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 140 all occur at the Moons descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1512 Apr 16. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2774 Jun 01. The total duration of Saros series 140 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1512 Apr 16 06:22:25 TD Last Eclipse = 2774 Jun 01 13:10:10 TD Duration of Saros 140 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 140 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 140 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 24 | 33.8% |
| Annular | A | 32 | 45.1% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.5% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.6% |
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 140 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 140 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 47 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 91.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.1% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 3 | 6.4% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 140: 8P 11T 4H 32A 16P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 140 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1692 Aug 12 Duration = 04m10s Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1836 Nov 09 Duration = 01m28s Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2449 Nov 15 Duration = 07m35s Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1927 Jan 03 Duration = 00m03s Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1854 Nov 20 Duration = 01m07s Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1908 Dec 23 Duration = 00m12s Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1638 Jul 11 Magnitude = 0.8917 Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1512 Apr 16 Magnitude = 0.0003
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 140 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 140 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 -37 1512 Apr 16 06:22:25 168 -6032 Pb -1.5289 0.0003 70.6S 131.8E 0 314 02 -36 1530 Apr 27 14:07:20 153 -5809 P -1.4726 0.1083 69.9S 2.9E 0 327 03 -35 1548 May 07 21:46:52 139 -5586 P -1.4121 0.2250 69.0S 124.2W 0 338 04 -34 1566 May 19 05:21:00 128 -5363 P -1.3472 0.3507 68.1S 110.6E 0 350 05 -33 1584 Jun 08 12:52:25 118 -5140 P -1.2802 0.4805 67.1S 13.3W 0 0 06 -32 1602 Jun 19 20:19:21 106 -4917 P -1.2097 0.6174 66.1S 135.7W 0 10 07 -31 1620 Jun 30 03:46:25 91 -4694 P -1.1393 0.7535 65.1S 102.3E 0 20 08 -30 1638 Jul 11 11:11:52 64 -4471 P -1.0676 0.8917 64.2S 19.0W 0 30 09 -29 1656 Jul 21 18:39:48 40 -4248 T- -0.9983 1.0244 63.4S 140.7W 0 39 - - 10 -28 1674 Aug 02 02:07:57 20 -4025 T -0.9295 1.0560 45.9S 120.8E 21 29 498 04m08s 11 -27 1692 Aug 12 09:41:06 9 -3802 T -0.8649 1.0546 39.8S 8.6E 30 31 353 04m10s 12 -26 1710 Aug 24 17:17:16 9 -3579 T -0.8031 1.0519 36.5S 105.1W 36 33 282 04m00s 13 -25 1728 Sep 04 00:59:22 10 -3356 T -0.7466 1.0484 35.0S 139.6E 41 34 236 03m44s 14 -24 1746 Sep 15 08:46:37 12 -3133 T -0.6948 1.0441 34.9S 23.0E 46 36 200 03m23s 15 -23 1764 Sep 25 16:41:43 15 -2910 T -0.6502 1.0394 36.0S 95.5W 49 37 171 03m01s 16 -22 1782 Oct 07 00:43:19 17 -2687 T -0.6113 1.0344 37.9S 144.6E 52 37 144 02m37s 17 -21 1800 Oct 18 08:51:53 13 -2464 T -0.5787 1.0293 40.3S 23.2E 54 36 120 02m14s 18 -20 1818 Oct 29 17:07:10 12 -2241 T -0.5524 1.0241 43.1S 99.4W 56 34 98 01m51s 19 -19 1836 Nov 09 01:29:26 5 -2018 T -0.5327 1.0191 46.1S 136.8E 58 31 77 01m28s 20 -18 1854 Nov 20 09:56:58 7 -1795 H3 -0.5179 1.0144 48.9S 12.7E 59 27 57 01m07s 21 -17 1872 Nov 30 18:29:33 -1 -1572 H -0.5081 1.0099 51.2S 111.8W 59 22 40 00m47s 22 -16 1890 Dec 12 03:05:28 -6 -1349 H -0.5016 1.0059 52.8S 123.9E 60 15 24 00m28s 23 -15 1908 Dec 23 11:44:28 9 -1126 H -0.4985 1.0024 53.4S 0.5W 60 8 10 00m12s 24 -14 1927 