Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 128

Introduction

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.


Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 128

Solar eclipses of Saros 128 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 0984 Aug 29. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2282 Nov 01. The total duration of Saros series 128 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =   0984 Aug 29   08:35:40 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   2282 Nov 01   05:06:24 TD

                      Duration of Saros 128  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 128 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 128
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PartialP 33 45.2%
AnnularA 32 43.8%
TotalT 4 5.5%
Hybrid[3]H 4 5.5%

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 128 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 128
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 40100.0%
Central (two limits) 39 97.5%
Central (one limit) 1 2.5%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 128: 24P 4T 4H 32A 9P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 128 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 128
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse 1832 Feb 0108m35s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse 1561 Aug 1100m27s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse 1453 Jun 0701m45s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse 1417 May 1601m30s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 1489 Jun 2801m23s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 1543 Jul 3100m05s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse 1399 May 06 - 0.99487
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 0984 Aug 29 - 0.00850

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 128

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 128. 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 128.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 128

                         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

07088 -42  0984 Aug 29  08:35:40   1649 -12558   Pb  -1.5263  0.0085  61.3S  18.5W   0             
07130 -41  1002 Sep 09  16:38:28   1548 -12335   P   -1.4840  0.0911  61.1S 148.4W   0             
07172 -40  1020 Sep 20  00:47:49   1451 -12112   P   -1.4474  0.1625  61.0S  80.2E   0             
07214 -39  1038 Oct 01  09:05:32   1359 -11889   P   -1.4177  0.2202  61.2S  53.4W   0             
07257 -38  1056 Oct 11  17:30:26   1271 -11666   P   -1.3942  0.2656  61.4S 171.3E   0             
07301 -37  1074 Oct 23  02:01:48   1188 -11443   P   -1.3765  0.2999  61.9S  34.2E   0             
07345 -36  1092 Nov 02  10:39:37   1109 -11220   P   -1.3643  0.3234  62.4S 104.5W   0             
07391 -35  1110 Nov 13  19:22:20   1035 -10997   P   -1.3568  0.3380  63.2S 115.3E   0             
07436 -34  1128 Nov 24  04:09:27    965 -10774   P   -1.3531  0.3453  64.0S  26.2W   0             
07481 -33  1146 Dec 05  12:57:34    900 -10551   P   -1.3507  0.3500  65.0S 168.3W   0             

07526 -32  1164 Dec 15  21:48:04    838 -10328   P   -1.3507  0.3502  66.0S  48.7E   0             
07572 -31  1182 Dec 27  06:37:09    780 -10105   P   -1.3505  0.3506  67.1S  94.4W   0             
07617 -30  1201 Jan 06  15:24:30    726  -9882   P   -1.3491  0.3532  68.1S 122.4E   0             
07662 -29  1219 Jan 18  00:06:47    676  -9659   P   -1.3445  0.3619  69.1S  20.1W   0             
07708 -28  1237 Jan 28  08:44:50    628  -9436   P   -1.3369  0.3759  70.0S 162.2W   0             
07753 -27  1255 Feb 08  17:15:43    584  -9213   P   -1.3244  0.3991  70.8S  57.0E   0             
07797 -26  1273 Feb 19  01:39:04    543  -8990   P   -1.3066  0.4321  71.4S  82.5W   0             
07840 -25  1291 Mar 02  09:53:49    504  -8767   P   -1.2826  0.4766  71.8S 139.8E   0             
07882 -24  1309 Mar 12  18:00:25    468  -8544   P   -1.2527  0.5323  71.9S   3.9E   0             
07924 -23  1327 Mar 24  01:56:52    435  -8321   P   -1.2152  0.6020  71.8S 129.5W   0             

07965 -22  1345 Apr 03  09:44:58    403  -8098   P   -1.1717  0.6830  71.5S  99.5E   0             
08006 -21  1363 Apr 14  17:23:47    373  -7875   P   -1.1212  0.7768  70.9S  28.7W   0             
08047 -20  1381 Apr 25  00:55:46    345  -7652   P   -1.0659  0.8794  70.2S 154.8W   0             
08088 -19  1399 May 06  08:18:28    319  -7429   P   -1.0035  0.9949  69.3S  82.1E   0             
08128 -18  1417 May 16  15:36:31    294  -7206   T   -0.9378  1.0179  48.9S  46.3W  20  180  01m30s
08168 -17  1435 May 27  22:47:54    270  -6983   T   -0.8670  1.0184  37.8S 160.2W  30  127  01m43s
08208 -16  1453 Jun 07  05:56:44    248  -6760   T   -0.7948  1.0175  29.4S  88.7E  37   99  01m45s
08247 -15  1471 Jun 18  13:00:12    227  -6537   T   -0.7189  1.0157  22.3S  19.7W  44   77  01m38s
08287 -14  1489 Jun 28  20:04:24    207  -6314   H3  -0.6440  1.0130  16.8S 127.5W  50   58  01m23s
08328 -13  1507 Jul 10  03:06:33    188  -6091   H   -0.5680  1.0095  12.4S 126.0E  55   40  01m01s

