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 56 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 -0852 May 07. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 0428 Jun 13. The total duration of Saros series 56 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0852 May 07 13:07:29 TD
Last Eclipse = 0428 Jun 13 12:18:43 TD
Duration of Saros 56 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 56 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 56 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 17 | 23.6% |
| Partial | P | 44 | 61.1% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.3% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 56 occur in the order of 8N 21P 11T 23P 9N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
21 Partial
11 Total
23 Partial
9 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 56 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0239 May 09 Duration = 01h46m07s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0329 Mar 17 Duration = 00h44m17s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0347 Mar 06 Duration = 03h28m33s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0266 Mar 08 Duration = 00h18m06s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0726 Jul 22 Duration = 04h38m11s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0428 Jun 13 Duration = 00h22m12s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 56 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0347 Mar 06 Magnitude = 0.9688
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0266 Mar 08 Magnitude = 0.0063
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 56 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 -0852 May 07 13:07:29 22719 -35271 Nb t- 1.5204 0.0781 -0.9417 81.6 - -
02 -33 -0834 May 18 19:53:46 22413 -35048 N t- 1.4473 0.2137 -0.8090 133.8 - -
03 -32 -0816 May 29 02:37:11 22109 -34825 N t- 1.3723 0.3529 -0.6731 170.5 - -
04 -31 -0798 Jun 09 09:19:29 21807 -34602 N t- 1.2970 0.4931 -0.5369 199.7 - -
05 -30 -0780 Jun 19 16:00:40 21508 -34379 N t- 1.2213 0.6343 -0.4000 224.4 - -
06 -29 -0762 Jun 30 22:44:30 21210 -34156 N t- 1.1479 0.7713 -0.2679 245.2 - -
07 -28 -0744 Jul 11 05:30:51 20914 -33933 N t- 1.0767 0.9046 -0.1398 263.0 - -
08 -27 -0726 Jul 22 12:22:13 20621 -33710 Nx t- 1.0101 1.0296 -0.0202 278.2 - -
09 -26 -0708 Aug 01 19:18:03 20329 -33487 P t- 0.9474 1.1475 0.0919 291.2 72.4 -
10 -25 -0690 Aug 13 02:21:49 20040 -33264 P t- 0.8915 1.2531 0.1916 302.0 103.3 -
11 -24 -0672 Aug 23 09:32:19 19753 -33041 P t- 0.8414 1.3481 0.2807 311.2 123.8 -
12 -23 -0654 Sep 03 16:50:41 19468 -32818 P t- 0.7979 1.4308 0.3575 318.8 138.4 -
13 -22 -0636 Sep 14 00:16:57 19184 -32595 P t- 0.7613 1.5009 0.4219 325.0 149.1 -
14 -21 -0618 Sep 25 07:52:18 18903 -32372 P t- 0.7328 1.5559 0.4716 329.9 156.7 -
15 -20 -0600 Oct 05 15:34:51 18624 -32149 P t- 0.7102 1.5998 0.5106 333.8 162.4 -
16 -19 -0582 Oct 16 23:24:02 18347 -31926 P t- 0.6935 1.6326 0.5391 336.9 166.3 -
17 -18 -0564 Oct 27 07:18:49 18072 -31703 P t- 0.6817 1.6562 0.5590 339.2 169.1 -
18 -17 -0546 Nov 07 15:18:48 17800 -31480 P t- 0.6744 1.6710 0.5708 340.8 170.7 -
19 -16 -0528 Nov 17 23:20:21 17529 -31257 P t- 0.6689 1.6822 0.5798 342.1 172.0 -
20 -15 -0510 Nov 29 07:24:10 17260 -31034 P t- 0.6655 1.6891 0.5854 343.0 172.9 -
21 -14 -0492 Dec 09 15:26:16 16966 -30811 P t- 0.6610 1.6977 0.5935 343.8 174.0 -
22 -13 -0474 Dec 20 23:27:14 16650 -30588 P t- 0.6555 1.7075 0.6036 344.6 175.3 -
23 -12 -0456 Dec 31 07:21:55 16344 -30365 P t- 0.6452 1.7259 0.6231 345.8 177.6 -
24 -11 -0437 Jan 11 15:12:59 16046 -30142 P t- 0.6319 1.7495 0.6485 347.2 180.5 -
25 -10 -0419 Jan 21 22:55:20 15756 -29919 P t- 0.6120 1.7847 0.6860 349.0 184.6 -
26 -09 -0401 Feb 02 06:30:34 15473 -29696 P t- 0.5860 1.8309 0.7352 351.2 189.5 -
