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 66 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 -0671 Aug 12. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 0826 Jan 27. The total duration of Saros series 66 is 1496.50 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0671 Aug 12 09:59:52 TD
Last Eclipse = 0826 Jan 27 17:25:25 TD
Duration of Saros 66 = 1496.50 Years
Saros 66 is composed of 84 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 66 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 84 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 40 | 47.6% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 17.9% |
| Total | T | 29 | 34.5% |
The 84 lunar eclipses in Saros 66 occur in the order of 21N 7P 29T 8P 19N which corresponds to:
21 Penumbral
7 Partial
29 Total
8 Partial
19 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 66 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0040 Aug 25 Duration = 01h41m13s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0166 Jun 11 Duration = 00h09m08s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0184 May 30 Duration = 03h08m49s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0292 Mar 27 Duration = 00h07m31s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0310 Mar 16 Duration = 04h24m24s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0826 Jan 27 Duration = 00h26m22s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 66 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0357 Apr 20 Magnitude = 0.9424
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0292 Mar 27 Magnitude = 0.0010
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 66 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 -35 -0671 Aug 12 09:59:52 19737 -33029 Nb t- 1.5751 0.0092 -1.0729 30.0 - -
02 -34 -0653 Aug 23 16:59:48 19452 -32806 N t- 1.5206 0.1107 -0.9744 103.0 - -
03 -33 -0635 Sep 03 00:10:06 19169 -32583 N t- 1.4737 0.1981 -0.8898 136.7 - -
04 -32 -0617 Sep 14 07:29:50 18888 -32360 N t- 1.4338 0.2726 -0.8179 159.3 - -
05 -31 -0599 Sep 24 15:00:04 18609 -32137 N t- 1.4016 0.3330 -0.7598 175.0 - -
06 -30 -0581 Oct 05 22:39:23 18333 -31914 N t- 1.3760 0.3809 -0.7138 186.2 - -
07 -29 -0563 Oct 16 06:26:13 18058 -31691 N t- 1.3559 0.4183 -0.6777 194.3 - -
08 -28 -0545 Oct 27 14:21:12 17785 -31468 N t- 1.3418 0.4447 -0.6521 199.6 - -
09 -27 -0527 Nov 06 22:21:34 17515 -31245 N t- 1.3319 0.4628 -0.6339 203.0 - -
10 -26 -0509 Nov 18 06:26:56 17246 -31022 N t- 1.3250 0.4751 -0.6209 205.1 - -
11 -25 -0491 Nov 28 14:33:06 16949 -30799 N t- 1.3183 0.4867 -0.6078 206.9 - -
12 -24 -0473 Dec 09 22:41:44 16634 -30576 N t- 1.3128 0.4954 -0.5967 208.1 - -
13 -23 -0455 Dec 20 06:48:18 16328 -30353 N t- 1.3054 0.5075 -0.5815 209.8 - -
14 -22 -0437 Dec 31 14:52:27 16030 -30130 N h- 1.2952 0.5242 -0.5608 212.3 - -
15 -21 -0418 Jan 10 22:51:19 15741 -29907 N h- 1.2803 0.5493 -0.5312 216.1 - -
