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 156 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2011 Jul 01. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 3237 Jul 14. The total duration of Saros series 156 is 1226.05 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2011 Jul 01 08:39:30 TD
Last Eclipse = 3237 Jul 14 10:57:04 TD
Duration of Saros 156 = 1226.05 Years
Saros 156 is composed of 69 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 156 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 69 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 17 | 24.6% |
| Annular | A | 52 | 75.4% |
| 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 156 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 156 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 52 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 51 | 98.1% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.9% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 69 eclipses in Saros 156: 8P 52A 9P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 156 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2516 May 03 Duration = 08m28s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 3075 Apr 07 Duration = 02m19s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2137 Sep 15 Magnitude = 0.9436
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2011 Jul 01 Magnitude = 0.0971
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 156 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 156 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 -34 2011 Jul 01 08:39:30 66 142 Pb -1.4917 0.0971 65.2S 28.6E 0 21
02 -33 2029 Jul 11 15:37:19 76 365 P -1.4191 0.2303 64.3S 85.6W 0 30
03 -32 2047 Jul 22 22:36:17 90 588 P -1.3477 0.3604 63.4S 160.2E 0 40
04 -31 2065 Aug 02 05:34:17 126 811 P -1.2759 0.4903 62.7S 46.5E 0 49
05 -30 2083 Aug 13 12:34:41 165 1034 P -1.2064 0.6146 62.1S 67.5W 0 58
06 -29 2101 Aug 24 19:37:03 207 1257 P -1.1392 0.7337 61.6S 178.2E 0 67
07 -28 2119 Sep 05 02:44:27 250 1480 P -1.0766 0.8431 61.2S 62.8E 0 75
08 -27 2137 Sep 15 09:56:34 296 1703 P -1.0184 0.9436 61.0S 53.8W 0 84
09 -26 2155 Sep 26 17:14:27 340 1926 A -0.9654 0.9593 58.6S 143.0W 15 68 570 02m55s
10 -25 2173 Oct 07 00:39:14 380 2149 A -0.9187 0.9558 57.8S 114.0E 23 62 402 03m17s
11 -24 2191 Oct 18 08:11:12 422 2372 A -0.8783 0.9516 58.7S 5.2E 28 59 365 03m39s
12 -23 2209 Oct 29 15:50:20 465 2595 A -0.8445 0.9472 60.7S 106.3W 32 56 358 04m02s
13 -22 2227 Nov 09 23:36:42 511 2818 A -0.8171 0.9429 63.3S 140.7E 35 53 364 04m24s
14 -21 2245 Nov 20 07:29:36 559 3041 A -0.7955 0.9387 66.3S 27.1E 37 48 374 04m45s
15 -20 2263 Dec 01 15:28:45 609 3264 A -0.7794 0.9349 69.2S 85.8W 38 41 388 05m06s
16 -19 2281 Dec 11 23:31:24 661 3487 A -0.7667 0.9316 71.4S 163.7E 40 30 400 05m26s
17 -18 2299 Dec 23 07:38:42 716 3710 A -0.7584 0.9288 72.5S 54.8E 40 16 413 05m45s
18 -17 2318 Jan 03 15:47:14 772 3933 A -0.7519 0.9265 71.9S 53.7W 41 1 422 06m02s
19 -16 2336 Jan 14 23:56:42 830 4156 A -0.7463 0.9250 69.6S 164.9W 41 349 427 06m19s
20 -15 2354 Jan 25 08:03:20 891 4379 A -0.7388 0.9240 66.0S 80.6E 42 341 427 06m35s
21 -14 2372 Feb 05 16:07:48 953 4602 A -0.7301 0.9237 61.5S 36.9W 43 336 422 06m50s
22 -13 2390 Feb 16 00:06:58 1018 4825 A -0.7177 0.9239 56.4S 155.6W 44 335 411 07m06s
23 -12 2408 Feb 27 07:59:40 1084 5048 A -0.7004 0.9249 50.8S 85.5E 45 334 394 07m22s
24 -11 2426 Mar 09 15:44:45 1153 5271 A -0.6774 0.9262 44.7S 32.5W 47 336 374 07m38s
25 -10 2444 Mar 19 23:21:38 1224 5494 A -0.6476 0.9280 38.3S 149.1W 49 337 351 07m53s
26 -09 2462 Mar 31 06:49:44 1297 5717 A -0.6111 0.9302 31.7S 96.3E 52 340 327 08m07s
