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 59 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 -0711 Apr 09. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0551 May 06. The total duration of Saros series 59 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0711 Apr 09 10:11:53 TD
Last Eclipse = 0551 May 06 02:33:23 TD
Duration of Saros 59 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 59 is composed of 71 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 59 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 30 | 42.3% |
| Partial | P | 20 | 28.2% |
| Total | T | 21 | 29.6% |
The 71 lunar eclipses in Saros 59 occur in the order of 7N 12P 21T 8P 23N which corresponds to:
7 Penumbral
12 Partial
21 Total
8 Partial
23 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 59 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0098 Apr 11 Duration = 01h46m04s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0369 Nov 01 Duration = 00h14m49s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0387 Oct 20 Duration = 03h29m18s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0585 Jun 24 Duration = 00h47m58s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0154 Sep 09 Duration = 04h34m03s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0551 May 06 Duration = 01h29m13s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 59 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0387 Oct 20 Magnitude = 0.9908
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0585 Jun 24 Magnitude = 0.0399
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 59 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 -0711 Apr 09 10:11:53 20383 -33528 N t- -1.5042 0.1109 -0.9149 97.2 - -
02 -33 -0693 Apr 20 17:09:29 20093 -33305 N t- -1.4388 0.2316 -0.7957 139.4 - -
03 -32 -0675 Apr 30 23:59:18 19805 -33082 N t- -1.3679 0.3625 -0.6665 172.9 - -
04 -31 -0657 May 12 06:43:56 19520 -32859 N t- -1.2934 0.5004 -0.5309 201.3 - -
05 -30 -0639 May 22 13:23:51 19236 -32636 N t- -1.2155 0.6448 -0.3892 226.2 - -
06 -29 -0621 Jun 02 20:01:46 18955 -32413 N t- -1.1368 0.7909 -0.2464 247.9 - -
07 -28 -0603 Jun 13 02:38:36 18675 -32190 N t- -1.0574 0.9383 -0.1027 267.0 - -
08 -27 -0585 Jun 24 09:15:16 18398 -31967 P t- -0.9786 1.0850 0.0399 283.9 48.0 -
09 -26 -0567 Jul 04 15:54:22 18123 -31744 P t- -0.9025 1.2271 0.1774 298.4 99.5 -
10 -25 -0549 Jul 15 22:36:32 17850 -31521 P t- -0.8295 1.3634 0.3089 311.0 129.1 -
11 -24 -0531 Jul 26 05:23:45 17579 -31298 P t- -0.7609 1.4919 0.4322 321.7 150.3 -
12 -23 -0513 Aug 06 12:16:33 17310 -31075 P t- -0.6974 1.6111 0.5460 330.9 166.2 -
13 -22 -0495 Aug 16 19:17:01 17025 -30852 P t- -0.6405 1.7183 0.6477 338.5 178.4 -
14 -21 -0477 Aug 28 02:25:35 16708 -30629 P t- -0.5908 1.8122 0.7362 344.8 187.7 -
15 -20 -0459 Sep 07 09:41:36 16400 -30406 P t- -0.5476 1.8942 0.8129 350.0 195.0 -
16 -19 -0441 Sep 18 17:07:07 16100 -30183 P t- -0.5123 1.9615 0.8750 354.1 200.3 -
17 -18 -0423 Sep 29 00:40:26 15809 -29960 P t- -0.4836 2.0166 0.9254 357.4 204.4 -
18 -17 -0405 Oct 10 08:22:37 15525 -29737 P t- -0.4625 2.0575 0.9619 360.0 207.2 -
19 -16 -0387 Oct 20 16:09:54 15248 -29514 P t- -0.4458 2.0900 0.9908 362.0 209.3 -
20 -15 -0369 Nov 01 00:04:45 14978 -29291 T t- -0.4355 2.1103 1.0081 363.4 210.6 14.8
21 -14 -0351 Nov 11 08:02:50 14714 -29068 T t- -0.4279 2.1255 1.0210 364.5 211.6 23.8
22 -13 -0333 Nov 22 16:04:36 14457 -28845 T t- -0.4234 2.1344 1.0285 365.2 212.2 27.6
23 -12 -0315 Dec 03 00:06:05 14205 -28622 T t- -0.4189 2.1432 1.0366 365.8 212.7 31.2
24 -11 -0297 Dec 14 08:07:52 13959 -28399 T t- -0.4145 2.1510 1.0447 366.1 213.3 34.5
25 -10 -0279 Dec 24 16:05:58 13718 -28176 T t- -0.4072 2.1639 1.0586 366.6 214.2 39.3
