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 41 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -1268 Mar 18. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0030 May 06. The total duration of Saros series 41 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1268 Mar 18 14:53:58 TD
Last Eclipse = 0030 May 06 06:10:02 TD
Duration of Saros 41 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 41 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 41 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 31 | 42.5% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 21.9% |
| Total | T | 26 | 35.6% |
The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 41 occur in the order of 8N 7P 26T 9P 23N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
7 Partial
26 Total
9 Partial
23 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 41 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0655 Mar 20 Duration = 01h44m18s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0998 Aug 27 Duration = 00h09m23s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -1016 Aug 16 Duration = 03h24m45s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0385 Aug 30 Duration = 00h27m52s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1142 Jun 02 Duration = 04h46m47s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0030 May 06 Duration = 00h29m24s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 41 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -1016 Aug 16 Magnitude = 0.9154
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0385 Aug 30 Magnitude = 0.0151
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 41 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.
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 -34 -1268 Mar 18 14:53:58 30356 -40418 Nb t- -1.5566 0.0338 -1.0298 56.3 - -
02 -33 -1250 Mar 29 21:41:13 30002 -40195 N t- -1.4926 0.1509 -0.9121 117.9 - -
03 -32 -1232 Apr 09 04:20:37 29650 -39972 N t- -1.4225 0.2793 -0.7833 158.9 - -
04 -31 -1214 Apr 20 10:52:33 29301 -39749 N t- -1.3467 0.4184 -0.6441 192.3 - -
05 -30 -1196 Apr 30 17:19:40 28953 -39526 N t- -1.2666 0.5654 -0.4974 220.9 - -
06 -29 -1178 May 11 23:40:52 28608 -39303 N t- -1.1820 0.7211 -0.3424 246.1 - -
07 -28 -1160 May 22 06:01:05 28264 -39080 N t- -1.0965 0.8785 -0.1861 267.8 - -
08 -27 -1142 Jun 02 12:19:16 27923 -38857 Nx t- -1.0097 1.0386 -0.0275 286.8 - -
09 -26 -1124 Jun 12 18:39:23 27584 -38634 P t- -0.9241 1.1965 0.1287 303.0 87.0 -
10 -25 -1106 Jun 24 01:00:53 27247 -38411 P t- -0.8395 1.3529 0.2827 317.1 126.3 -
11 -24 -1088 Jul 04 07:27:49 26911 -38188 P t- -0.7591 1.5017 0.4291 328.8 152.2 -
12 -23 -1070 Jul 15 13:59:53 26578 -37965 P t- -0.6830 1.6428 0.5673 338.6 171.3 -
13 -22 -1052 Jul 25 20:38:30 26248 -37742 P t- -0.6120 1.7745 0.6961 346.6 185.7 -
14 -21 -1034 Aug 06 03:25:47 25919 -37519 P t- -0.5478 1.8939 0.8123 353.0 196.6 -
15 -20 -1016 Aug 16 10:22:07 25592 -37296 P t- -0.4908 2.0000 0.9154 358.0 204.8 -
16 -19 -0998 Aug 27 17:29:01 25267 -37073 T t- -0.4421 2.0910 1.0032 361.8 210.7 9.4
17 -18 -0980 Sep 07 00:44:39 24944 -36850 T t- -0.4002 2.1693 1.0787 364.7 215.2 45.3
18 -17 -0962 Sep 18 08:11:39 24624 -36627 T t- -0.3674 2.2309 1.1376 366.7 218.2 58.7
19 -16 -0944 Sep 28 15:47:05 24305 -36404 T p- -0.3411 2.2803 1.1848 368.0 220.4 66.8
20 -15 -0926 Oct 09 23:31:57 23989 -36181 T p- -0.3221 2.3159 1.2187 368.8 221.7 71.7
21 -14 -0908 Oct 20 07:23:27 23674 -35958 T p- -0.3082 2.3419 1.2437 369.2 222.5 74.9
22 -13 -0890 Oct 31 15:22:26 23362 -35735 T p- -0.2999 2.3574 1.2587 369.2 222.8 76.7
23 -12 -0872 Nov 10 23:25:06 23052 -35512 T p- -0.2944 2.3674 1.2691 368.9 223.0 77.8
24 -11 -0854 Nov 22 07:30:50 22744 -35289 T p- -0.2908 2.3733 1.2762 368.3 222.9 78.5
25 -10 -0836 Dec 02 15:37:28 22438 -35066 T p- -0.2875 2.3784 1.2833 367.6 222.9 79.2
26 -09 -0818 Dec 13 23:44:14 22134 -34843 T p- -0.2835 2.3843 1.2919 366.8 222.8 80.1
27 -08 -0800 Dec 24 07:47:01 21832 -34620 T p- -0.2758 2.3966 1.3078 366.0 223.1 81.6
