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 43 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 -1463 Sep 07. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0052 Mar 04. The total duration of Saros series 43 is 1514.53 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1463 Sep 07 07:21:03 TD
Last Eclipse = 0052 Mar 04 09:05:07 TD
Duration of Saros 43 = 1514.53 Years
Saros 43 is composed of 85 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 43 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 85 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 43 | 50.6% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 17.6% |
| Total | T | 27 | 31.8% |
The 85 lunar eclipses in Saros 43 occur in the order of 22N 8P 27T 7P 21N which corresponds to:
22 Penumbral
8 Partial
27 Total
7 Partial
21 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 43 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0543 Mar 13 Duration = 01h44m30s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0922 Jul 29 Duration = 00h39m10s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0435 May 17 Duration = 03h26m32s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0327 Jul 20 Duration = 00h44m14s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0309 Aug 01 Duration = 04h40m45s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1463 Sep 07 Duration = 00h49m41s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 43 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0435 May 17 Magnitude = 0.9728
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0327 Jul 20 Magnitude = 0.0324
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 43 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 -51 -1463 Sep 07 07:21:03 34304 -42824 N a- -1.5290 0.0344 -0.9300 49.7 - -
02 -50 -1445 Sep 18 15:45:52 33928 -42601 N a- -1.5050 0.0793 -0.8869 75.1 - -
03 -49 -1427 Sep 29 00:19:20 33554 -42378 N a- -1.4879 0.1116 -0.8563 88.8 - -
04 -48 -1409 Oct 10 08:59:12 33182 -42155 N a- -1.4762 0.1337 -0.8357 97.0 - -
05 -47 -1391 Oct 20 17:44:35 32812 -41932 N a- -1.4691 0.1474 -0.8232 101.6 - -
06 -46 -1373 Nov 01 02:34:39 32445 -41709 N a- -1.4660 0.1536 -0.8179 103.7 - -
07 -45 -1355 Nov 11 11:27:53 32079 -41486 N a- -1.4654 0.1549 -0.8170 104.1 - -
08 -44 -1337 Nov 22 20:21:56 31715 -41263 N a- -1.4658 0.1542 -0.8177 103.8 - -
09 -43 -1319 Dec 03 05:15:37 31354 -41040 N a- -1.4660 0.1535 -0.8179 103.6 - -
10 -42 -1301 Dec 14 14:07:05 30994 -40817 N a- -1.4647 0.1555 -0.8150 104.2 - -
11 -41 -1283 Dec 24 22:55:33 30637 -40594 N a- -1.4612 0.1612 -0.8079 106.1 - -
12 -40 -1264 Jan 05 07:37:57 30281 -40371 N a- -1.4531 0.1753 -0.7922 110.5 - -
13 -39 -1246 Jan 15 16:14:59 29928 -40148 N a- -1.4408 0.1968 -0.7688 116.9 - -
14 -38 -1228 Jan 27 00:44:05 29577 -39925 N a- -1.4224 0.2295 -0.7341 125.9 - -
15 -37 -1210 Feb 06 09:05:31 29227 -39702 N a- -1.3983 0.2727 -0.6889 136.7 - -
