Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series

Saros Series 40

The periodicity and recurrence of lunar (and 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 15 centuries and contains 70 or more lunar eclipses.

Lunar eclipses of Saros 40 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on -1369 Feb 24. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -0071 Apr 12. The total duration of Saros series 40 is 1298.17 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse = -1369 Feb 24   05:30:25 TD
                       Last Eclipse = -0071 Apr 12   20:04:09 TD

                      Duration of Saros  40  =  1298.17 Years

Saros 40 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:

Lunar Eclipses of Saros 40
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 73100.0%
PenumbralN 30 41.1%
PartialP 18 24.7%
TotalT 25 34.2%

The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 40 occur in the order of 9N 10P 25T 8P 21N which corresponds to:

                                     9  Penumbral
                                    10  Partial
                                    25  Total
                                     8  Partial
                                    21  Penumbral

The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 40 are as follows.

            Longest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:   -0666 Apr 21      Duration = 01h44m48s
           Shortest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:   -1027 Sep 17      Duration = 00h17m32s

            Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -0576 Jun 14      Duration = 03h27m19s
           Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -1207 Jun 01      Duration = 00h59m41s

          Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:   -0432 Sep 08      Duration = 04h51m47s
         Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:   -1369 Feb 24      Duration = 00h47m29s

The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 40 are:

            Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -0576 Jun 14      Magnitude = 0.9867
           Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse:   -0450 Aug 29      Magnitude = 0.0607

Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 40 are presented in the following catalog. For eclipses occurring between the years -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), the sequence number in the first column links to a eclipse geometry diagram and a map from Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.



Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 40

                          TD of                                                          Phase
Seq. Rel.    Calendar   Greatest          Luna  Ecl.               Pen.    Um.    ---- Durations ---- 
Num. Num.      Date      Eclipse     ΔT    Num  Type QSE  Gamma    Mag.    Mag.    Pen.   Par.  Total
                                      s                                              m      m      m

 01  -39  -1369 Feb 24  05:30:25  32377 -41668   N   a-   1.5278  0.0316 -0.9231   47.5    -      -  
 02  -38  -1351 Mar 06  13:28:52  32012 -41445   N   a-   1.4866  0.1063 -0.8464   86.5    -      -  
 03  -37  -1333 Mar 17  21:17:51  31649 -41222   N   a-   1.4380  0.1945 -0.7564  116.1    -      -  
 04  -36  -1315 Mar 28  05:00:41  31287 -40999   N   a-   1.3848  0.2914 -0.6581  141.0    -      -  
 05  -35  -1297 Apr 08  12:36:03  30928 -40776   N   a-   1.3256  0.3997 -0.5490  163.6    -      -  
 06  -34  -1279 Apr 18  20:07:03  30571 -40553   N   a-   1.2632  0.5140 -0.4344  183.8    -      -  
 07  -33  -1261 Apr 30  03:31:26  30216 -40330   N   a-   1.1957  0.6380 -0.3108  202.7    -      -  
 08  -32  -1243 May 10  10:54:04  29863 -40107   N   a-   1.1271  0.7645 -0.1853  219.5    -      -  
 09  -31  -1225 May 21  18:13:18  29512 -39884   N   a-   1.0558  0.8963 -0.0553  235.0    -      -  
 10  -30  -1207 Jun 01  01:32:01  29163 -39661   P   a-   0.9844  1.0283  0.0744  248.9   59.7    -  

 11  -29  -1189 Jun 12  08:50:27  28817 -39438   P   a-   0.9132  1.1606  0.2035  261.4   97.2    -  
 12  -28  -1171 Jun 22  16:10:57  28472 -39215   P   a-   0.8442  1.2890  0.3283  272.5  121.6    -  
 13  -27  -1153 Jul 03  23:34:23  28129 -38992   P   a-   0.7782  1.4124  0.4474  282.2  139.7    -  
 14  -26  -1135 Jul 14  07:00:37  27789 -38769   P   a-   0.7151  1.5306  0.5608  290.8  154.1    -  
 15  -25  -1117 Jul 25  14:32:32  27451 -38546   P   a-   0.6573  1.6393  0.6642  298.2  165.4    -  
 16  -24  -1099 Aug 04  22:09:45  27114 -38323   P   a-   0.6044  1.7392  0.7584  304.6  174.5    -  
 17  -23  -1081 Aug 16  05:54:07  26780 -38100   P   a-   0.5583  1.8268  0.8401  310.0  181.5    -  
 18  -22  -1063 Aug 26  13:44:42  26448 -37877   P   a-   0.5180  1.9038  0.9110  314.7  187.2    -  
 19  -21  -1045 Sep 06  21:43:55  26117 -37654   P   a-   0.4854  1.9667  0.9678  318.7  191.5    -  
 20  -20  -1027 Sep 17  05:49:58  25789 -37431   T   p-   0.4591  2.0181  1.0130  322.1  194.8   17.5

