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 52 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 -1076 May 23. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 0204 Jun 29. The total duration of Saros series 52 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1076 May 23 05:40:35 TD
Last Eclipse = 0204 Jun 29 23:41:02 TD
Duration of Saros 52 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 52 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 52 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 15 | 20.8% |
| Partial | P | 42 | 58.3% |
| Total | T | 15 | 20.8% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 52 occur in the order of 8N 23P 15T 19P 7N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
23 Partial
15 Total
19 Partial
7 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 52 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0409 Jun 28 Duration = 01h42m43s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0517 Apr 24 Duration = 00h14m29s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0247 Oct 03 Duration = 03h22m40s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0932 Aug 17 Duration = 00h36m34s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0096 Apr 26 Duration = 04h45m56s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1076 May 23 Duration = 01h03m14s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 52 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0247 Oct 03 Magnitude = 0.9988
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0932 Aug 17 Magnitude = 0.0284
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 52 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 -37 -1076 May 23 05:40:35 26692 -38041 Nb a- 1.5114 0.0562 -0.8874 63.2 - -
02 -36 -1058 Jun 03 13:02:23 26360 -37818 N a- 1.4374 0.1916 -0.7511 115.1 - -
03 -35 -1040 Jun 13 20:27:44 26030 -37595 N a- 1.3658 0.3228 -0.6197 147.5 - -
04 -34 -1022 Jun 25 03:55:10 25703 -37372 N a- 1.2953 0.4523 -0.4906 172.3 - -
05 -33 -1004 Jul 05 11:27:15 25377 -37149 N a- 1.2284 0.5757 -0.3682 192.0 - -
06 -32 -0986 Jul 16 19:04:31 25054 -36926 N a- 1.1653 0.6923 -0.2534 208.0 - -
07 -31 -0968 Jul 27 02:48:30 24733 -36703 N a- 1.1076 0.7992 -0.1486 221.1 - -
08 -30 -0950 Aug 07 10:39:49 24414 -36480 N a- 1.0558 0.8956 -0.0548 231.9 - -
09 -29 -0932 Aug 17 18:37:59 24096 -36257 P a- 1.0097 0.9817 0.0284 240.7 36.6 -
10 -28 -0914 Aug 29 02:45:02 23781 -36034 P a- 0.9708 1.0546 0.0981 247.7 67.3 -
11 -27 -0896 Sep 08 10:59:19 23468 -35811 P a- 0.9380 1.1165 0.1566 253.5 84.4 -
12 -26 -0878 Sep 19 19:22:00 23157 -35588 P a- 0.9125 1.1651 0.2018 257.9 95.2 -
13 -25 -0860 Sep 30 03:51:26 22848 -35365 P a- 0.8928 1.2029 0.2363 261.3 102.6 -
14 -24 -0842 Oct 11 12:28:31 22542 -35142 P a- 0.8796 1.2287 0.2589 263.7 107.1 -
15 -23 -0824 Oct 21 21:10:42 22237 -34919 P a- 0.8711 1.2458 0.2732 265.4 109.8 -
16 -22 -0806 Nov 02 05:57:38 21934 -34696 P a- 0.8667 1.2551 0.2799 266.5 111.2 -
17 -21 -0788 Nov 12 14:47:39 21634 -34473 P a- 0.8653 1.2587 0.2814 267.2 111.6 -
18 -20 -0770 Nov 23 23:39:56 21335 -34250 P a- 0.8665 1.2574 0.2784 267.6 111.2 -
19 -19 -0752 Dec 04 08:31:17 21039 -34027 P a- 0.8670 1.2570 0.2769 268.0 111.0 -
20 -18 -0734 Dec 15 17:21:11 20744 -33804 P a- 0.8668 1.2578 0.2769 268.5 111.2 -
21 -17 -0716 Dec 26 02:07:12 20452 -33581 P a- 0.8640 1.2630 0.2819 269.4 112.3 -
22 -16 -0697 Jan 06 10:49:38 20162 -33358 P a- 0.8588 1.2725 0.2915 270.6 114.3 -
23 -15 -0679 Jan 16 19:23:58 19874 -33135 P a- 0.8476 1.2928 0.3122 272.6 118.1 -
24 -14 -0661 Jan 28 03:52:26 19587 -32912 P a- 0.8323 1.3208 0.3407 275.2 123.2 -
25 -13 -0643 Feb 07 12:10:50 19303 -32689 P a- 0.8091 1.3628 0.3835 278.8 130.1 -
26 -12 -0625 Feb 18 20:22:18 19022 -32466 P a- 0.7811 1.4140 0.4353 282.9 137.9 -
27 -11 -0607 Mar 01 04:22:11 18742 -32243 P a- 0.7443 1.4811 0.5030 288.0 147.1 -
