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 144 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 1736 Apr 11. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2980 May 05. The total duration of Saros series 144 is 1244.08 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1736 Apr 11 07:18:07 TD
Last Eclipse = 2980 May 05 22:48:34 TD
Duration of Saros 144 = 1244.08 Years
Saros 144 is composed of 70 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 144 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 70 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 31 | 44.3% |
| Annular | A | 39 | 55.7% |
| Total | T | 0 | 0.0% |
| 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 144 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 144 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 39 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 39 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 70 eclipses in Saros 144: 8P 39A 23P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 144 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2168 Dec 29 Duration = 09m52s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2547 Aug 16 Duration = 00m37s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2583 Sep 07 Magnitude = 0.9596
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2980 May 05 Magnitude = 0.0697
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 144 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 144 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 -32 1736 Apr 11 07:18:07 11 -3262 Pb -1.5166 0.0748 71.5S 134.3E 0 298
02 -31 1754 Apr 22 14:25:57 13 -3039 P -1.4631 0.1669 71.0S 14.0E 0 311
03 -30 1772 May 02 21:26:41 16 -2816 P -1.4043 0.2683 70.2S 104.1W 0 323
04 -29 1790 May 14 04:17:21 17 -2593 P -1.3374 0.3840 69.4S 140.9E 0 335
05 -28 1808 May 25 11:02:35 12 -2370 P -1.2665 0.5064 68.4S 27.8E 0 347
06 -27 1826 Jun 05 17:39:05 9 -2147 P -1.1887 0.6407 67.4S 82.5W 0 357
07 -26 1844 Jun 16 00:13:22 6 -1924 P -1.1092 0.7778 66.4S 168.3E 0 8
08 -25 1862 Jun 27 06:42:21 7 -1701 P -1.0252 0.9222 65.4S 60.8E 0 18
09 -24 1880 Jul 07 13:10:28 -5 -1478 A -0.9406 0.9441 46.4S 33.4W 19 17 611 05m47s
10 -23 1898 Jul 18 19:36:54 -4 -1255 A -0.8546 0.9450 35.7S 130.1W 31 19 385 06m11s
11 -22 1916 Jul 30 02:06:10 19 -1032 A -0.7709 0.9447 29.0S 132.4E 39 22 313 06m24s
12 -21 1934 Aug 10 08:37:48 24 -809 A -0.6890 0.9436 24.5S 34.6E 46 25 280 06m33s
13 -20 1952 Aug 20 15:13:35 30 -586 A -0.6102 0.9420 21.7S 64.1W 52 27 264 06m40s
14 -19 1970 Aug 31 21:55:30 41 -363 A -0.5364 0.9400 20.3S 164.0W 57 29 258 06m47s
15 -18 1988 Sep 11 04:44:29 56 -140 A -0.4681 0.9377 20.0S 94.4E 62 31 258 06m57s
16 -17 2006 Sep 22 11:41:16 65 83 A -0.4062 0.9352 20.6S 9.1W 66 31 261 07m09s
17 -16 2024 Oct 02 18:46:13 73 306 A -0.3509 0.9326 22.0S 114.5W 69 31 266 07m25s
18 -15 2042 Oct 14 02:00:42 86 529 A -0.3030 0.9300 23.7S 137.8E 72 30 273 07m44s
19 -14 2060 Oct 24 09:24:10 116 752 A -0.2625 0.9277 25.8S 28.1E 75 28 281 08m06s
20 -13 2078 Nov 04 16:55:44 155 975 A -0.2285 0.9255 27.8S 83.3W 77 25 287 08m29s
21 -12 2096 Nov 15 00:36:15 196 1198 A -0.2018 0.9237 29.7S 163.3E 78 22 294 08m53s
22 -11 2114 Nov 27 08:24:15 239 1421 A -0.1815 0.9223 31.3S 48.4E 79 17 298 09m14s
23 -10 2132 Dec 07 16:18:43 284 1644 A -0.1661 0.9215 32.2S 67.9W 80 13 301 09m33s
24 -09 2150 Dec 19 00:17:02 330 1867 A -0.1535 0.9211 32.3S 175.0E 81 8 302 09m46s
25 -08 2168 Dec 29 08:19:33 369 2090 A -0.1444 0.9215 31.6S 56.7E 82 2 300 09m52s