 21  -19  -1009 Sep 28  14:03:13  25463 -37208   T   p-   0.4395  2.0571  1.0461  324.9  197.2   32.7
 22  -18  -0991 Oct 08  22:22:39  25139 -36985   T   p-   0.4255  2.0856  1.0691  327.3  199.0   39.8
 23  -17  -0973 Oct 20  06:48:27  24818 -36762   T   p-   0.4178  2.1023  1.0806  329.3  200.2   43.0
 24  -16  -0955 Oct 30  15:17:56  24498 -36539   T   p-   0.4134  2.1128  1.0863  331.0  201.0   44.5
 25  -15  -0937 Nov 10  23:50:10  24180 -36316   T   p-   0.4120  2.1173  1.0868  332.5  201.6   44.7
 26  -14  -0919 Nov 21  08:23:25  23864 -36093   T   p-   0.4124  2.1185  1.0844  333.9  202.0   44.2
 27  -13  -0901 Dec 02  16:56:59  23551 -35870   T   p-   0.4139  2.1171  1.0801  335.1  202.4   43.2
 28  -12  -0883 Dec 13  01:26:46  23239 -35647   T   p-   0.4131  2.1197  1.0805  336.4  203.0   43.4
 29  -11  -0865 Dec 24  09:53:23  22930 -35424   T   p-   0.4106  2.1252  1.0842  337.7  203.8   44.5
 30  -10  -0846 Jan 03  18:12:50  22623 -35201   T   p-   0.4031  2.1396  1.0974  339.3  205.1   47.8

 31  -09  -0828 Jan 15  02:26:40  22317 -34978   T   p-   0.3918  2.1607  1.1178  341.1  206.8   52.4
 32  -08  -0810 Jan 25  10:29:45  22014 -34755   T   p-   0.3728  2.1957  1.1525  343.3  209.2   59.1
 33  -07  -0792 Feb 05  18:25:25  21713 -34532   T   p-   0.3485  2.2403  1.1970  345.7  212.0   66.4
 34  -06  -0774 Feb 16  02:09:11  21414 -34309   T   p-   0.3154  2.3010  1.2578  348.4  215.3   74.6
 35  -05  -0756 Feb 27  09:43:52  21117 -34086   T   pp   0.2755  2.3741  1.3310  351.2  218.7   82.6
 36  -04  -0738 Mar 09  17:06:14  20822 -33863   T+  pp   0.2263  2.4644  1.4214  354.1  222.3   90.3
 37  -03  -0720 Mar 20  00:20:20  20529 -33640   T+  pp   0.1711  2.5657  1.5227  356.8  225.6   96.7
 38  -02  -0702 Mar 31  07:23:37  20238 -33417   T+  pp   0.1079  2.6818  1.6385  359.2  228.3  101.6
 39  -01  -0684 Apr 10  14:18:17  19950 -33194   T+  pp   0.0384  2.8097  1.7658  361.1  230.1  104.5
 40   00  -0666 Apr 21  21:04:40  19663 -32971   T-  pp  -0.0372  2.8122  1.7674  362.3  230.8  104.8


Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 40

                          TD of                                                          Phase
Seq. Rel.    Calendar   Greatest          Luna  Ecl.               Pen.    Um.    ---- Durations ---- 
Num. Num.      Date      Eclipse     ΔT    Num  Type QSE  Gamma    Mag.    Mag.    Pen.   Par.  Total
                                      s                                              m      m      m