28 -10 -0589 Mar 12 12:14:59 18464 -32020 P a- 0.7025 1.5578 0.5800 293.4 156.5 -
29 -09 -0571 Mar 22 19:57:06 18188 -31797 P a- 0.6525 1.6494 0.6716 299.4 166.4 -
30 -08 -0553 Apr 03 03:31:45 17914 -31574 P a- 0.5971 1.7512 0.7732 305.5 176.1 -
31 -07 -0535 Apr 13 10:57:01 17643 -31351 P a- 0.5345 1.8664 0.8876 311.8 185.5 -
32 -06 -0517 Apr 24 18:16:43 17373 -31128 T a- 0.4681 1.9889 1.0089 317.8 194.1 14.5
33 -05 -0499 May 05 01:29:45 17102 -30905 T p- 0.3969 2.1205 1.1385 323.5 201.9 55.2
34 -04 -0481 May 16 08:38:03 16782 -30682 T p- 0.3226 2.2581 1.2738 328.6 208.6 74.5
35 -03 -0463 May 26 15:42:49 16472 -30459 T+ pp 0.2460 2.4002 1.4129 333.2 214.0 87.2
36 -02 -0445 Jun 06 22:46:02 16171 -30236 T+ pp 0.1686 2.5441 1.5531 337.0 218.2 95.7
37 -01 -0427 Jun 17 05:48:19 15877 -30013 T+ pp 0.0914 2.6879 1.6927 340.0 221.0 100.7
38 00 -0409 Jun 28 12:50:51 15592 -29790 T+ pp 0.0152 2.8300 1.8301 342.3 222.5 102.7
39 01 -0391 Jul 08 19:55:44 15313 -29567 T- pp -0.0581 2.7540 1.7488 343.8 222.8 102.1
40 02 -0373 Jul 20 03:04:02 15041 -29344 T- pp -0.1278 2.6290 1.6181 344.7 222.0 99.0
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 03 -0355 Jul 30 10:15:53 14776 -29121 T- -p -0.1936 2.5113 1.4943 345.0 220.2 93.6
42 04 -0337 Aug 10 17:33:53 14517 -28898 T- -p -0.2533 2.4049 1.3815 344.9 217.7 86.2
43 05 -0319 Aug 21 00:57:54 14264 -28675 T -p -0.3069 2.3099 1.2800 344.6 214.7 76.8
44 06 -0301 Sep 01 08:29:56 14017 -28452 T -a -0.3532 2.2283 1.1918 344.2 211.5 65.6
45 07 -0283 Sep 11 16:07:33 13775 -28229 T -a -0.3939 2.1570 1.1139 343.8 208.2 52.0
46 08 -0265 Sep 22 23:53:54 13538 -28006 T -a -0.4265 2.1003 1.0508 343.5 205.3 35.5
47 09 -0247 Oct 03 07:46:31 13306 -27783 P -a -0.4532 2.0545 0.9988 343.5 202.7 -
48 10 -0229 Oct 14 15:46:26 13079 -27560 P -a -0.4730 2.0210 0.9597 343.7 200.6 -
49 11 -0211 Oct 24 23:51:25 12856 -27337 P -a -0.4879 1.9963 0.9297 344.1 199.1 -
50 12 -0193 Nov 05 08:01:50 12638 -27114 P -a -0.4977 1.9805 0.9094 344.8 198.1 -
51 13 -0175 Nov 15 16:15:09 12423 -26891 P -a -0.5045 1.9701 0.8949 345.7 197.5 -
52 14 -0157 Nov 27 00:29:42 12213 -26668 P -a -0.5096 1.9624 0.8841 346.5 197.2 -
53 15 -0139 Dec 07 08:44:35 12007 -26445 P -h -0.5138 1.9560 0.8751 347.3 196.9 -
54 16 -0121 Dec 18 16:57:23 11804 -26222 P -h -0.5185 1.9481 0.8656 347.9 196.6 -
55 17 -0103 Dec 29 01:06:13 11605 -25999 P -t -0.5262 1.9345 0.8509 348.1 195.9 -
56 18 -0084 Jan 09 09:08:56 11409 -25776 P -t -0.5382 1.9127 0.8288 347.9 194.5 -
57 19 -0066 Jan 19 17:05:12 11216 -25553 P -t -0.5546 1.8824 0.7988 347.2 192.4 -
58 20 -0048 Jan 31 00:53:19 11026 -25330 P -t -0.5769 1.8411 0.7583 345.8 189.2 -
59 21 -0030 Feb 10 08:31:13 10839 -25107 P -t -0.6068 1.7857 0.7041 343.5 184.3 -
60 22 -0012 Feb 21 15:59:42 10654 -24884 P -t -0.6436 1.7174 0.6372 340.1 177.7 -
61 23 0006 Mar 03 23:17:23 10472 -24661 P -t -0.6887 1.6337 0.5552 335.6 168.4 -
62 24 0024 Mar 14 06:25:48 10292 -24438 P -t -0.7407 1.5375 0.4608 329.6 156.0 -
63 25 0042 Mar 25 13:23:08 10113 -24215 P -t -0.8009 1.4262 0.3512 321.9 138.7 -
64 26 0060 Apr 04 20:12:30 9937 -23992 P -t -0.8670 1.3040 0.2307 312.3 114.6 -
65 27 0078 Apr 16 02:53:06 9762 -23769 P -t -0.9397 1.1698 0.0980 300.5 76.2 -
66 28 0096 Apr 26 09:26:31 9588 -23546 Nx -t -1.0177 1.0262 -0.0444 285.9 - -
67 29 0114 May 07 15:53:58 9415 -23323 N -t -1.0998 0.8749 -0.1947 268.3 - -
68 30 0132 May 17 22:17:24 9243 -23100 N -t -1.1847 0.7189 -0.3501 247.2 - -
69 31 0150 May 29 04:38:46 9071 -22877 N -t -1.2706 0.5612 -0.5076 221.8 - -
70 32 0168 Jun 08 10:57:46 8900 -22654 N -t -1.3577 0.4014 -0.6675 190.5 - -
71 33 0186 Jun 19 17:18:41 8729 -22431 N -t -1.4429 0.2454 -0.8241 151.1 - -
72 34 0204 Jun 29 23:41:02 8558 -22208 Ne -t -1.5265 0.0924 -0.9779 94.0 - -
[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)"
