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 179 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2731 Apr 28. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 3993 Jun 03. The total duration of Saros series 179 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2731 Apr 28 13:11:25 TD
Last Eclipse = 3993 Jun 03 20:38:13 TD
Duration of Saros 179 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 179 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 179 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 27 | 38.0% |
| Annular | A | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | T | 44 | 62.0% |
| 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 179 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 179 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 179: 8P 44T 19P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 179 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 3434 Jun 29 Duration = 06m29s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 3650 Nov 07 Duration = 00m19s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 3668 Nov 17 Magnitude = 0.9392
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2731 Apr 28 Magnitude = 0.0518
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 179 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 179 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 -36 2731 Apr 28 13:11:25 2630 9045 Pb 1.5160 0.0518 62.1N 125.4W 0 59
02 -35 2749 May 08 20:49:43 2736 9268 P 1.4607 0.1506 62.7N 111.5E 0 50
03 -34 2767 May 20 04:23:19 2844 9491 P 1.4007 0.2593 63.4N 10.7W 0 41
04 -33 2785 May 30 11:50:35 2954 9714 P 1.3346 0.3806 64.2N 131.5W 0 31
05 -32 2803 Jun 10 19:15:11 3066 9937 P 1.2654 0.5091 65.1N 108.1E 0 22
06 -31 2821 Jun 21 02:35:50 3180 10160 P 1.1922 0.6463 66.1N 11.6W 0 12
07 -30 2839 Jul 02 09:56:30 3296 10383 P 1.1177 0.7870 67.1N 131.8W 0 2
08 -29 2857 Jul 12 17:14:23 3414 10606 P 1.0403 0.9341 68.1N 108.3E 0 351
09 -28 2875 Jul 24 00:34:50 3535 10829 T 0.9640 1.0388 81.5N 47.8W 15 306 514 02m04s
10 -27 2893 Aug 03 07:55:25 3657 11052 T 0.8874 1.0448 76.0N 120.7E 27 226 328 02m40s
11 -26 2911 Aug 15 15:20:21 3781 11275 T 0.8136 1.0488 65.5N 5.9W 35 213 280 03m10s
12 -25 2929 Aug 25 22:47:43 3908 11498 T 0.7413 1.0515 55.6N 124.4W 42 207 254 03m37s
13 -24 2947 Sep 06 06:21:54 4037 11721 T 0.6740 1.0534 46.5N 117.8E 47 205 238 04m01s
14 -23 2965 Sep 16 14:01:24 4167 11944 T 0.6110 1.0543 37.9N 0.5W 52 202 225 04m20s
15 -22 2983 Sep 27 21:47:41 4300 12167 T 0.5531 1.0547 30.0N 120.0W 56 200 216 04m36s
16 -21 3001 Oct 09 05:41:17 4435 12390 T 0.5010 1.0544 22.6N 119.2E 60 198 207 04m47s
17 -20 3019 Oct 20 13:42:54 4572 12613 T 0.4551 1.0537 16.0N 3.2W 63 196 199 04m54s
18 -19 3037 Oct 30 21:52:52 4711 12836 T 0.4161 1.0527 10.1N 127.2W 65 193 191 04m56s
19 -18 3055 Nov 11 06:09:53 4852 13059 T 0.3826 1.0515 5.0N 107.5E 67 190 184 04m56s
20 -17 3073 Nov 21 14:35:32 4995 13282 T 0.3561 1.0502 0.8N 19.5W 69 186 178 04m52s
21 -16 3091 Dec 02 23:07:55 5140 13505 T 0.3347 1.0490 2.4S 147.7W 70 182 173 04m47s
22 -15 3109 Dec 14 07:47:00 5287 13728 T 0.3188 1.0479 4.5S 82.7E 71 178 168 04m40s
23 -14 3127 Dec 25 16:30:49 5437 13951 T 0.3066 1.0471 5.6S 47.8W 72 174 165 04m33s
24 -13 3146 Jan 05 01:19:18 5588 14174 T 0.2981 1.0466 5.6S 179.3W 73 169 162 04m26s
25 -12 3164 Jan 16 10:09:49 5742 14397 T 0.2913 1.0465 4.7S 48.6E 73 165 162 04m20s
26 -11 3182 Jan 26 19:01:19 5897 14620 T 0.2853 1.0468 3.0S 83.9W 73 161 162 04m15s
27 -10 3200 Feb 07 03:52:28 6055 14843 T 0.2788 1.0476 0.6S 143.7E 74 158 164 04m12s