27 -08 2480 Apr 10 14:07:46 1372 5940 A -0.5664 0.9326 24.8S 16.0W 55 342 303 08m18s
28 -07 2498 Apr 21 21:17:12 1448 6163 A -0.5148 0.9351 17.9S 125.9W 59 345 280 08m26s
29 -06 2516 May 03 04:17:47 1528 6386 A -0.4559 0.9377 10.9S 126.7E 63 349 259 08m28s
30 -05 2534 May 14 11:09:29 1609 6609 A -0.3896 0.9402 4.1S 21.9E 67 352 240 08m23s
31 -04 2552 May 24 17:54:09 1692 6832 A -0.3174 0.9425 2.5N 80.5W 72 355 224 08m09s
32 -03 2570 Jun 05 00:32:17 1777 7055 A -0.2395 0.9446 8.7N 179.4E 76 359 211 07m48s
33 -02 2588 Jun 15 07:06:20 1864 7278 A -0.1582 0.9463 14.3N 81.1E 81 4 200 07m21s
34 -01 2606 Jun 27 13:34:39 1954 7501 A -0.0720 0.9477 19.3N 15.0W 86 8 193 06m52s
35 00 2624 Jul 07 20:02:10 2045 7724 Am 0.0150 0.9487 23.4N 110.2W 89 191 188 06m24s
36 01 2642 Jul 19 02:27:54 2139 7947 A 0.1040 0.9493 26.6N 155.8E 84 197 187 06m00s
37 02 2660 Jul 29 08:55:21 2235 8170 A 0.1914 0.9495 28.9N 61.8E 79 202 189 05m42s
38 03 2678 Aug 09 15:23:56 2332 8393 A 0.2782 0.9492 30.4N 32.2W 74 206 194 05m30s
39 04 2696 Aug 19 21:57:56 2432 8616 A 0.3608 0.9485 31.1N 127.6W 69 210 201 05m24s
40 05 2714 Sep 01 04:36:50 2534 8839 A 0.4397 0.9474 31.3N 135.5E 64 212 213 05m24s
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 06 2732 Sep 11 11:21:54 2638 9062 A 0.5138 0.9461 31.1N 36.6E 59 214 227 05m29s
42 07 2750 Sep 22 18:14:45 2744 9285 A 0.5817 0.9445 30.9N 64.7W 54 214 246 05m40s
43 08 2768 Oct 03 01:16:28 2852 9508 A 0.6427 0.9428 30.7N 168.8W 50 214 269 05m54s
44 09 2786 Oct 14 08:28:06 2962 9731 A 0.6961 0.9410 30.8N 84.0E 46 212 296 06m11s
45 10 2804 Oct 24 15:48:02 3074 9954 A 0.7433 0.9392 31.2N 26.0W 42 210 327 06m30s
46 11 2822 Nov 04 23:19:12 3188 10177 A 0.7817 0.9376 31.9N 139.4W 38 207 362 06m49s
47 12 2840 Nov 15 06:59:00 3305 10400 A 0.8135 0.9363 32.9N 104.4E 35 203 399 07m05s
48 13 2858 Nov 26 14:48:33 3423 10623 A 0.8377 0.9354 34.1N 14.9W 33 198 435 07m17s
49 14 2876 Dec 06 22:44:54 3544 10846 A 0.8570 0.9349 35.5N 136.5W 31 193 468 07m22s
50 15 2894 Dec 18 06:49:29 3666 11069 A 0.8700 0.9350 37.0N 99.4E 29 188 492 07m20s
51 16 2912 Dec 29 14:58:37 3791 11292 A 0.8798 0.9356 38.8N 26.2W 28 183 507 07m10s
52 17 2931 Jan 09 23:12:05 3918 11515 A 0.8864 0.9369 40.7N 153.2W 27 177 510 06m52s
53 18 2949 Jan 20 07:27:37 4046 11738 A 0.8919 0.9388 43.0N 79.2E 27 172 504 06m26s
54 19 2967 Jan 31 15:44:49 4177 11961 A 0.8961 0.9413 45.6N 49.1W 26 166 490 05m55s
55 20 2985 Feb 11 00:00:02 4310 12184 A 0.9028 0.9444 48.9N 177.3W 25 160 477 05m19s
56 21 3003 Feb 23 08:13:25 4445 12407 A 0.9116 0.9479 52.9N 54.4E 24 154 465 04m41s
57 22 3021 Mar 05 16:22:29 4582 12630 A 0.9243 0.9518 57.6N 74.1W 22 147 463 04m02s
58 23 3039 Mar 17 00:28:08 4721 12853 A 0.9405 0.9560 62.9N 156.0E 19 139 477 03m25s
59 24 3057 Mar 27 08:25:59 4863 13076 A 0.9637 0.9601 69.0N 21.1E 15 123 559 02m50s
60 25 3075 Apr 07 16:19:22 5006 13299 An 0.9913 0.9632 73.5N 135.4W 6 86 - 02m19s
61 26 3093 Apr 18 00:04:23 5151 13522 P 1.0267 0.9310 71.4N 75.4E 0 54
62 27 3111 Apr 30 07:44:44 5299 13745 P 1.0664 0.8629 70.7N 52.2W 0 41
63 28 3129 May 10 15:16:03 5448 13968 P 1.1142 0.7796 69.8N 176.9W 0 28
64 29 3147 May 21 22:43:49 5600 14191 P 1.1655 0.6887 68.9N 59.9E 0 17
65 30 3165 Jun 01 06:04:31 5754 14414 P 1.2235 0.5848 67.9N 60.9W 0 6
66 31 3183 Jun 12 13:21:59 5909 14637 P 1.2845 0.4740 66.9N 179.6E 0 355
67 32 3201 Jun 22 20:34:47 6067 14860 P 1.3499 0.3541 65.9N 61.7E 0 345
68 33 3219 Jul 04 03:46:45 6227 15083 P 1.4166 0.2307 65.0N 55.5W 0 336
69 34 3237 Jul 14 10:57:04 6389 15306 Pe 1.4851 0.1030 64.1N 172.0W 0 326
[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)"