08370 -12  1525 Jul 20  10:11:04    171  -5868   H   -0.4947  1.0054   9.3S  19.4E  60   21  00m35s
08412 -11  1543 Jul 31  17:16:23    155  -5645   H   -0.4229  1.0007   7.3S  87.0W  65    3  00m05s
08453 -10  1561 Aug 11  00:27:07    141  -5422   A   -0.3564  0.9956   6.5S 165.5E  69   16  00m27s
08494 -09  1579 Aug 22  07:41:32    129  -5199   A   -0.2937  0.9901   6.6S  57.2E  73   36  01m00s
08535 -08  1597 Sep 11  15:01:22    120  -4976   A   -0.2363  0.9843   7.6S  52.4W  76   57  01m35s
08576 -07  1615 Sep 22  22:27:21    100  -4753   A   -0.1849  0.9784   9.1S 163.5W  79   78  02m11s
08620 -06  1633 Oct 03  06:00:37     73  -4530   Am  -0.1405  0.9726  11.2S  83.4E  82   99  02m48s
08665 -05  1651 Oct 14  13:40:56     46  -4307   A   -0.1025  0.9668  13.5S  31.3W  84  120  03m27s
08711 -04  1669 Oct 24  21:28:05     24  -4084   A   -0.0710  0.9613  15.9S 147.7W  86  141  04m07s
08756 -03  1687 Nov 05  05:22:24     10  -3861   A   -0.0460  0.9561  18.3S  94.3E  87  160  04m49s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 128

                         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

08801 -02  1705 Nov 16  13:23:06      9  -3638   A   -0.0271  0.9514  20.4S  25.0W  88  178  05m31s
08846 -01  1723 Nov 27  21:28:16     10  -3415   A   -0.0125  0.9471  22.0S 145.2W  89  195  06m12s
08892  00  1741 Dec 08  05:38:00     12  -3192   A   -0.0024  0.9434  23.0S  93.6E  90  209  06m51s
08938  01  1759 Dec 19  13:50:05     14  -2969   A    0.0051  0.9404  23.3S  28.0W  90  221  07m25s
08984  02  1777 Dec 29  22:03:28     17  -2746   A    0.0110  0.9380  22.7S 150.0W  90  231  07m53s
09030  03  1796 Jan 10  06:14:52     15  -2523   A    0.0179  0.9362  21.1S  88.3E  89  238  08m15s
09075  04  1814 Jan 21  14:24:47     12  -2300   A    0.0253  0.9350  18.6S  33.4W  89  242  08m28s
09120  05  1832 Feb 01  22:30:14      7  -2077   A    0.0355  0.9344  15.3S 154.4W  88  245  08m35s
09164  06  1850 Feb 12  06:29:37      7  -1854   A    0.0503  0.9345  11.0S  85.6E  87  245  08m35s
09206  07  1868 Feb 23  14:21:31      3  -1631   A    0.0706  0.9348   6.1S  33.0W  86  244  08m30s

09248  08  1886 Mar 05  22:05:26     -6  -1408   A    0.0970  0.9357   0.5S 150.1W  84  241  08m20s
09290  09  1904 Mar 17  05:40:44      3  -1185   A    0.1299  0.9367   5.6N  94.7E  82  237  08m07s
09332  10  1922 Mar 28  13:05:26     23   -962   A    0.1711  0.9381  12.3N  18.0W  80  233  07m50s
09375  11  1940 Apr 07  20:21:21     24   -739   A    0.2190  0.9394  19.2N 128.5W  77  230  07m30s
09416  12  1958 Apr 19  03:27:17     32   -516   A    0.2750  0.9408  26.5N 123.6E  74  228  07m07s
09456  13  1976 Apr 29  10:24:18     47   -293   A    0.3378  0.9421  34.0N  18.3E  70  227  06m41s
09495  14  1994 May 10  17:12:26     60    -70   A    0.4077  0.9431  41.5N  84.1W  66  230  06m13s
09535  15  2012 May 20  23:53:54     68    153   A    0.4828  0.9439  49.1N 176.3E  61  237  05m46s
09575  16  2030 Jun 01  06:29:13     78    376   A    0.5626  0.9443  56.5N  80.1E  55  250  05m21s
09615  17  2048 Jun 11  12:58:53     92    599   A    0.6468  0.9441  63.7N  11.5W  49  272  04m58s

09656  18  2066 Jun 22  19:25:48    127    822   A    0.7330  0.9435  70.1N  96.4W  43  309  04m40s
09697  19  2084 Jul 03  01:50:26    167   1045   A    0.8208  0.9421  75.0N 169.1W  35  377  04m25s
09738  20  2102 Jul 15  08:15:14    208   1268   A    0.9080  0.9398  75.9N 134.2E  24  539  04m14s
09779  21  2120 Jul 25  14:40:02    252   1491   An   0.9948  0.9343  66.0N  90.4E   4   -   04m00s
09820  22  2138 Aug 05  21:08:57    298   1714   P    1.0781  0.8285  62.4N   9.2W   0             
09862  23  2156 Aug 16  03:41:28    342   1937   P    1.1584  0.6912  61.9N 116.1W   0             
09905  24  2174 Aug 27  10:19:55    382   2160   P    1.2336  0.5629  61.4N 135.6E   0             
09949  25  2192 Sep 06  17:05:08    424   2383   P    1.3032  0.4444  61.2N  25.8E   0             
09994  26  2210 Sep 18  23:59:09    468   2606   P    1.3657  0.3384  61.0N  86.2W   0             
10037  27  2228 Sep 29  07:02:08    514   2829   P    1.4212  0.2445  61.1N 159.6E   0             

10081  28  2246 Oct 10  14:13:18    562   3052   P    1.4705  0.1615  61.3N  43.4E   0             
10126  29  2264 Oct 20  21:35:23    612   3275   P    1.5111  0.0933  61.6N  75.7W   0             
10171  30  2282 Nov 01  05:06:24    664   3498   Pe   1.5448  0.0370  62.1N 163.0E   0             


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Footnotes

[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.


Acknowledgments

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)"


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Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26