28 -09 3218 Feb 17 12:42:24 6215 15066 T 0.2712 1.0488 2.4N 11.4E 74 155 168 04m12s
29 -08 3236 Feb 28 21:27:53 6376 15289 T 0.2599 1.0504 5.6N 119.7W 75 153 173 04m15s
30 -07 3254 Mar 11 06:09:24 6540 15512 T 0.2456 1.0523 8.9N 110.2E 76 151 178 04m19s
31 -06 3272 Mar 21 14:44:38 6706 15735 T 0.2260 1.0545 12.2N 18.2W 77 151 184 04m27s
32 -05 3290 Apr 01 23:14:46 6874 15958 T 0.2020 1.0568 15.4N 145.0W 78 151 191 04m36s
33 -04 3308 Apr 13 07:35:50 7044 16181 T 0.1705 1.0593 18.0N 90.8E 80 152 198 04m48s
34 -03 3326 Apr 24 15:51:23 7216 16404 T 0.1344 1.0616 20.1N 31.6W 82 154 204 05m02s
35 -02 3344 May 04 23:57:51 7391 16627 T 0.0910 1.0637 21.3N 151.3W 85 157 210 05m18s
36 -01 3362 May 16 07:58:26 7567 16850 Tm 0.0426 1.0656 21.6N 90.6E 87 162 215 05m35s
37 00 3380 May 26 15:49:54 7745 17073 T -0.0133 1.0670 20.7N 25.1W 89 342 219 05m53s
38 01 3398 Jun 06 23:36:42 7926 17296 T -0.0731 1.0680 18.7N 139.9W 86 349 222 06m09s
39 02 3416 Jun 18 07:16:16 8108 17519 T -0.1383 1.0683 15.4N 106.7E 82 354 225 06m21s
40 03 3434 Jun 29 14:51:32 8293 17742 T -0.2070 1.0679 11.1N 6.2W 78 358 226 06m29s
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 04 3452 Jul 09 22:21:45 8479 17965 T -0.2794 1.0668 5.7N 118.5W 74 2 227 06m28s
42 05 3470 Jul 21 05:49:57 8668 18188 T -0.3529 1.0649 0.5S 128.9E 69 6 227 06m18s
43 06 3488 Jul 31 13:15:49 8859 18411 T -0.4279 1.0622 7.5S 16.2E 65 9 225 05m59s
44 07 3506 Aug 12 20:40:32 9052 18634 T -0.5031 1.0587 15.1S 96.9W 60 13 223 05m30s
45 08 3524 Aug 23 04:05:48 9247 18857 T -0.5771 1.0544 23.2S 149.2E 55 16 219 04m54s
46 09 3542 Sep 03 11:32:45 9444 19080 T -0.6490 1.0493 31.7S 34.2E 49 19 214 04m14s
47 10 3560 Sep 13 19:02:16 9643 19303 T -0.7181 1.0437 40.5S 82.3W 44 23 208 03m32s
48 11 3578 Sep 25 02:35:28 9844 19526 T -0.7834 1.0374 49.6S 159.2E 38 28 201 02m49s
49 12 3596 Oct 05 10:13:49 10047 19749 T -0.8439 1.0306 58.8S 37.4E 32 34 192 02m08s
50 13 3614 Oct 16 17:58:11 10252 19972 T -0.8986 1.0232 67.9S 90.6W 26 45 181 01m30s
51 14 3632 Oct 27 01:47:21 10460 20195 T -0.9487 1.0153 75.9S 124.8E 18 72 171 00m55s
52 15 3650 Nov 07 09:44:01 10669 20418 T -0.9920 1.0060 74.8S 58.9W 6 135 210 00m19s
53 16 3668 Nov 17 17:46:43 10881 20641 P -1.0299 0.9392 69.4S 157.2E 0 159
54 17 3686 Nov 29 01:57:01 11094 20864 P -1.0609 0.8805 68.3S 23.9E 0 170
55 18 3704 Dec 10 10:11:46 11310 21087 P -1.0876 0.8303 67.3S 109.9W 0 182
56 19 3722 Dec 21 18:33:25 11528 21310 P -1.1082 0.7918 66.2S 115.0E 0 192
57 20 3741 Jan 01 02:58:57 11748 21533 P -1.1251 0.7602 65.2S 20.5W 0 203
58 21 3759 Jan 12 11:28:24 11969 21756 P -1.1382 0.7358 64.2S 156.6W 0 213
59 22 3777 Jan 22 19:59:09 12193 21979 P -1.1497 0.7146 63.3S 67.3E 0 222
60 23 3795 Feb 03 04:31:17 12419 22202 P -1.1596 0.6965 62.6S 68.9W 0 232
61 24 3813 Feb 14 13:02:06 12647 22425 P -1.1699 0.6778 62.0S 155.5E 0 241
62 25 3831 Feb 25 21:30:08 12878 22648 P -1.1822 0.6558 61.6S 20.7E 0 251
63 26 3849 Mar 08 05:54:27 13110 22871 P -1.1969 0.6297 61.3S 113.0W 0 260
64 27 3867 Mar 19 14:13:48 13344 23094 P -1.2152 0.5973 61.2S 114.5E 0 269
65 28 3885 Mar 29 22:25:48 13581 23317 P -1.2389 0.5556 61.3S 16.1W 0 278
66 29 3903 Apr 11 06:30:16 13819 23540 P -1.2680 0.5044 61.5S 144.8W 0 287
67 30 3921 Apr 21 14:26:09 14060 23763 P -1.3034 0.4421 61.9S 88.5E 0 296
68 31 3939 May 02 22:13:52 14302 23986 P -1.3449 0.3692 62.4S 36.3W 0 305
69 32 3957 May 13 05:50:35 14547 24209 P -1.3943 0.2824 63.1S 158.5W 0 314
70 33 3975 May 24 13:19:28 14794 24432 P -1.4490 0.1863 63.9S 81.0E 0 324
71 34 3993 Jun 03 20:38:13 15042 24655 Pe -1.5105 0.0782 64.8S 37.2W 0 333
[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)"