16 -20 -0400 Jan 22 06:45:29 15458 -29684 N h- 1.2607 0.5826 -0.4927 221.0 - -
17 -19 -0382 Feb 01 14:32:26 15183 -29461 N h- 1.2347 0.6276 -0.4421 227.5 - -
18 -18 -0364 Feb 12 22:12:10 14915 -29238 N h- 1.2021 0.6842 -0.3795 235.3 - -
19 -17 -0346 Feb 23 05:44:02 14653 -29015 N h- 1.1624 0.7541 -0.3034 244.3 - -
20 -16 -0328 Mar 05 13:08:44 14396 -28792 N h- 1.1160 0.8360 -0.2152 254.0 - -
21 -15 -0310 Mar 16 20:24:55 14146 -28569 N h- 1.0618 0.9322 -0.1125 264.4 - -
22 -14 -0292 Mar 27 03:35:05 13901 -28346 P h- 1.0016 1.0395 0.0010 274.8 7.5 -
23 -13 -0274 Apr 07 10:38:43 13662 -28123 P h- 0.9349 1.1587 0.1263 285.1 82.9 -
24 -12 -0256 Apr 17 17:38:51 13427 -27900 P h- 0.8644 1.2853 0.2586 294.7 116.0 -
25 -11 -0238 Apr 29 00:33:17 13197 -27677 P h- 0.7878 1.4232 0.4019 303.8 141.1 -
26 -10 -0220 May 09 07:27:25 12972 -27454 P h- 0.7097 1.5640 0.5475 311.8 160.4 -
27 -09 -0202 May 20 14:18:45 12752 -27231 P h- 0.6278 1.7121 0.7001 318.9 176.4 -
28 -08 -0184 May 30 21:12:42 12535 -27008 P h- 0.5469 1.8585 0.8504 324.6 188.8 -
29 -07 -0166 Jun 11 04:06:18 12323 -26785 T a- 0.4645 2.0081 1.0034 329.3 198.8 9.1
30 -06 -0148 Jun 21 11:05:52 12115 -26562 T a- 0.3856 2.1513 1.1494 332.8 206.3 58.1
31 -05 -0130 Jul 02 18:08:36 11910 -26339 T a- 0.3081 2.2925 1.2928 335.3 211.9 77.3
32 -04 -0112 Jul 13 01:18:25 11709 -26116 T+ p- 0.2353 2.4251 1.4271 336.8 215.6 88.6
33 -03 -0094 Jul 24 08:34:17 11511 -25893 T+ p- 0.1667 2.5505 1.5538 337.4 218.0 95.5
34 -02 -0076 Aug 03 15:59:09 11317 -25670 T+ pp 0.1046 2.6640 1.6681 337.4 219.1 99.3
35 -01 -0058 Aug 14 23:32:16 11126 -25447 T+ pp 0.0484 2.7669 1.7714 336.9 219.3 101.0
36 00 -0040 Aug 25 07:14:21 10937 -25224 T- pp -0.0012 2.8533 1.8580 335.9 218.9 101.2
37 01 -0022 Sep 05 15:06:11 10751 -25001 T- pp -0.0435 2.7758 1.7804 334.8 218.0 100.5
38 02 -0004 Sep 15 23:07:42 10567 -24778 T- pp -0.0784 2.7117 1.7163 333.5 216.9 99.2
39 03 0014 Sep 27 07:18:39 10386 -24555 T- pp -0.1062 2.6608 1.6652 332.2 215.7 97.7
40 04 0032 Oct 07 15:38:15 10207 -24332 T- pp -0.1274 2.6220 1.6263 331.0 214.6 96.3
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 05 0050 Oct 19 00:06:10 10029 -24109 T- -p -0.1426 2.5940 1.5985 329.8 213.6 95.1
42 06 0068 Oct 29 08:41:07 9853 -23886 T- -p -0.1525 2.5756 1.5806 328.8 212.8 94.1
43 07 0086 Nov 09 17:21:11 9679 -23663 T- -p -0.1588 2.5636 1.5695 327.8 212.1 93.5
44 08 0104 Nov 20 02:06:11 9505 -23440 T- -p -0.1616 2.5579 1.5650 326.8 211.6 93.1
45 09 0122 Dec 01 10:53:36 9333 -23217 T- -p -0.1626 2.5552 1.5640 325.9 211.2 92.9
46 10 0140 Dec 11 19:42:12 9161 -22994 T- -p -0.1633 2.5528 1.5639 325.0 210.8 92.8
47 11 0158 Dec 23 04:29:10 8990 -22771 T- -p -0.1659 2.5466 1.5604 324.1 210.4 92.6
48 12 0177 Jan 02 13:14:26 8819 -22548 T- -p -0.1701 2.5373 1.5543 323.1 209.9 92.2
49 13 0195 Jan 13 21:55:51 8648 -22325 T- -p -0.1777 2.5215 1.5420 322.0 209.4 91.6
