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 69 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 -0530 Jul 15. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 0768 Sep 01. The total duration of Saros series 69 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0530 Jul 15 06:08:51 TD
Last Eclipse = 0768 Sep 01 13:56:35 TD
Duration of Saros 69 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 69 is composed of 73 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 69 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 27 | 37.0% |
| Partial | P | 19 | 26.0% |
| Total | T | 27 | 37.0% |
The 73 lunar eclipses in Saros 69 occur in the order of 19N 9P 27T 10P 8N which corresponds to:
19 Penumbral
9 Partial
27 Total
10 Partial
8 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 69 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0083 Jul 17 Duration = 01h41m47s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0025 May 14 Duration = 00h22m11s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0043 May 02 Duration = 03h10m20s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0624 Jun 07 Duration = 00h12m25s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0205 Jan 26 Duration = 04h37m13s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0768 Sep 01 Duration = 00h37m20s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 69 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0462 Mar 02 Magnitude = 0.9941
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0624 Jun 07 Magnitude = 0.0032
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 69 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 -0530 Jul 15 06:08:51 17564 -31286 N t- -1.5124 0.1200 -0.9536 106.9 - -
02 -33 -0512 Jul 25 12:46:13 17295 -31063 N t- -1.4403 0.2532 -0.8224 153.4 - -
03 -32 -0494 Aug 05 19:30:53 17008 -30840 N t- -1.3732 0.3773 -0.7004 185.1 - -
04 -31 -0476 Aug 16 02:25:34 16691 -30617 N t- -1.3136 0.4880 -0.5920 208.3 - -
05 -30 -0458 Aug 27 09:29:39 16383 -30394 N t- -1.2607 0.5861 -0.4962 226.0 - -
06 -29 -0440 Sep 06 16:44:40 16084 -30171 N t- -1.2157 0.6697 -0.4147 239.4 - -
07 -28 -0422 Sep 18 00:08:38 15793 -29948 N t- -1.1774 0.7411 -0.3452 249.9 - -
08 -27 -0404 Sep 28 07:43:58 15510 -29725 N t- -1.1475 0.7968 -0.2912 257.4 - -
09 -26 -0386 Oct 09 15:27:42 15233 -29502 N t- -1.1237 0.8411 -0.2481 262.9 - -
10 -25 -0368 Oct 19 23:20:11 14964 -29279 N t- -1.1064 0.8732 -0.2167 266.6 - -
11 -24 -0350 Oct 31 07:19:19 14700 -29056 N t- -1.0937 0.8965 -0.1935 269.0 - -
12 -23 -0332 Nov 10 15:25:20 14443 -28833 N t- -1.0858 0.9107 -0.1787 270.2 - -
13 -22 -0314 Nov 21 23:34:17 14192 -28610 N h- -1.0798 0.9209 -0.1671 270.8 - -
14 -21 -0296 Dec 02 07:45:27 13946 -28387 N h- -1.0750 0.9287 -0.1572 271.0 - -
15 -20 -0278 Dec 13 15:56:41 13705 -28164 N h- -1.0695 0.9374 -0.1456 271.2 - -
16 -19 -0260 Dec 24 00:07:39 13470 -27941 N h- -1.0628 0.9478 -0.1316 271.5 - -
17 -18 -0241 Jan 04 08:13:50 13239 -27718 N h- -1.0515 0.9663 -0.1086 272.7 - -
18 -17 -0223 Jan 14 16:16:46 13013 -27495 N h- -1.0368 0.9908 -0.0792 274.4 - -
19 -16 -0205 Jan 26 00:12:42 12792 -27272 Nx h- -1.0154 1.0273 -0.0372 277.2 - -
20 -15 -0187 Feb 05 08:03:58 12575 -27049 P h- -0.9893 1.0721 0.0136 280.7 27.9 -
21 -14 -0169 Feb 16 15:45:33 12362 -26826 P h- -0.9542 1.1333 0.0811 285.4 67.1 -
22 -13 -0151 Feb 26 23:22:10 12153 -26603 P h- -0.9140 1.2039 0.1582 290.6 92.5 -