27 -08 -0383 Feb 12 13:55:19 15198 -29473 P t- 0.5515 1.8925 0.8002 354.0 195.5 -
28 -07 -0365 Feb 23 21:12:36 14929 -29250 P t- 0.5109 1.9653 0.8766 357.0 201.8 -
29 -06 -0347 Mar 06 04:19:28 14667 -29027 P t- 0.4616 2.0537 0.9688 360.2 208.6 -
30 -05 -0329 Mar 17 11:17:24 14410 -28804 T t- 0.4050 2.1556 1.0747 363.4 215.2 44.3
31 -04 -0311 Mar 27 18:06:29 14159 -28581 T t- 0.3410 2.2711 1.1941 366.3 221.4 68.6
32 -03 -0293 Apr 08 00:48:33 13914 -28358 T+ pp 0.2707 2.3982 1.3249 368.9 226.7 84.7
33 -02 -0275 Apr 18 07:23:53 13674 -28135 T+ pp 0.1947 2.5359 1.4661 370.7 230.9 95.8
34 -01 -0257 Apr 29 13:54:02 13440 -27912 T+ pp 0.1141 2.6821 1.6157 371.7 233.7 102.9
35 00 -0239 May 09 20:20:54 13210 -27689 T+ pp 0.0301 2.8347 1.7713 371.7 234.9 106.1
36 01 -0221 May 21 02:46:14 12984 -27466 T- pp -0.0557 2.7865 1.7256 370.7 234.3 105.5
37 02 -0203 May 31 09:09:57 12763 -27243 T- pp -0.1435 2.6243 1.5656 368.4 231.9 100.7
38 03 -0185 Jun 11 15:35:58 12547 -27020 T- pp -0.2299 2.4647 1.4078 365.0 227.6 91.3
39 04 -0167 Jun 21 22:04:14 12334 -26797 T pp -0.3154 2.3071 1.2517 360.6 221.5 76.0
40 05 -0149 Jul 03 04:38:27 12126 -26574 T -t -0.3966 2.1577 1.1032 355.2 213.8 51.0
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 -0131 Jul 13 11:16:53 11921 -26351 P -t -0.4751 2.0134 0.9595 349.0 204.4 -
42 07 -0113 Jul 24 18:04:26 11720 -26128 P -t -0.5468 1.8816 0.8280 342.4 193.9 -
43 08 -0095 Aug 04 00:59:20 11522 -25905 P -t -0.6134 1.7594 0.7057 335.4 182.4 -
44 09 -0077 Aug 15 08:04:21 11327 -25682 P -t -0.6722 1.6516 0.5978 328.4 170.4 -
45 10 -0059 Aug 25 15:18:07 11136 -25459 P -t -0.7246 1.5557 0.5015 321.6 158.1 -
46 11 -0041 Sep 05 22:43:31 10947 -25236 P -t -0.7683 1.4758 0.4212 315.3 146.3 -
47 12 -0023 Sep 16 06:18:50 10761 -25013 P -t -0.8046 1.4093 0.3543 309.6 135.2 -
48 13 -0005 Sep 27 14:04:02 10577 -24790 P -t -0.8337 1.3561 0.3009 304.7 125.2 -
49 14 0013 Oct 07 21:59:19 10396 -24567 P -t -0.8553 1.3164 0.2612 300.7 117.0 -
50 15 0031 Oct 19 06:03:52 10216 -24344 P -t -0.8698 1.2896 0.2349 297.6 111.1 -
51 16 0049 Oct 29 14:16:32 10039 -24121 P -h -0.8788 1.2725 0.2186 295.3 107.1 -
52 17 0067 Nov 09 22:34:28 9863 -23898 P -h -0.8844 1.2617 0.2092 293.4 104.6 -
53 18 0085 Nov 20 06:58:27 9688 -23675 P -h -0.8858 1.2580 0.2075 292.1 103.9 -
54 19 0103 Dec 01 15:25:15 9515 -23452 P -h -0.8856 1.2570 0.2091 291.0 104.0 -
55 20 0121 Dec 11 23:53:41 9342 -23229 P -h -0.8849 1.2567 0.2121 289.9 104.4 -
56 21 0139 Dec 23 08:21:15 9170 -23006 P -a -0.8854 1.2538 0.2130 288.5 104.3 -
57 22 0158 Jan 02 16:47:31 8999 -22783 P -a -0.8879 1.2470 0.2107 286.7 103.4 -
58 23 0176 Jan 14 01:09:46 8828 -22560 P -a -0.8943 1.2327 0.2016 284.3 101.0 -
59 24 0194 Jan 24 09:26:58 8657 -22337 P -a -0.9053 1.2096 0.1840 281.2 96.5 -
60 25 0212 Feb 04 17:38:20 8486 -22114 P -a -0.9219 1.1763 0.1566 277.0 89.1 -
61 26 0230 Feb 15 01:43:28 8315 -21891 P -a -0.9438 1.1329 0.1193 271.9 77.9 -
62 27 0248 Feb 26 09:40:27 8143 -21668 P -a -0.9733 1.0757 0.0684 265.4 59.3 -
63 28 0266 Mar 08 17:30:47 7971 -21445 P -a -1.0088 1.0073 0.0063 257.5 18.1 -
64 29 0284 Mar 19 01:13:41 7798 -21222 N -a -1.0511 0.9265 -0.0682 248.0 - -
65 30 0302 Mar 30 08:50:58 7624 -20999 N -a -1.0986 0.8363 -0.1524 236.8 - -
66 31 0320 Apr 09 16:20:28 7449 -20776 N -a -1.1532 0.7333 -0.2497 223.1 - -
67 32 0338 Apr 20 23:46:47 7274 -20553 N -a -1.2110 0.6245 -0.3532 207.2 - -
68 33 0356 May 01 07:07:42 7098 -20330 N -a -1.2742 0.5061 -0.4667 188.0 - -
69 34 0374 May 12 14:27:24 6921 -20107 N -a -1.3388 0.3854 -0.5831 165.3 - -
70 35 0392 May 22 21:43:32 6743 -19884 N -a -1.4069 0.2586 -0.7062 136.5 - -
71 36 0410 Jun 03 05:01:28 6565 -19661 N -a -1.4742 0.1336 -0.8282 98.9 - -
72 37 0428 Jun 13 12:18:43 6387 -19438 Ne -a -1.5427 0.0066 -0.9526 22.2 - -
[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)"