Jan 03 20:22:53 24 -903 A -0.4956 0.9995 52.8S 124.8W 60 0 2 00m03s 25 -13 1945 Jan 14 05:01:43 27 -680 A -0.4937 0.9970 51.1S 110.2E 60 354 12 00m15s 26 -12 1963 Jan 25 13:37:12 35 -457 A -0.4898 0.9951 48.2S 15.0W 60 348 20 00m25s 27 -11 1981 Feb 04 22:09:24 51 -234 A -0.4838 0.9937 44.4S 140.8W 61 344 25 00m33s 28 -10 1999 Feb 16 06:34:38 63 -11 A -0.4726 0.9928 39.8S 93.9E 62 342 29 00m40s 29 -09 2017 Feb 26 14:54:33 69 212 A -0.4578 0.9922 34.7S 31.2W 63 340 31 00m44s 30 -08 2035 Mar 09 23:05:54 80 435 A -0.4368 0.9919 29.0S 155.0W 64 340 31 00m48s 31 -07 2053 Mar 20 07:08:19 100 658 A -0.4089 0.9919 23.0S 83.0E 66 341 31 00m50s 32 -06 2071 Mar 31 15:01:06 138 881 A -0.3739 0.9919 16.7S 37.0W 68 342 31 00m52s 33 -05 2089 Apr 10 22:44:42 178 1104 A -0.3319 0.9919 10.2S 154.8W 71 344 30 00m53s 34 -04 2107 Apr 23 06:18:41 220 1327 A -0.2829 0.9918 3.6S 89.9E 74 346 30 00m56s 35 -03 2125 May 03 13:42:33 264 1550 A -0.2263 0.9915 3.0N 22.6W 77 349 31 00m59s 36 -02 2143 May 14 20:58:14 310 1773 Am -0.1638 0.9908 9.4N 132.7W 81 352 33 01m05s 37 -01 2161 May 25 04:05:43 352 1996 A -0.0950 0.9898 15.7N 119.8E 85 355 36 01m12s 38 00 2179 Jun 05 11:05:36 393 2219 A -0.0209 0.9884 21.5N 15.0E 89 359 41 01m21s 39 01 2197 Jun 15 17:59:33 435 2442 A 0.0574 0.9864 26.8N 87.6W 87 184 48 01m32s 40 02 2215 Jun 28 00:48:45 480 2665 A 0.1388 0.9839 31.4N 172.0E 82 189 58 01m44s
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 03 2233 Jul 08 07:35:24 526 2888 A 0.2215 0.9809 35.1N 73.1E 77 194 70 01m59s 42 04 2251 Jul 19 14:18:46 575 3111 A 0.3062 0.9773 38.0N 24.2W 72 200 85 02m16s 43 05 2269 Jul 29 21:03:04 625 3334 A 0.3893 0.9732 39.9N 121.3W 67 205 104 02m35s 44 06 2287 Aug 10 03:47:42 678 3557 A 0.4714 0.9686 41.0N 141.8E 62 210 127 02m56s 45 07 2305 Aug 21 10:35:44 733 3780 A 0.5497 0.9637 41.5N 43.7E 56 214 155 03m21s 46 08 2323 Sep 01 17:26:09 790 4003 A 0.6253 0.9584 41.7N 55.3W 51 218 191 03m48s 47 09 2341 Sep 12 00:22:47 849 4226 A 0.6950 0.9529 41.7N 156.4W 46 220 234 04m19s 48 10 2359 Sep 23 07:24:42 910 4449 A 0.7595 0.9471 41.9N 100.6E 40 221 291 04m53s 49 11 2377 Oct 03 14:33:17 973 4672 A 0.8178 0.9413 42.6N 4.7W 35 220 366 05m29s 50 12 2395 Oct 14 21:49:16 1038 4895 A 0.8691 0.9354 44.0N 112.4W 29 219 471 06m07s 51 13 2413 Oct 25 05:13:20 1106 5118 A 0.9129 0.9298 46.2N 137.3E 24 218 628 06m43s 52 14 2431 Nov 05 12:45:40 1175 5341 A 0.9496 0.9242 49.5N 24.5E 18 216 902 07m15s 53 15 2449 Nov 15 20:23:56 1246 5564 An 0.9810 0.9186 54.9N 89.1W 10 214 - 07m35s 54 16 2467 Nov 27 04:10:21 1320 5787 A+ 1.0051 0.9434 63.7N 158.3E 0 216 - - 55 17 2485 Dec 07 12:02:00 1395 6010 A+ 1.0242 0.9100 64.7N 31.2E 0 206 - - 56 18 2503 Dec 19 19:59:21 1473 6233 P 1.0385 0.8851 65.7N 97.7W 0 196 57 19 2521 Dec 30 03:58:50 1553 6456 P 1.0507 0.8642 66.8N 132.5E 0 185 58 20 2540 Jan 10 12:01:35 1635 6679 P 1.0600 0.8483 67.9N 1.3E 0 174 59 21 2558 Jan 20 20:03:53 1718 6902 P 1.0693 0.8326 69.0N 130.4W 0 162 60 22 2576 Feb 01 04:04:59 1804 7125 P 1.0793 0.8161 70.0N 97.6E 0 150 61 23 2594 Feb 11 12:02:17 1892 7348 P 1.0921 0.7951 70.9N 34.1W 0 137 62 24 2612 Feb 23 19:55:50 1982 7571 P 1.1076 0.7697 71.6N 165.6W 0 123 63 25 2630 Mar 06 03:42:09 2075 7794 P 1.1288 0.7350 72.1N 64.3E 0 109 64 26 2648 Mar 16 11:21:54 2169 8017 P 1.1552 0.6917 72.3N 64.5W 0 95 65 27 2666 Mar 27 18:53:07 2265 8240 P 1.1881 0.6371 72.2N 168.8E 0 81 66 28 2684 Apr 07 02:17:17 2363 8463 P 1.2265 0.5732 71.9N 44.0E 0 67 67 29 2702 Apr 19 09:30:34 2464 8686 P 1.2736 0.4942 71.4N 77.6W 0 53 68 30 2720 Apr 29 16:37:17 2566 8909 P 1.3257 0.4061 70.7N 163.1E 0 41 69 31 2738 May 10 23:34:31 2671 9132 P 1.3856 0.3042 69.8N 46.7E 0 28 70 32 2756 May 21 06:26:50 2778 9355 P 1.4490 0.1955 68.8N 67.7W 0 17 71 33 2774 Jun 01 13:10:10 2886 9578 Pe 1.5196 0.0738 67.8N 179.3W 0 6
[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)"