3N 172.3W 0
07681 -32 1226 Feb 28 03:15:05 656 -9571 P 1.3351 0.3818 61.0N 56.8E 0
07726 -31 1244 Mar 10 11:14:43 610 -9348 P 1.2963 0.4525 60.9N 72.0W 0
07770 -30 1262 Mar 21 19:08:33 567 -9125 P 1.2522 0.5339 61.0N 160.7E 0
07814 -29 1280 Apr 01 02:54:21 527 -8902 P 1.2008 0.6298 61.2N 35.4E 0
07857 -28 1298 Apr 12 10:35:28 490 -8679 P 1.1445 0.7357 61.5N 88.9W 0
07899 -27 1316 Apr 22 18:08:42 455 -8456 P 1.0812 0.8560 62.0N 148.8E 0
07940 -26 1334 May 04 01:39:14 422 -8233 P 1.0149 0.9830 62.6N 27.0E 0
07981 -25 1352 May 14 09:04:24 391 -8010 T 0.9437 1.0427 73.6N 48.5W 19 441 02m18s
08022 -24 1370 May 25 16:28:30 362 -7787 T 0.8708 1.0497 76.2N 124.0W 29 338 02m51s
08063 -23 1388 Jun 04 23:49:27 335 -7564 T 0.7944 1.0552 74.2N 156.6E 37 302 03m20s
08103 -22 1406 Jun 16 07:12:01 309 -7341 T 0.7188 1.0596 69.4N 64.4E 44 283 03m48s
08143 -21 1424 Jun 26 14:34:25 284 -7118 T 0.6425 1.0629 63.1N 36.6W 50 270 04m14s
08183 -20 1442 Jul 07 21:59:40 261 -6895 T 0.5679 1.0654 56.2N 143.3W 55 261 04m39s
08223 -19 1460 Jul 18 05:27:53 239 -6672 T 0.4954 1.0669 48.9N 106.4E 60 252 05m00s
08263 -18 1478 Jul 29 13:01:17 219 -6449 T 0.4269 1.0676 41.4N 6.8W 65 244 05m18s
08303 -17 1496 Aug 08 20:40:14 199 -6226 T 0.3626 1.0675 33.9N 122.4W 69 236 05m30s
08345 -16 1514 Aug 20 04:25:15 181 -6003 T 0.3032 1.0667 26.5N 119.9E 72 228 05m38s
08387 -15 1532 Aug 30 12:17:45 164 -5780 T 0.2500 1.0654 19.3N 0.0E 75 221 05m40s
08428 -14 1550 Sep 10 20:17:38 149 -5557 T 0.2029 1.0636 12.4N 121.8W 78 212 05m37s
08469 -13 1568 Sep 21 04:25:02 136 -5334 T 0.1619 1.0615 5.8N 114.6E 81 204 05m32s
08510 -12 1586 Oct 12 12:40:32 125 -5111 T 0.1278 1.0591 0.3S 10.8W 83 196 05m23s
08551 -11 1604 Oct 22 21:03:48 113 -4888 T 0.1000 1.0567 5.9S 137.8W 84 188 05m12s
08593 -10 1622 Nov 03 05:34:48 90 -4665 T 0.0789 1.0544 10.7S 93.7E 86 180 05m01s
08638 -09 1640 Nov 13 14:11:19 63 -4442 T 0.0623 1.0522 14.8S 35.8W 87 173 04m50s
08683 -08 1658 Nov 24 22:54:42 37 -4219 T 0.0513 1.0502 18.0S 166.4W 87 167 04m40s
08729 -07 1676 Dec 05 07:42:08 17 -3996 T 0.0435 1.0486 20.2S 62.5E 88 162 04m30s
08774 -06 1694 Dec 16 16:33:11 8 -3773 T 0.0388 1.0475 21.3S 69.2W 88 158 04m22s
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
08819 -05 1712 Dec 28 01:24:54 9 -3550 T 0.0346 1.0466 21.5S 159.0E 88 155 04m15s
08865 -04 1731 Jan 08 10:17:44 11 -3327 Tm 0.0313 1.0464 20.7S 27.0E 88 155 04m10s
08911 -03 1749 Jan 18 19:08:56 13 -3104 T 0.0264 1.0465 19.1S 104.9W 89 155 04m07s
08956 -02 1767 Jan 30 03:56:55 15 -2881 T 0.0190 1.0471 16.8S 123.9E 89 157 04m06s
09002 -01 1785 Feb 09 12:40:41 17 -2658 T 0.0080 1.0480 14.1S 6.6W 90 159 04m07s
09047 00 1803 Feb 21 21:18:46 13 -2435 T -0.0075 1.0492 11.1S 135.9W 90 163 04m09s
09092 01 1821 Mar 04 05:50:13 11 -2212 T -0.0284 1.0506 8.0S 96.3E 88 168 04m14s
