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 55 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 -0935 Apr 25. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0345 Jun 01. The total duration of Saros series 55 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0935 Apr 25 03:12:37 TD
Last Eclipse = 0345 Jun 01 21:03:03 TD
Duration of Saros 55 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 55 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 55 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 15 | 20.8% |
| Partial | P | 44 | 61.1% |
| Total | T | 13 | 18.1% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 55 occur in the order of 7N 24P 13T 20P 8N which corresponds to:
7 Penumbral
24 Partial
13 Total
20 Partial
8 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 55 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0268 May 30 Duration = 01h42m56s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0160 Aug 03 Duration = 00h27m55s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0142 Aug 14 Duration = 03h16m33s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0809 Jul 10 Duration = 00h42m51s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0219 Mar 18 Duration = 04h49m40s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0935 Apr 25 Duration = 01h09m29s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 55 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0394 Mar 16 Magnitude = 0.9748
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0809 Jul 10 Magnitude = 0.0391
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 55 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 -0935 Apr 25 03:12:37 24155 -36298 Nb a- -1.5053 0.0681 -0.8771 69.5 - -
02 -36 -0917 May 06 10:39:22 23839 -36075 N a- -1.4345 0.1969 -0.7461 116.6 - -
03 -35 -0899 May 16 18:03:46 23526 -35852 N a- -1.3616 0.3298 -0.6115 148.9 - -
04 -34 -0881 May 28 01:27:49 23214 -35629 N a- -1.2880 0.4645 -0.4760 174.3 - -
05 -33 -0863 Jun 07 08:51:28 22905 -35406 N a- -1.2139 0.6003 -0.3399 195.4 - -
06 -32 -0845 Jun 18 16:18:02 22598 -35183 N a- -1.1420 0.7325 -0.2083 212.9 - -
07 -31 -0827 Jun 28 23:47:13 22293 -34960 N a- -1.0725 0.8606 -0.0813 227.7 - -
08 -30 -0809 Jul 10 07:20:32 21990 -34737 P a- -1.0064 0.9828 0.0391 240.3 42.9 -
09 -29 -0791 Jul 20 14:59:07 21689 -34514 P a- -0.9447 1.0973 0.1513 251.0 83.0 -
10 -28 -0773 Jul 31 22:44:28 21390 -34291 P a- -0.8886 1.2015 0.2527 259.8 105.8 -
11 -27 -0755 Aug 11 06:36:35 21093 -34068 P a- -0.8384 1.2952 0.3433 267.2 121.7 -
12 -26 -0737 Aug 22 14:35:40 20798 -33845 P a- -0.7942 1.3783 0.4227 273.4 133.5 -
13 -25 -0719 Sep 01 22:43:06 20506 -33622 P a- -0.7572 1.4480 0.4886 278.4 142.2 -
14 -24 -0701 Sep 13 06:58:30 20215 -33399 P a- -0.7271 1.5053 0.5420 282.5 148.7 -
15 -23 -0683 Sep 23 15:21:32 19926 -33176 P a- -0.7035 1.5506 0.5834 285.7 153.4 -
16 -22 -0665 Oct 04 23:51:57 19640 -32953 P a- -0.6863 1.5840 0.6130 288.2 156.6 -
17 -21 -0647 Oct 15 08:28:55 19356 -32730 P a- -0.6749 1.6067 0.6321 290.0 158.8 -
18 -20 -0629 Oct 26 17:11:40 19073 -32507 P a- -0.6688 1.6196 0.6417 291.4 159.9 -
19 -19 -0611 Nov 06 01:57:22 18793 -32284 P a- -0.6656 1.6270 0.6462 292.4 160.6 -
20 -18 -0593 Nov 17 10:47:01 18515 -32061 P a- -0.6660 1.6274 0.6442 293.1 160.6 -
21 -17 -0575 Nov 27 19:36:50 18239 -31838 P a- -0.6668 1.6270 0.6417 293.7 160.6 -
22 -16 -0557 Dec 09 04:26:52 17965 -31615 P a- -0.6685 1.6246 0.6378 294.2 160.5 -
23 -15 -0539 Dec 19 13:13:01 17693 -31392 P a- -0.6674 1.6272 0.6394 295.0 161.0 -
24 -14 -0521 Dec 30 21:56:48 17423 -31169 P a- -0.6649 1.6320 0.6436 296.0 161.8 -
25 -13 -0502 Jan 10 06:34:14 17155 -30946 P a- -0.6574 1.6459 0.6573 297.4 163.5 -
26 -12 -0484 Jan 21 15:05:25 16840 -30723 P a- -0.6454 1.6679 0.6793 299.3 166.0 -