50 14 0213 Jan 24 06:31:27 8477 -22102 T- -p -0.1906 2.4959 1.5204 320.8 208.7 90.5
51 15 0231 Feb 04 15:00:59 8306 -21879 T- -p -0.2087 2.4606 1.4892 319.4 207.8 88.8
52 16 0249 Feb 14 23:23:23 8134 -21656 T- -p -0.2332 2.4136 1.4464 317.8 206.5 86.3
53 17 0267 Feb 26 07:38:57 7961 -21433 T- -p -0.2635 2.3557 1.3928 316.0 204.8 82.6
54 18 0285 Mar 08 15:45:39 7788 -21210 T -p -0.3015 2.2839 1.3252 313.8 202.4 77.0
55 19 0303 Mar 19 23:45:52 7615 -20987 T -p -0.3453 2.2016 1.2468 311.2 199.4 68.8
56 20 0321 Mar 30 07:38:17 7440 -20764 T -p -0.3959 2.1068 1.1557 307.9 195.3 56.3
57 21 0339 Apr 10 15:24:31 7265 -20541 T -a -0.4520 2.0022 1.0544 304.1 190.0 34.3
58 22 0357 Apr 20 23:04:20 7088 -20318 P -a -0.5138 1.8874 0.9424 299.5 183.2 -
59 23 0375 May 02 06:39:57 6911 -20095 P -a -0.5794 1.7659 0.8231 294.0 174.8 -
60 24 0393 May 12 14:11:45 6734 -19872 P -a -0.6484 1.6386 0.6974 287.6 164.2 -
61 25 0411 May 23 21:39:55 6555 -19649 P -a -0.7205 1.5056 0.5655 280.1 151.0 -
62 26 0429 Jun 03 05:07:01 6377 -19426 P -a -0.7936 1.3714 0.4316 271.6 134.7 -
63 27 0447 Jun 14 12:33:07 6199 -19203 P -a -0.8677 1.2356 0.2955 262.0 113.7 -
64 28 0465 Jun 24 20:00:37 6021 -18980 P -a -0.9402 1.1030 0.1619 251.4 85.8 -
65 29 0483 Jul 06 03:28:49 5844 -18757 P -a -1.0120 0.9721 0.0293 239.6 37.2 -
66 30 0501 Jul 16 11:01:18 5667 -18534 N -a -1.0801 0.8482 -0.0968 227.0 - -
67 31 0519 Jul 27 18:37:31 5490 -18311 N -a -1.1451 0.7305 -0.2174 213.6 - -
68 32 0537 Aug 07 02:18:44 5314 -18088 N -a -1.2056 0.6212 -0.3300 199.5 - -
69 33 0555 Aug 18 10:05:54 5140 -17865 N -a -1.2609 0.5216 -0.4335 185.0 - -
70 34 0573 Aug 28 17:59:54 4966 -17642 N -a -1.3104 0.4329 -0.5263 170.3 - -
71 35 0591 Sep 09 02:01:43 4794 -17419 N -a -1.3534 0.3561 -0.6075 156.0 - -
72 36 0609 Sep 19 10:09:43 4624 -17196 N -a -1.3914 0.2887 -0.6794 141.7 - -
73 37 0627 Sep 30 18:26:31 4454 -16973 N -a -1.4220 0.2350 -0.7378 128.8 - -
74 38 0645 Oct 11 02:49:50 4287 -16750 N -a -1.4472 0.1910 -0.7862 116.9 - -
75 39 0663 Oct 22 11:20:57 4120 -16527 N -a -1.4659 0.1588 -0.8228 107.2 - -
76 40 0681 Nov 01 19:56:27 3956 -16304 N -a -1.4810 0.1332 -0.8525 98.7 - -
77 41 0699 Nov 13 04:37:54 3794 -16081 N -a -1.4911 0.1165 -0.8729 92.7 - -
78 42 0717 Nov 23 13:21:42 3634 -15858 N -a -1.4991 0.1034 -0.8893 87.7 - -
79 43 0735 Dec 04 22:07:43 3476 -15635 N -a -1.5049 0.0943 -0.9012 84.0 - -
80 44 0753 Dec 15 06:53:21 3321 -15412 N -a -1.5106 0.0849 -0.9129 80.0 - -
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
81 45 0771 Dec 26 15:38:15 3169 -15189 N -a -1.5164 0.0754 -0.9243 75.7 - -
82 46 0790 Jan 06 00:19:09 3020 -14966 N -a -1.5250 0.0601 -0.9409 67.9 - -
83 47 0808 Jan 17 08:55:34 2874 -14743 N -a -1.5369 0.0388 -0.9631 54.8 - -
84 48 0826 Jan 27 17:25:25 2731 -14520 Ne -a -1.5533 0.0089 -0.9935 26.4 - -
[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)"