28 -07 -0781 Jan 04 15:46:30 21532 -34397 T- p- -0.2648 2.4147 1.3302 365.2 223.5 83.7
29 -06 -0763 Jan 14 23:39:44 21234 -34174 T- p- -0.2478 2.4434 1.3638 364.5 224.2 86.7
30 -05 -0745 Jan 26 07:28:14 20938 -33951 T- p- -0.2260 2.4807 1.4065 363.8 225.1 90.0
31 -04 -0727 Feb 05 15:07:03 20644 -33728 T- p- -0.1954 2.5340 1.4656 363.2 226.3 93.9
32 -03 -0709 Feb 16 22:40:19 20353 -33505 T- pp -0.1593 2.5970 1.5347 362.5 227.4 97.6
33 -02 -0691 Feb 27 06:03:50 20063 -33282 T- pp -0.1144 2.6762 1.6203 361.7 228.5 100.9
34 -01 -0673 Mar 10 13:21:49 19776 -33059 T- pp -0.0640 2.7655 1.7159 360.6 229.0 103.3
35 00 -0655 Mar 20 20:30:26 19490 -32836 T- pp -0.0049 2.8709 1.8276 359.1 229.0 104.3
36 01 -0637 Apr 01 03:35:09 19207 -32613 T+ pp 0.0585 2.7693 1.7321 357.0 228.1 103.4
37 02 -0619 Apr 11 10:32:48 18926 -32390 T+ pp 0.1284 2.6381 1.6067 354.3 226.0 100.0
38 03 -0601 Apr 22 17:27:36 18647 -32167 T+ pp 0.2017 2.5010 1.4751 350.7 222.7 93.6
39 04 -0583 May 03 00:18:12 18370 -31944 T pp 0.2792 2.3563 1.3354 346.3 217.8 82.9
40 05 -0565 May 14 07:08:35 18095 -31721 T -p 0.3576 2.2100 1.1938 340.9 211.4 66.0
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 06 -0547 May 24 13:58:32 17822 -31498 T -t 0.4374 2.0616 1.0493 334.6 203.1 34.8
42 07 -0529 Jun 04 20:49:51 17551 -31275 P -t 0.5169 1.9139 0.9052 327.3 193.0 -
43 08 -0511 Jun 15 03:44:34 17282 -31052 P -t 0.5943 1.7704 0.7647 319.3 181.2 -
44 09 -0493 Jun 26 10:43:43 16992 -30829 P -t 0.6687 1.6326 0.6293 310.6 167.5 -
45 10 -0475 Jul 06 17:48:55 16676 -30606 P -t 0.7391 1.5025 0.5011 301.5 152.0 -
46 11 -0457 Jul 18 01:00:32 16368 -30383 P -h 0.8050 1.3808 0.3807 292.0 134.5 -
47 12 -0439 Jul 28 08:20:41 16070 -30160 P -h 0.8650 1.2703 0.2713 282.6 115.0 -
48 13 -0421 Aug 08 15:49:35 15779 -29937 P -a 0.9183 1.1722 0.1737 273.5 93.0 -
49 14 -0403 Aug 18 23:27:10 15496 -29714 P -a 0.9653 1.0858 0.0876 264.8 66.6 -
50 15 -0385 Aug 30 07:14:57 15220 -29491 P -a 1.0048 1.0133 0.0151 257.0 27.9 -
51 16 -0367 Sep 09 15:12:35 14950 -29268 N -a 1.0371 0.9540 -0.0442 250.2 - -
52 17 -0349 Sep 20 23:20:20 14688 -29045 N -a 1.0618 0.9088 -0.0896 244.6 - -
53 18 -0331 Oct 01 07:36:21 14431 -28822 N -a 1.0806 0.8744 -0.1240 240.1 - -
54 19 -0313 Oct 12 16:01:16 14179 -28599 N -a 1.0927 0.8520 -0.1462 236.9 - -
55 20 -0295 Oct 23 00:33:28 13934 -28376 N -a 1.0998 0.8388 -0.1590 234.8 - -
56 21 -0277 Nov 03 09:11:34 13694 -28153 N -a 1.1028 0.8329 -0.1641 233.5 - -
57 22 -0259 Nov 13 17:54:25 13458 -27930 N -a 1.1026 0.8326 -0.1632 232.8 - -
58 23 -0241 Nov 25 02:40:10 13228 -27707 N -a 1.1010 0.8347 -0.1593 232.4 - -
59 24 -0223 Dec 05 11:27:58 13002 -27484 N -a 1.0982 0.8388 -0.1531 232.3 - -
60 25 -0205 Dec 16 20:14:13 12781 -27261 N -a 1.0976 0.8385 -0.1507 231.6 - -
61 26 -0187 Dec 27 04:59:55 12564 -27038 N -a 1.0981 0.8359 -0.1500 230.7 - -
62 27 -0168 Jan 07 13:41:22 12351 -26815 N -a 1.1030 0.8251 -0.1572 228.9 - -
63 28 -0150 Jan 17 22:18:32 12143 -26592 N -a 1.1119 0.8069 -0.1715 226.2 - -
64 29 -0132 Jan 29 06:48:46 11937 -26369 N -a 1.1270 0.7770 -0.1972 222.0 - -
65 30 -0114 Feb 08 15:13:23 11736 -26146 N -a 1.1473 0.7376 -0.2322 216.6 - -
66 31 -0096 Feb 19 23:30:26 11538 -25923 N -a 1.1744 0.6855 -0.2799 209.4 - -
67 32 -0078 Mar 02 07:39:19 11343 -25700 N -a 1.2085 0.6207 -0.3403 200.1 - -
68 33 -0060 Mar 12 15:40:39 11151 -25477 N -a 1.2492 0.5440 -0.4128 188.4 - -
69 34 -0042 Mar 23 23:34:46 10962 -25254 N -a 1.2959 0.4562 -0.4967 173.6 - -
70 35 -0024 Apr 03 07:22:00 10776 -25031 N -a 1.3486 0.3578 -0.5915 155.0 - -
71 36 -0006 Apr 14 15:02:35 10592 -24808 N -a 1.4069 0.2493 -0.6970 130.5 - -
72 37 0012 Apr 24 22:38:24 10410 -24585 N -a 1.4693 0.1335 -0.8101 96.4 - -
73 38 0030 May 06 06:10:02 10231 -24362 Ne -a 1.5348 0.0122 -0.9295 29.4 - -
[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.
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.
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)"