27 -11 -0466 Jan 31 23:27:57 16528 -30500 P a- -0.6267 1.7021 0.7138 301.8 169.6 -
28 -10 -0448 Feb 12 07:42:47 16225 -30277 P a- -0.6022 1.7468 0.7589 304.8 174.0 -
29 -09 -0430 Feb 22 15:48:02 15931 -30054 P a- -0.5703 1.8052 0.8176 308.4 179.3 -
30 -08 -0412 Mar 04 23:43:55 15643 -29831 P a- -0.5312 1.8768 0.8895 312.4 185.3 -
31 -07 -0394 Mar 16 07:30:08 15364 -29608 P a- -0.4847 1.9621 0.9748 316.8 191.6 -
32 -06 -0376 Mar 26 15:07:40 15091 -29385 T p- -0.4319 2.0593 1.0716 321.3 197.9 40.4
33 -05 -0358 Apr 06 22:35:36 14825 -29162 T p- -0.3718 2.1698 1.1815 325.9 204.1 62.4
34 -04 -0340 Apr 17 05:56:21 14565 -28939 T p- -0.3064 2.2903 1.3010 330.3 209.8 77.4
35 -03 -0322 Apr 28 13:09:23 14310 -28716 T- pp -0.2357 2.4208 1.4299 334.3 214.7 88.4
36 -02 -0304 May 08 20:17:51 14062 -28493 T- pp -0.1620 2.5573 1.5642 337.7 218.6 96.2
37 -01 -0286 May 20 03:19:29 13819 -28270 T- pp -0.0836 2.7024 1.7066 340.5 221.4 101.1
38 00 -0268 May 30 10:19:37 13581 -28047 T- pp -0.0051 2.8481 1.8490 342.6 222.8 102.9
39 01 -0250 Jun 10 17:16:05 13348 -27824 T+ pp 0.0752 2.7214 1.7184 343.8 222.9 101.8
40 02 -0232 Jun 21 00:13:34 13120 -27601 T+ pp 0.1540 2.5790 1.5717 344.2 221.5 97.5
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 -0214 Jul 02 07:09:55 12897 -27378 T+ -p 0.2326 2.4373 1.4251 343.8 218.8 89.5
42 04 -0196 Jul 12 14:10:33 12677 -27155 T -a 0.3066 2.3042 1.2866 342.6 214.7 77.6
43 05 -0178 Jul 23 21:13:32 12463 -26932 T -a 0.3774 2.1772 1.1538 340.9 209.5 59.6
44 06 -0160 Aug 03 04:21:58 12252 -26709 T -a 0.4426 2.0606 1.0311 338.7 203.4 27.9
45 07 -0142 Aug 14 11:35:38 12045 -26486 P -a 0.5027 1.9536 0.9178 336.2 196.5 -
46 08 -0124 Aug 24 18:56:49 11841 -26263 P -a 0.5556 1.8598 0.8176 333.7 189.4 -
47 09 -0106 Sep 05 02:24:51 11641 -26040 P -h 0.6017 1.7785 0.7297 331.3 182.2 -
48 10 -0088 Sep 15 09:59:46 11445 -25817 P -h 0.6412 1.7093 0.6542 329.1 175.2 -
49 11 -0070 Sep 26 17:42:43 11251 -25594 P -h 0.6730 1.6540 0.5926 327.4 168.9 -
50 12 -0052 Oct 07 01:32:43 11061 -25371 P -h 0.6983 1.6105 0.5433 326.1 163.4 -
51 13 -0034 Oct 18 09:29:26 10873 -25148 P -h 0.7173 1.5784 0.5058 325.4 159.0 -
52 14 -0016 Oct 28 17:31:20 10688 -24925 P -h 0.7313 1.5551 0.4777 325.1 155.6 -
53 15 0002 Nov 09 01:38:13 10505 -24702 P -h 0.7405 1.5403 0.4587 325.2 153.3 -
54 16 0020 Nov 19 09:47:34 10325 -24479 P -h 0.7471 1.5300 0.4448 325.5 151.6 -
55 17 0038 Nov 30 17:57:58 10146 -24256 P -h 0.7523 1.5219 0.4340 325.9 150.3 -
56 18 0056 Dec 11 02:08:06 9969 -24033 P -t 0.7573 1.5137 0.4239 326.1 149.1 -
57 19 0074 Dec 22 10:16:17 9794 -23810 P -t 0.7635 1.5029 0.4119 326.1 147.5 -
58 20 0093 Jan 01 18:19:53 9620 -23587 P -t 0.7729 1.4858 0.3943 325.5 145.0 -
59 21 0111 Jan 13 02:17:53 9447 -23364 P -t 0.7865 1.4607 0.3695 324.2 141.1 -
60 22 0129 Jan 23 10:08:52 9274 -23141 P -t 0.8054 1.4256 0.3353 322.1 135.4 -
61 23 0147 Feb 03 17:52:16 9103 -22918 P -t 0.8303 1.3793 0.2902 318.8 127.0 -
62 24 0165 Feb 14 01:25:02 8932 -22695 P -t 0.8633 1.3179 0.2307 314.1 114.4 -
63 25 0183 Feb 25 08:49:05 8761 -22472 P -t 0.9027 1.2445 0.1593 308.0 96.2 -
64 26 0201 Mar 07 16:02:06 8590 -22249 P -t 0.9505 1.1556 0.0727 299.8 65.8 -
65 27 0219 Mar 18 23:06:50 8419 -22026 Nx -t 1.0046 1.0552 -0.0254 289.7 - -
66 28 0237 Mar 29 05:59:54 8247 -21803 N -t 1.0676 0.9385 -0.1397 276.6 - -
67 29 0255 Apr 09 12:46:05 8075 -21580 N -t 1.1356 0.8126 -0.2634 260.7 - -
68 30 0273 Apr 19 19:22:51 7903 -21357 N -t 1.2102 0.6747 -0.3993 240.8 - -
69 31 0291 May 01 01:54:20 7729 -21134 N -t 1.2885 0.5300 -0.5422 216.4 - -
70 32 0309 May 11 08:19:25 7555 -20911 N -t 1.3715 0.3770 -0.6936 185.1 - -
71 33 0327 May 22 14:42:20 7380 -20688 N -t 1.4554 0.2223 -0.8471 144.1 - -
72 34 0345 Jun 01 21:03:03 7205 -20465 Ne -t 1.5406 0.0656 -1.0030 79.4 - -
[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)"