16 -36 -1192 Feb 17 17:17:45 28880 -39479 N a- -1.3671 0.3290 -0.6306 149.5 - -
17 -35 -1174 Feb 28 01:22:02 28535 -39256 N a- -1.3299 0.3962 -0.5615 163.2 - -
18 -34 -1156 Mar 10 09:17:47 28192 -39033 N a- -1.2861 0.4760 -0.4802 177.7 - -
19 -33 -1138 Mar 21 17:04:37 27851 -38810 N a- -1.2355 0.5682 -0.3868 192.6 - -
20 -32 -1120 Apr 01 00:44:09 27513 -38587 N a- -1.1795 0.6707 -0.2837 207.5 - -
21 -31 -1102 Apr 12 08:16:37 27176 -38364 N a- -1.1182 0.7830 -0.1711 222.1 - -
22 -30 -1084 Apr 22 15:43:46 26841 -38141 N a- -1.0528 0.9031 -0.0514 236.1 - -
23 -29 -1066 May 03 23:04:58 26509 -37918 P a- -0.9831 1.0316 0.0761 249.5 60.4 -
24 -28 -1048 May 14 06:23:49 26178 -37695 P a- -0.9119 1.1631 0.2060 261.9 97.8 -
25 -27 -1030 May 25 13:39:43 25850 -37472 P a- -0.8389 1.2983 0.3388 273.4 123.4 -
26 -26 -1012 Jun 04 20:55:08 25523 -37249 P a- -0.7660 1.4334 0.4709 283.7 143.0 -
27 -25 -0994 Jun 16 04:10:15 25199 -37026 P a- -0.6933 1.5687 0.6026 293.1 158.9 -
28 -24 -0976 Jun 26 11:27:46 24877 -36803 P a- -0.6233 1.6992 0.7289 301.4 171.7 -
29 -23 -0958 Jul 07 18:47:50 24556 -36580 P a- -0.5561 1.8250 0.8499 308.6 182.2 -
30 -22 -0940 Jul 18 02:11:29 24238 -36357 P a- -0.4927 1.9440 0.9636 315.0 190.6 -
31 -21 -0922 Jul 29 09:40:35 23922 -36134 T a- -0.4346 2.0534 1.0673 320.4 197.4 39.2
32 -20 -0904 Aug 08 17:15:34 23608 -35911 T p- -0.3825 2.1521 1.1600 325.1 202.7 58.8
33 -19 -0886 Aug 20 00:57:26 23296 -35688 T p- -0.3367 2.2393 1.2409 329.1 206.8 70.4
34 -18 -0868 Aug 30 08:46:03 22987 -35465 T p- -0.2976 2.3143 1.3095 332.6 210.1 78.0
35 -17 -0850 Sep 10 16:42:17 22679 -35242 T- p- -0.2657 2.3761 1.3649 335.5 212.5 83.2
36 -16 -0832 Sep 21 00:45:45 22373 -35019 T- p- -0.2407 2.4251 1.4076 338.1 214.4 86.6
37 -15 -0814 Oct 02 08:55:19 22070 -34796 T- p- -0.2217 2.4630 1.4395 340.4 215.8 88.9
38 -14 -0796 Oct 12 17:11:53 21768 -34573 T- p- -0.2092 2.4888 1.4595 342.5 216.9 90.4
39 -13 -0778 Oct 24 01:33:16 21469 -34350 T- p- -0.2013 2.5060 1.4716 344.3 217.8 91.2
40 -12 -0760 Nov 03 09:59:25 21171 -34127 T- p- -0.1982 2.5140 1.4749 345.9 218.4 91.6
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 -11 -0742 Nov 14 18:26:35 20876 -33904 T- p- -0.1965 2.5191 1.4759 347.4 219.0 91.8
42 -10 -0724 Nov 25 02:56:08 20583 -33681 T- pp -0.1976 2.5188 1.4722 348.8 219.5 91.8
43 -09 -0706 Dec 06 11:23:41 20292 -33458 T- pp -0.1973 2.5208 1.4714 350.1 220.1 91.9
44 -08 -0688 Dec 16 19:49:12 20003 -33235 T- pp -0.1962 2.5239 1.4724 351.4 220.7 92.2
45 -07 -0670 Dec 28 04:08:55 19715 -33012 T- pp -0.1908 2.5346 1.4816 352.8 221.6 93.0
46 -06 -0651 Jan 07 12:23:33 19431 -32789 T- pp -0.1820 2.5512 1.4973 354.2 222.6 94.1
47 -05 -0633 Jan 18 20:29:55 19148 -32566 T- pp -0.1669 2.5791 1.5247 355.7 223.8 95.8
48 -04 -0615 Jan 29 04:27:32 18867 -32343 T- pp -0.1455 2.6185 1.5640 357.2 225.2 97.9
49 -03 -0597 Feb 09 12:14:58 18588 -32120 T- pp -0.1163 2.6720 1.6177 358.8 226.8 100.2
50 -02 -0579 Feb 19 19:52:35 18312 -31897 T- pp -0.0799 2.7386 1.6845 360.3 228.3 102.3