26 -07 2187 Jan 09 16:23:41 410 2313 A -0.1365 0.9224 30.0S 62.1W 82 358 296 09m51s
27 -06 2205 Jan 21 00:27:32 454 2536 A -0.1281 0.9241 27.5S 178.6E 82 353 289 09m42s
28 -05 2223 Feb 01 08:29:43 499 2759 A -0.1180 0.9263 24.1S 59.2E 83 349 279 09m26s
29 -04 2241 Feb 11 16:28:39 546 2982 A -0.1046 0.9292 19.9S 60.0W 84 347 267 09m04s
30 -03 2259 Feb 23 00:23:41 596 3205 A -0.0875 0.9326 15.0S 178.8W 85 345 253 08m36s
31 -02 2277 Mar 05 08:11:55 647 3428 A -0.0645 0.9366 9.5S 63.6E 86 343 236 08m04s
32 -01 2295 Mar 16 15:54:34 701 3651 A -0.0362 0.9409 3.6S 53.0W 88 343 219 07m29s
33 00 2313 Mar 27 23:29:31 757 3874 A -0.0011 0.9456 2.6N 167.9W 90 336 200 06m49s
34 01 2331 Apr 08 06:57:09 815 4097 A 0.0408 0.9506 9.2N 79.0E 88 164 181 06m07s
35 02 2349 Apr 18 14:16:52 874 4320 A 0.0899 0.9557 16.0N 32.1W 85 165 162 05m23s
36 03 2367 Apr 29 21:30:03 936 4543 Am 0.1451 0.9607 22.8N 141.2W 82 167 144 04m38s
37 04 2385 May 10 04:36:49 1000 4766 A 0.2063 0.9657 29.5N 111.9E 78 169 126 03m53s
38 05 2403 May 21 11:36:55 1066 4989 A 0.2737 0.9705 36.1N 7.4E 74 173 110 03m10s
39 06 2421 May 31 18:32:59 1135 5212 A 0.3451 0.9750 42.4N 95.0W 70 177 95 02m32s
40 07 2439 Jun 12 01:25:22 1205 5435 A 0.4206 0.9791 48.2N 165.1E 65 183 82 01m59s
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 08 2457 Jun 22 08:16:13 1277 5658 A 0.4979 0.9827 53.2N 67.4E 60 190 71 01m32s
42 09 2475 Jul 03 15:05:22 1351 5881 A 0.5775 0.9858 57.3N 27.7W 54 199 62 01m11s
43 10 2493 Jul 13 21:56:36 1428 6104 A 0.6562 0.9882 60.3N 121.4W 49 209 55 00m56s
44 11 2511 Jul 26 04:49:26 1506 6327 A 0.7346 0.9899 62.1N 146.2E 42 220 52 00m45s
45 12 2529 Aug 05 11:45:36 1587 6550 A 0.8109 0.9910 62.9N 53.9E 36 232 54 00m39s
46 13 2547 Aug 16 18:46:36 1670 6773 A 0.8841 0.9910 63.0N 38.6W 28 244 67 00m37s
47 14 2565 Aug 27 01:53:56 1754 6996 A 0.9527 0.9900 63.0N 129.3W 17 258 117 00m39s
48 15 2583 Sep 07 09:09:01 1841 7219 P 1.0160 0.9596 61.3N 150.8E 0 282
49 16 2601 Sep 18 16:30:38 1930 7442 P 1.0746 0.8541 61.1N 32.1E 0 274
50 17 2619 Sep 30 00:02:28 2021 7665 P 1.1256 0.7620 61.2N 89.2W 0 265
51 18 2637 Oct 10 07:42:11 2114 7888 P 1.1709 0.6802 61.4N 147.6E 0 256
52 19 2655 Oct 21 15:32:13 2209 8111 P 1.2084 0.6123 61.7N 21.7E 0 247
53 20 2673 Oct 31 23:29:55 2306 8334 P 1.2404 0.5544 62.2N 106.2W 0 238
54 21 2691 Nov 12 07:38:14 2405 8557 P 1.2646 0.5105 62.8N 123.2E 0 229
55 22 2709 Nov 23 15:53:41 2507 8780 P 1.2837 0.4759 63.6N 9.5W 0 219
56 23 2727 Dec 05 00:17:21 2610 9003 P 1.2968 0.4521 64.4N 144.5W 0 209
57 24 2745 Dec 15 08:47:08 2716 9226 P 1.3057 0.4358 65.4N 78.7E 0 199
58 25 2763 Dec 26 17:23:22 2823 9449 P 1.3098 0.4283 66.4N 60.1W 0 189
59 26 2782 Jan 06 02:02:17 2933 9672 P 1.3126 0.4228 67.5N 159.9E 0 178
60 27 2800 Jan 17 10:43:57 3044 9895 P 1.3141 0.4200 68.6N 18.7E 0 166
61 28 2818 Jan 27 19:25:58 3158 10118 P 1.3157 0.4167 69.6N 123.1W 0 154
62 29 2836 Feb 08 04:08:21 3274 10341 P 1.3175 0.4130 70.5N 94.2E 0 141
63 30 2854 Feb 18 12:46:44 3392 10564 P 1.3232 0.4021 71.2N 48.0W 0 128
64 31 2872 Feb 29 21:22:44 3512 10787 P 1.3315 0.3864 71.7N 169.8E 0 114
65 32 2890 Mar 12 05:52:26 3634 11010 P 1.3454 0.3600 72.0N 28.9E 0 100
66 33 2908 Mar 23 14:18:02 3758 11233 P 1.3632 0.3262 72.1N 111.2W 0 86
67 34 2926 Apr 03 22:34:55 3884 11456 P 1.3882 0.2785 71.9N 111.0E 0 72
68 35 2944 Apr 14 06:47:04 4012 11679 P 1.4176 0.2219 71.4N 25.3W 0 58
69 36 2962 Apr 25 14:50:32 4143 11902 P 1.4546 0.1507 70.8N 158.9W 0 45
70 37 2980 May 05 22:48:34 4275 12125 Pe 1.4963 0.0697 70.0N 69.5E 0 33
[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)"
