Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 138

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 138

Solar eclipses of Saros 138 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 1472 Jun 06. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2716 Jul 11. The total duration of Saros series 138 is 1244.08 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =   1472 Jun 06   20:20:31 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   2716 Jul 11   12:01:43 TD

                      Duration of Saros 138  =  1244.08 Years

Saros 138 is composed of 70 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 138
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 70100.0%
PartialP 16 22.9%
AnnularA 50 71.4%
TotalT 3 4.3%
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 138 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 138
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 54100.0%
Central (two limits) 53 98.1%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 1.9%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 70 eclipses in Saros 138: 7P 50A 1H 3T 9P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 138 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 138
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse 1869 Feb 1108m02s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse 2482 Feb 1800m09s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse 2554 Apr 0300m56s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse 2518 Mar 1200m31s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 2500 Mar 0100m12s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 2500 Mar 0100m12s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse 2572 Apr 13 - 0.99022
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 1472 Jun 06 - 0.02090

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 138

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 138. 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 138.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 138

                         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

08250 -33  1472 Jun 06  20:20:31    225  -6525   Pb  -1.5448  0.0209  66.4S 132.2W   0             
08290 -32  1490 Jun 18  02:55:30    206  -6302   P   -1.4661  0.1592  65.4S 118.7E   0             
08331 -31  1508 Jun 28  09:28:44    187  -6079   P   -1.3860  0.2993  64.5S  10.4E   0             
08373 -30  1526 Jul 09  16:02:42    170  -5856   P   -1.3063  0.4379  63.6S  97.8W   0             
08414 -29  1544 Jul 19  22:38:22    154  -5633   P   -1.2281  0.5730  62.8S 153.9E   0             
08455 -28  1562 Jul 31  05:16:46    140  -5410   P   -1.1522  0.7034  62.2S  45.1E   0             
08496 -27  1580 Aug 10  12:00:05    129  -5187   P   -1.0802  0.8258  61.6S  64.7W   0             
08537 -26  1598 Aug 31  18:48:48    119  -4964   A-  -1.0126  0.9398  61.2S 175.6W   0             
08578 -25  1616 Sep 11  01:44:06     99  -4741   A   -0.9505  0.9319  54.1S 102.3E  18  807  05m42s
08622 -24  1634 Sep 22  08:47:04     72  -4518   A   -0.8947  0.9300  51.5S   2.3E  26  572  06m03s

08667 -23  1652 Oct 02  15:58:30     45  -4295   A   -0.8458  0.9275  51.2S 102.7W  32  497  06m19s
08713 -22  1670 Oct 13  23:19:00     23  -4072   A   -0.8043  0.9247  52.4S 149.1E  36  467  06m34s
08758 -21  1688 Oct 24  06:46:41      9  -3849   A   -0.7686  0.9221  54.4S  39.2E  39  453  06m49s
08803 -20  1706 Nov 05  14:23:57      9  -3626   A   -0.7407  0.9195  57.0S  72.6W  42  449  07m02s
08848 -19  1724 Nov 15  22:07:38     10  -3403   A   -0.7183  0.9174  59.9S 175.0E  44  448  07m15s
08894 -18  1742 Nov 27  05:58:59     12  -3180   A   -0.7019  0.9156  62.6S  62.2E  45  450  07m26s
08940 -17  1760 Dec 07  13:53:44     15  -2957   A   -0.6881  0.9144  64.7S  49.4W  46  451  07m36s
08986 -16  1778 Dec 18  21:53:54     17  -2734   A   -0.6788  0.9137  65.8S 160.6W  47  450  07m44s
09032 -15  1796 Dec 29  05:54:58     15  -2511   A   -0.6703  0.9136  65.5S  88.6E  48  446  07m51s
09077 -14  1815 Jan 10  13:57:06     12  -2288   A   -0.6626  0.9143  63.7S  23.6W  48  438  07m55s

09122 -13  1833 Jan 20  21:56:55      6  -2065   A   -0.6530  0.9155  60.6S 137.4W  49  426  07m59s
09166 -12  1851 Feb 01  05:54:27      7  -1842   A   -0.6413  0.9175  56.4S 106.9E  50  409  08m01s
09208 -11  1869 Feb 11  13:46:39      2  -1619   A   -0.6251  0.9201  51.3S   9.7W  51  387  08m02s
09250 -10  1887 Feb 22  21:33:04     -6  -1396   A   -0.6040  0.9232  45.7S 126.5W  53  362  08m01s
09292 -09  1905 Mar 06  05:12:26      4  -1173   A   -0.5768  0.9269  39.5S 117.4E  55  334  07m58s
09334 -08  1923 Mar 17  12:44:58     23   -950   A   -0.5438  0.9310  33.0S   2.4E  57  305  07m51s
09377 -07  1941 Mar 27  20:08:08     25   -727   A   -0.5025  0.9355  26.2S 110.9W  60  276  07m41s
09418 -06  1959 Apr 08  03:24:08     33   -504   A   -0.4546  0.9401  19.1S 137.6E  63  247  07m26s
09458 -05  1977 Apr 18  10:31:30     48   -281   A   -0.3990  0.9449  11.9S  28.3E  66  220  07m04s
09497 -04  1995 Apr 29  17:33:21     61    -58   A   -0.3382  0.9497   4.8S  79.4W  70  196  06m37s