51 -01 -0561 Mar 03 03:18:46 18037 -31674 T- pp -0.0349 2.8210 1.7674 361.7 229.5 104.0
52 00 -0543 Mar 13 10:34:57 17764 -31451 T+ pp 0.0177 2.8524 1.7991 362.8 230.3 104.5
53 01 -0525 Mar 24 17:40:25 17494 -31228 T+ pp 0.0782 2.7412 1.6882 363.3 230.3 103.3
54 02 -0507 Apr 04 00:37:41 17226 -31005 T+ pp 0.1448 2.6190 1.5661 363.2 229.2 99.7
55 03 -0489 Apr 15 07:24:17 16924 -30782 T+ pp 0.2193 2.4824 1.4292 362.1 226.5 92.3
56 04 -0471 Apr 25 14:04:56 16610 -30559 T -t 0.2979 2.3385 1.2848 360.0 222.2 79.6
57 05 -0453 May 06 20:38:09 16305 -30336 T -t 0.3816 2.1853 1.1306 356.7 215.6 57.0
58 06 -0435 May 17 03:08:27 16008 -30113 P -t 0.4672 2.0289 0.9728 352.0 206.5 -
59 07 -0417 May 28 09:33:18 15719 -29890 P -t 0.5564 1.8662 0.8083 345.7 194.3 -
60 08 -0399 Jun 07 15:58:54 15437 -29667 P -t 0.6442 1.7062 0.6462 338.1 179.0 -
61 09 -0381 Jun 18 22:23:07 15162 -29444 P -t 0.7319 1.5466 0.4839 328.9 159.3 -
62 10 -0363 Jun 29 04:50:17 14894 -29221 P -t 0.8164 1.3929 0.3274 318.5 134.4 -
63 11 -0345 Jul 10 11:19:10 14633 -28998 P -t 0.8989 1.2433 0.1745 306.7 100.5 -
64 12 -0327 Jul 20 17:54:25 14377 -28775 P -t 0.9753 1.1048 0.0324 294.1 44.2 -
65 13 -0309 Aug 01 00:35:07 14127 -28552 N -t 1.0465 0.9761 -0.1001 280.8 - -
66 14 -0291 Aug 11 07:22:49 13883 -28329 N -t 1.1114 0.8591 -0.2210 267.0 - -
67 15 -0273 Aug 22 14:19:01 13644 -28106 N -t 1.1687 0.7559 -0.3282 253.5 - -
68 16 -0255 Sep 01 21:24:15 13409 -27883 N -t 1.2183 0.6668 -0.4211 240.5 - -
69 17 -0237 Sep 13 04:39:20 13180 -27660 N -t 1.2598 0.5925 -0.4991 228.6 - -
70 18 -0219 Sep 23 12:02:43 12955 -27437 N -t 1.2943 0.5309 -0.5642 217.9 - -
71 19 -0201 Oct 04 19:36:11 12735 -27214 N -t 1.3207 0.4841 -0.6140 209.1 - -
72 20 -0183 Oct 15 03:17:24 12519 -26991 N -t 1.3408 0.4484 -0.6522 202.0 - -
73 21 -0165 Oct 26 11:06:14 12307 -26768 N -t 1.3549 0.4235 -0.6791 196.8 - -
74 22 -0147 Nov 05 19:00:56 12099 -26545 N -t 1.3645 0.4066 -0.6973 193.0 - -
75 23 -0129 Nov 17 03:01:11 11895 -26322 N -t 1.3700 0.3968 -0.7076 190.7 - -
76 24 -0111 Nov 27 11:03:39 11694 -26099 N -t 1.3737 0.3898 -0.7142 189.0 - -
77 25 -0093 Dec 08 19:07:08 11496 -25876 N -t 1.3768 0.3834 -0.7194 187.3 - -
78 26 -0075 Dec 19 03:09:50 11302 -25653 N -t 1.3808 0.3752 -0.7256 185.2 - -
79 27 -0057 Dec 30 11:10:48 11111 -25430 N -t 1.3866 0.3631 -0.7350 182.0 - -
80 28 -0038 Jan 09 19:06:08 10923 -25207 N -t 1.3970 0.3423 -0.7523 176.6 - -
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
81 29 -0020 Jan 21 02:56:51 10737 -24984 N -t 1.4112 0.3140 -0.7764 169.2 - -
82 30 -0002 Jan 31 10:39:52 10554 -24761 N -t 1.4320 0.2736 -0.8121 158.1 - -
83 31 0016 Feb 11 18:17:06 10372 -24538 N -t 1.4576 0.2239 -0.8567 143.2 - -
84 32 0034 Feb 22 01:44:01 10193 -24315 N -t 1.4918 0.1584 -0.9166 120.7 - -
85 33 0052 Mar 04 09:05:07 10016 -24092 N -t 1.5311 0.0835 -0.9858 87.9 - -
[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)"