 41   01  -0648 May 02  03:45:08  19378 -32748   T-  pp  -0.1170  2.6664  1.6204  362.5  230.0  101.8
 42   02  -0630 May 13  10:20:00  19096 -32525   T-  pp  -0.2005  2.5142  1.4664  361.7  227.4   94.8
 43   03  -0612 May 23  16:50:25  18815 -32302   T   -t  -0.2866  2.3573  1.3073  359.8  222.9   82.0
 44   04  -0594 Jun 03  23:19:08  18537 -32079   T   -t  -0.3733  2.1995  1.1468  356.6  216.3   60.1
 45   05  -0576 Jun 14  05:47:17  18261 -31856   P   -t  -0.4598  2.0424  0.9867  352.2  207.3    -  
 46   06  -0558 Jun 25  12:15:47  17987 -31633   P   -t  -0.5451  1.8876  0.8285  346.6  195.9    -  
 47   07  -0540 Jul 05  18:47:26  17715 -31410   P   -t  -0.6270  1.7392  0.6763  340.0  182.0    -  
 48   08  -0522 Jul 17  01:23:12  17444 -31187   P   -t  -0.7048  1.5985  0.5315  332.6  165.5    -  
 49   09  -0504 Jul 27  08:05:25  17176 -30964   P   -t  -0.7768  1.4686  0.3972  324.6  146.4    -  
 50   10  -0486 Aug 07  14:52:37  16866 -30741   P   -t  -0.8442  1.3472  0.2713  316.0  123.5    -  

 51   11  -0468 Aug 17  21:49:01  16553 -30518   P   -t  -0.9036  1.2405  0.1600  307.6   96.5    -  
 52   12  -0450 Aug 29  04:53:05  16249 -30295   P   -t  -0.9565  1.1457  0.0607  299.3   60.3    -  
 53   13  -0432 Sep 08  12:07:00  15954 -30072   Nx  -t  -1.0010  1.0662 -0.0232  291.8    -      -  
 54   14  -0414 Sep 19  19:28:59  15666 -29849   N   -t  -1.0387  0.9992 -0.0944  284.9    -      -  
 55   15  -0396 Sep 30  03:01:04  15386 -29626   N   -t  -1.0682  0.9469 -0.1503  279.3    -      -  
 56   16  -0378 Oct 11  10:41:00  15113 -29403   N   -t  -1.0911  0.9066 -0.1939  274.7    -      -  
 57   17  -0360 Oct 21  18:27:46  14846 -29180   N   -t  -1.1082  0.8765 -0.2267  271.2    -      -  
 58   18  -0342 Nov 02  02:21:05  14585 -28957   N   -t  -1.1200  0.8558 -0.2494  268.6    -      -  
 59   19  -0324 Nov 12  10:19:00  14331 -28734   N   -t  -1.1276  0.8426 -0.2638  266.9    -      -  
 60   20  -0306 Nov 23  18:20:07  14082 -28511   N   -t  -1.1328  0.8331 -0.2736  265.7    -      -  

 61   21  -0288 Dec 04  02:21:11  13838 -28288   N   -t  -1.1380  0.8235 -0.2828  264.2    -      -  
 62   22  -0270 Dec 15  10:22:56  13600 -28065   N   -t  -1.1425  0.8145 -0.2905  262.8    -      -  
 63   23  -0252 Dec 25  18:21:48  13367 -27842   N   -t  -1.1490  0.8015 -0.3015  260.7    -      -  
 64   24  -0233 Jan 06  02:16:29  13138 -27619   N   -t  -1.1592  0.7814 -0.3187  257.5    -      -  
 65   25  -0215 Jan 16  10:05:16  12914 -27396   N   -t  -1.1740  0.7524 -0.3442  252.9    -      -  
 66   26  -0197 Jan 27  17:47:49  12695 -27173   N   -t  -1.1942  0.7133 -0.3791  246.7    -      -  
 67   27  -0179 Feb 07  01:22:56  12480 -26950   N   -t  -1.2204  0.6629 -0.4249  238.4    -      -  
 68   28  -0161 Feb 18  08:49:27  12268 -26727   N   -t  -1.2535  0.5996 -0.4831  227.5    -      -  
 69   29  -0143 Feb 28  16:08:07  12061 -26504   N   -t  -1.2932  0.5242 -0.5533  213.6    -      -  
 70   30  -0125 Mar 11  23:18:18  11857 -26281   N   -t  -1.3398  0.4360 -0.6362  195.8    -      -  

 71   31  -0107 Mar 22  06:20:20  11657 -26058   N   -t  -1.3931  0.3354 -0.7313  172.8    -      -  
 72   32  -0089 Apr 02  13:15:17  11461 -25835   N   -t  -1.4522  0.2243 -0.8371  142.2    -      -  
 73   33  -0071 Apr 12  20:04:09  11267 -25612   Ne  -t  -1.5162  0.1041 -0.9521   97.6    -      -  


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]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when Moon passes closest to the axis of Earth's shadow.


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.


Acknowledgments

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 Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar 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)"


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2009 Sep 29