09136 02 1839 Mar 15 14:13:42 5 -1989 T -0.0558 1.0520 5.1S 29.5W 87 172 04m20s
09179 03 1857 Mar 25 22:29:38 7 -1766 T -0.0892 1.0534 2.4S 153.4W 85 177 04m28s
09222 04 1875 Apr 06 06:37:26 -3 -1543 T -0.1292 1.0547 0.2S 84.8E 83 182 04m37s
09264 05 1893 Apr 16 14:36:11 -6 -1320 T -0.1764 1.0556 1.3N 34.6W 80 186 04m47s
09306 06 1911 Apr 28 22:27:22 12 -1097 T -0.2294 1.0562 1.9N 151.9W 77 190 04m57s
09349 07 1929 May 09 06:10:34 24 -874 T -0.2887 1.0562 1.6N 92.7E 73 193 05m07s
09392 08 1947 May 20 13:47:47 28 -651 T -0.3528 1.0557 0.2N 21.4W 69 196 05m13s
09432 09 1965 May 30 21:17:31 36 -428 T -0.4225 1.0544 2.5S 133.8W 65 198 05m15s
09472 10 1983 Jun 11 04:43:33 53 -205 T -0.4947 1.0524 6.2S 114.2E 60 199 05m11s
09511 11 2001 Jun 21 12:04:46 64 18 T -0.5701 1.0495 11.3S 2.7E 55 200 04m57s
09551 12 2019 Jul 02 19:24:07 71 241 T -0.6466 1.0459 17.4S 109.0W 50 201 04m33s
09591 13 2037 Jul 13 02:40:36 83 464 T -0.7246 1.0413 24.8S 139.1E 43 201 03m58s
09631 14 2055 Jul 24 09:57:50 104 687 T -0.8012 1.0359 33.3S 25.8E 37 202 03m17s
09672 15 2073 Aug 03 17:15:23 143 910 T -0.8763 1.0294 43.2S 89.4W 28 206 02m29s
09713 16 2091 Aug 15 00:34:43 183 1133 T -0.9490 1.0216 55.6S 150.5E 18 236 01m38s
09754 17 2109 Aug 26 07:57:26 225 1356 P -1.0178 0.9670 71.4S 5.1E 0
09795 18 2127 Sep 06 15:24:17 270 1579 P -1.0822 0.8458 71.9S 120.1W 0
09836 19 2145 Sep 16 22:57:10 317 1802 P -1.1406 0.7368 72.1S 112.8E 0
09878 20 2163 Sep 28 06:34:34 358 2025 P -1.1943 0.6377 72.1S 15.6W 0
09922 21 2181 Oct 08 14:19:36 398 2248 P -1.2408 0.5529 71.9S 145.8W 0
09966 22 2199 Oct 19 22:10:26 441 2471 P -1.2817 0.4790 71.4S 82.9E 0
10010 23 2217 Oct 31 06:08:54 486 2694 P -1.3157 0.4185 70.7S 49.8W 0
10054 24 2235 Nov 11 14:13:08 532 2917 P -1.3444 0.3682 69.9S 176.6E 0
10098 25 2253 Nov 21 22:24:38 581 3140 P -1.3666 0.3297 68.9S 41.9E 0
10143 26 2271 Dec 03 06:40:47 632 3363 P -1.3843 0.2996 67.8S 93.4W 0
10189 27 2289 Dec 13 15:01:18 685 3586 P -1.3979 0.2767 66.8S 130.8E 0
10234 28 2307 Dec 25 23:24:23 740 3809 P -1.4089 0.2585 65.7S 5.1W 0
10279 29 2326 Jan 05 07:49:43 798 4032 P -1.4177 0.2440 64.7S 141.2W 0
10324 30 2344 Jan 16 16:13:41 857 4255 P -1.4270 0.2288 63.8S 83.5E 0
10370 31 2362 Jan 27 00:36:00 918 4478 P -1.4368 0.2125 62.9S 51.1W 0
10414 32 2380 Feb 07 08:54:01 982 4701 P -1.4496 0.1909 62.2S 175.7E 0
10458 33 2398 Feb 17 17:08:14 1047 4924 P -1.4648 0.1650 61.7S 43.5E 0
10501 34 2416 Feb 29 01:13:31 1115 5147 P -1.4865 0.1279 61.3S 86.2W 0
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
10544 35 2434 Mar 11 09:12:47 1184 5370 P -1.5121 0.0837 61.1S 145.6E 0
10587 36 2452 Mar 21 17:01:31 1256 5593 Pe -1.5455 0.0262 61.1S 20.1E 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)"