26 -09 -0260 Jan 05 00:00:02 13482 -27953 T t- -0.3965 2.1827 1.0792 367.0 215.4 45.4
27 -08 -0242 Jan 15 07:47:53 13252 -27730 T t- -0.3804 2.2109 1.1099 367.7 217.2 53.0
28 -07 -0224 Jan 26 15:29:33 13025 -27507 T p- -0.3590 2.2486 1.1506 368.4 219.3 61.2
29 -06 -0206 Feb 05 23:01:45 12804 -27284 T p- -0.3297 2.3006 1.2062 369.4 221.9 70.3
30 -05 -0188 Feb 17 06:26:15 12586 -27061 T p- -0.2938 2.3644 1.2740 370.4 224.8 79.0
31 -04 -0170 Feb 27 13:41:04 12373 -26838 T- pp -0.2496 2.4433 1.3573 371.4 227.8 87.5
32 -03 -0152 Mar 09 20:48:37 12164 -26615 T- pp -0.1989 2.5342 1.4526 372.3 230.5 94.7
33 -02 -0134 Mar 21 03:45:27 11958 -26392 T- pp -0.1389 2.6419 1.5649 372.9 232.8 100.7
34 -01 -0116 Mar 31 10:36:25 11756 -26169 T- pp -0.0739 2.7590 1.6864 372.9 234.3 104.6
35 00 -0098 Apr 11 17:18:59 11558 -25946 T- pp -0.0016 2.8895 1.8212 372.2 234.8 106.1
36 01 -0080 Apr 21 23:57:43 11363 -25723 T+ pp 0.0744 2.7538 1.6896 370.7 233.8 104.6
37 02 -0062 May 03 06:29:39 11171 -25500 T+ pp 0.1564 2.6014 1.5409 368.1 231.3 99.5
38 03 -0044 May 13 13:00:48 10981 -25277 T+ pp 0.2398 2.4468 1.3898 364.5 226.9 89.9
39 04 -0026 May 24 19:28:54 10795 -25054 T pt 0.3257 2.2876 1.2336 359.7 220.6 73.6
40 05 -0008 Jun 04 01:58:18 10611 -24831 T -t 0.4111 2.1294 1.0782 353.7 212.2 44.8
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 0010 Jun 15 08:28:25 10429 -24608 P -t 0.4965 1.9717 0.9226 346.6 201.7 -
42 07 0028 Jun 25 15:03:17 10249 -24385 P -t 0.5784 1.8204 0.7731 338.5 189.1 -
43 08 0046 Jul 06 21:43:01 10071 -24162 P -t 0.6571 1.6755 0.6295 329.7 174.3 -
44 09 0064 Jul 17 04:28:44 9895 -23939 P -t 0.7315 1.5385 0.4935 320.2 157.3 -
45 10 0082 Jul 28 11:22:28 9720 -23716 P -t 0.7998 1.4128 0.3684 310.4 138.2 -
46 11 0100 Aug 07 18:24:40 9547 -23493 P -t 0.8618 1.2989 0.2548 300.6 116.5 -
47 12 0118 Aug 19 01:36:55 9374 -23270 P -t 0.9165 1.1985 0.1545 291.1 91.8 -
48 13 0136 Aug 29 08:58:32 9202 -23047 P -t 0.9642 1.1110 0.0669 282.1 61.0 -
49 14 0154 Sep 09 16:31:39 9031 -22824 Nx -t 1.0034 1.0391 -0.0052 274.0 - -
50 15 0172 Sep 20 00:14:49 8860 -22601 N -t 1.0351 0.9810 -0.0633 267.1 - -
51 16 0190 Oct 01 08:08:00 8689 -22378 N -h 1.0594 0.9363 -0.1080 261.4 - -
52 17 0208 Oct 11 16:10:24 8518 -22155 N -h 1.0771 0.9037 -0.1403 256.8 - -
53 18 0226 Oct 23 00:21:58 8346 -21932 N -h 1.0884 0.8828 -0.1606 253.6 - -
54 19 0244 Nov 02 08:40:26 8175 -21709 N -h 1.0945 0.8709 -0.1714 251.3 - -
55 20 0262 Nov 13 17:04:33 8003 -21486 N -a 1.0970 0.8656 -0.1751 249.9 - -
56 21 0280 Nov 24 01:33:04 7830 -21263 N -a 1.0967 0.8650 -0.1735 248.9 - -
57 22 0298 Dec 05 10:05:11 7656 -21040 N -a 1.0946 0.8675 -0.1683 248.3 - -
58 23 0316 Dec 15 18:37:07 7482 -20817 N -a 1.0934 0.8679 -0.1644 247.5 - -
59 24 0334 Dec 27 03:09:05 7306 -20594 N -a 1.0930 0.8668 -0.1616 246.4 - -
60 25 0353 Jan 06 11:37:48 7130 -20371 N -a 1.0961 0.8586 -0.1652 244.4 - -
61 26 0371 Jan 17 20:04:09 6953 -20148 N -a 1.1020 0.8454 -0.1734 241.9 - -
62 27 0389 Jan 28 04:23:33 6776 -19925 N -a 1.1144 0.8198 -0.1936 237.8 - -
63 28 0407 Feb 08 12:38:57 6598 -19702 N -a 1.1310 0.7864 -0.2212 232.7 - -
64 29 0425 Feb 18 20:46:11 6419 -19479 N -a 1.1550 0.7395 -0.2622 225.8 - -
65 30 0443 Mar 02 04:47:16 6241 -19256 N -a 1.1846 0.6821 -0.3135 217.2 - -
66 31 0461 Mar 12 12:39:38 6063 -19033 N -a 1.2219 0.6105 -0.3790 206.1 - -
67 32 0479 Mar 23 20:26:33 5886 -18810 N -a 1.2643 0.5298 -0.4539 192.7 - -
68 33 0497 Apr 03 04:06:04 5709 -18587 N -a 1.3134 0.4369 -0.5412 175.8 - -
69 34 0515 Apr 14 11:39:47 5532 -18364 N -a 1.3677 0.3345 -0.6382 154.7 - -
70 35 0533 Apr 24 19:08:13 5356 -18141 N -a 1.4266 0.2241 -0.7438 127.5 - -
71 36 0551 May 06 02:33:23 5181 -17918 N -a 1.4885 0.1083 -0.8553 89.2 - -
[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)"