09537 -03  2013 May 10  00:26:20     68    165   A   -0.2694  0.9544   2.2N 175.5E  74  173  06m03s
09577 -02  2031 May 21  07:16:04     78    388   A   -0.1970  0.9589   8.9N  71.7E  79  152  05m26s
09617 -01  2049 May 31  13:59:59     92    611   A   -0.1187  0.9631  15.3N  29.9W  83  134  04m45s
09658  00  2067 Jun 11  20:42:26    129    834   A   -0.0387  0.9670  21.0N 130.2W  88  119  04m05s
09699  01  2085 Jun 22  03:21:16    169   1057   A    0.0452  0.9704  26.2N 131.3E  87  106  03m29s
09740  02  2103 Jul 04  10:01:48    211   1280   Am   0.1285  0.9734  30.3N  33.2E  82   96  02m57s
09781  03  2121 Jul 14  16:42:39    255   1503   A    0.2125  0.9758  33.6N  64.3W  78   88  02m32s
09822  04  2139 Jul 25  23:26:33    300   1726   A    0.2946  0.9778  35.8N 161.9W  73   83  02m13s
09864  05  2157 Aug 05  06:14:19    344   1949   A    0.3743  0.9792  37.1N  99.6E  68   80  01m59s
09907  06  2175 Aug 16  13:08:17    384   2172   A    0.4497  0.9802  37.6N   0.5W  63   78  01m50s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 138

                         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

09951  07  2193 Aug 26  20:09:20    426   2395   A    0.5200  0.9806  37.4N 102.9W  58   80  01m45s
09996  08  2211 Sep 08  03:17:18    470   2618   A    0.5854  0.9808  36.9N 152.5E  54   83  01m43s
10040  09  2229 Sep 18  10:34:51    516   2841   A    0.6439  0.9805  36.2N  44.8E  50   89  01m44s
10084  10  2247 Sep 29  18:01:05    564   3064   A    0.6961  0.9801  35.6N  65.9W  46   96  01m47s
10129  11  2265 Oct 10  01:37:34    615   3287   A    0.7404  0.9796  35.1N 179.8W  42  105  01m51s
10174  12  2283 Oct 21  09:23:11    667   3510   A    0.7783  0.9790  34.9N  63.2E  39  116  01m56s
10219  13  2301 Nov 01  17:19:33    721   3733   A    0.8080  0.9786  34.8N  57.2W  36  126  02m01s
10264  14  2319 Nov 13  01:24:39    778   3956   A    0.8314  0.9784  35.0N 179.6E  34  136  02m04s
10309  15  2337 Nov 23  09:37:55    836   4179   A    0.8488  0.9786  35.5N  53.8E  32  142  02m05s
10355  16  2355 Dec 04  17:58:37    897   4402   A    0.8609  0.9792  36.0N  74.4W  30  145  02m02s

10400  17  2373 Dec 15  02:25:55    960   4625   A    0.8678  0.9803  36.7N 155.4E  29  141  01m56s
10444  18  2391 Dec 26  10:57:15   1024   4848   A    0.8723  0.9820  37.6N  24.0E  29  131  01m46s
10488  19  2410 Jan 05  19:31:39   1091   5071   A    0.8749  0.9842  38.8N 108.2W  29  116  01m31s
10531  20  2428 Jan 17  04:07:20   1160   5294   A    0.8770  0.9870  40.5N 119.1E  28   96  01m13s
10574  21  2446 Jan 27  12:43:51   1231   5517   A    0.8789  0.9903  42.7N  13.9W  28   72  00m53s
10617  22  2464 Feb 07  21:17:16   1304   5740   A    0.8840  0.9941  45.7N 146.4W  28   44  00m31s
10659  23  2482 Feb 18  05:48:52   1379   5963   A    0.8912  0.9982  49.3N  81.2E  27   14  00m09s
10701  24  2500 Mar 01  14:14:47   1457   6186   H    0.9038  1.0026  53.9N  50.7W  25   21  00m12s
10742  25  2518 Mar 12  22:37:02   1536   6409   T    0.9200  1.0071  59.1N 176.7E  23   63  00m31s
10783  26  2536 Mar 23  06:51:06   1617   6632   T    0.9435  1.0115  65.3N  42.0E  19  121  00m46s

10823  27  2554 Apr 03  15:00:51   1701   6855   T    0.9713  1.0153  71.5N 102.2W  13  232  00m56s
10863  28  2572 Apr 13  23:02:08   1786   7078   P    1.0068  0.9902  71.5N  81.8E   0             
10903  29  2590 Apr 25  06:57:46   1874   7301   P    1.0476  0.9167  70.9N  50.1W   0             
10944  30  2608 May 06  14:45:32   1963   7524   P    1.0954  0.8288  70.1N 179.4W   0             
10985  31  2626 May 17  22:28:40   2055   7747   P    1.1476  0.7318  69.1N  53.1E   0             
11025  32  2644 May 28  06:05:58   2149   7970   P    1.2051  0.6236  68.2N  72.3W   0             
11065  33  2662 Jun 08  13:38:43   2245   8193   P    1.2666  0.5068  67.2N 163.9E   0             
11106  34  2680 Jun 18  21:08:08   2342   8416   P    1.3315  0.3827  66.2N  41.5E   0             
11148  35  2698 Jun 30  04:35:43   2442   8639   P    1.3983  0.2539  65.3N  80.1W   0             
11190  36  2716 Jul 11  12:01:43   2545   8862   Pe   1.4666  0.1219  64.4N 159.1E   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)"


Return to:

Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26