23 -12 -0133 Mar 10 06:49:26 11947 -26380 P h- -0.8652 1.2902 0.2510 296.6 114.6 -
24 -11 -0115 Mar 20 14:11:16 11746 -26157 P h- -0.8108 1.3866 0.3539 302.6 133.6 -
25 -10 -0097 Mar 31 21:24:58 11547 -25934 P h- -0.7487 1.4975 0.4711 309.0 150.9 -
26 -09 -0079 Apr 11 04:34:56 11352 -25711 P a- -0.6824 1.6161 0.5957 314.9 165.8 -
27 -08 -0061 Apr 22 11:39:00 11160 -25488 P a- -0.6101 1.7458 0.7311 320.5 179.1 -
28 -07 -0043 May 02 18:40:06 10971 -25265 P a- -0.5343 1.8823 0.8730 325.4 190.3 -
29 -06 -0025 May 14 01:38:36 10785 -25042 T a- -0.4554 2.0245 1.0200 329.6 199.7 22.2
30 -05 -0007 May 24 08:37:10 10601 -24819 T a- -0.3757 2.1687 1.1685 332.8 207.1 61.3
31 -04 0011 Jun 04 15:36:12 10419 -24596 T a- -0.2951 2.3147 1.3183 335.2 212.7 79.8
32 -03 0029 Jun 14 22:37:10 10240 -24373 T- p- -0.2151 2.4598 1.4666 336.6 216.6 91.2
33 -02 0047 Jun 26 05:42:20 10062 -24150 T- pp -0.1377 2.6006 1.6100 337.1 218.9 97.8
34 -01 0065 Jul 06 12:52:09 9886 -23927 T- pp -0.0633 2.7361 1.7475 336.7 219.8 101.1
35 00 0083 Jul 17 20:07:38 9711 -23704 T+ pp 0.0073 2.8381 1.8510 335.7 219.5 101.8
36 01 0101 Jul 28 03:30:19 9537 -23481 T+ pp 0.0728 2.7174 1.7313 334.2 218.3 100.3
37 02 0119 Aug 08 11:01:20 9365 -23258 T+ pp 0.1323 2.6079 1.6224 332.2 216.3 97.1
38 03 0137 Aug 18 18:41:26 9193 -23035 T+ pp 0.1847 2.5116 1.5263 330.1 213.9 92.8
39 04 0155 Aug 30 02:29:41 9021 -22812 T+ -p 0.2312 2.4263 1.4409 327.8 211.2 87.7
40 05 0173 Sep 09 10:28:23 8850 -22589 T+ -p 0.2696 2.3561 1.3704 325.5 208.5 82.3
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 06 0191 Sep 20 18:35:47 8679 -22366 T -p 0.3014 2.2979 1.3118 323.5 206.0 76.9
42 07 0209 Oct 01 02:52:37 8508 -22143 T -p 0.3259 2.2531 1.2667 321.6 203.8 72.1
43 08 0227 Oct 12 11:16:57 8337 -21920 T -p 0.3447 2.2188 1.2320 320.0 201.9 67.8
44 09 0245 Oct 22 19:49:31 8165 -21697 T -p 0.3572 2.1960 1.2091 318.7 200.5 64.8
45 10 0263 Nov 03 04:28:18 7993 -21474 T -p 0.3650 2.1814 1.1947 317.6 199.4 62.6
46 11 0281 Nov 13 13:11:53 7820 -21251 T -p 0.3695 2.1729 1.1868 316.6 198.7 61.4
47 12 0299 Nov 24 21:59:39 7647 -21028 T -p 0.3711 2.1696 1.1845 315.9 198.2 61.0
48 13 0317 Dec 05 06:49:18 7472 -20805 T -p 0.3718 2.1674 1.1839 315.1 197.9 60.8
49 14 0335 Dec 16 15:39:41 7297 -20582 T -p 0.3722 2.1658 1.1842 314.4 197.6 60.8
50 15 0353 Dec 27 00:27:46 7121 -20359 T -p 0.3751 2.1592 1.1800 313.6 197.1 60.1
51 16 0372 Jan 07 09:14:17 6944 -20136 T -p 0.3798 2.1492 1.1728 312.6 196.6 59.0
52 17 0390 Jan 17 17:56:15 6766 -19913 T -p 0.3891 2.1305 1.1573 311.4 195.7 56.5
53 18 0408 Jan 29 02:32:45 6588 -19690 T -p 0.4032 2.1029 1.1332 310.0 194.3 52.3
54 19 0426 Feb 08 11:02:26 6410 -19467 T -p 0.4233 2.0642 1.0981 308.1 192.4 45.4
55 20 0444 Feb 19 19:25:21 6231 -19244 T -a 0.4493 2.0144 1.0521 305.9 189.9 33.5
56 21 0462 Mar 02 03:40:50 6053 -19021 P -a 0.4820 1.9527 0.9941 303.2 186.4 -
57 22 0480 Mar 12 11:47:44 5876 -18798 P -a 0.5220 1.8775 0.9225 299.8 181.8 -
58 23 0498 Mar 23 19:47:39 5700 -18575 P -a 0.5681 1.7911 0.8395 295.8 175.9 -
59 24 0516 Apr 03 03:39:59 5523 -18352 P -a 0.6205 1.6935 0.7449 290.9 168.3 -
60 25 0534 Apr 14 11:25:38 5347 -18129 P -a 0.6786 1.5855 0.6397 285.1 158.7 -
61 26 0552 Apr 24 19:05:07 5172 -17906 P -a 0.7419 1.4682 0.5244 278.1 146.3 -
62 27 0570 May 06 02:39:45 4998 -17683 P -a 0.8093 1.3438 0.4016 269.9 130.5 -
63 28 0588 May 16 10:10:43 4826 -17460 P -a 0.8796 1.2143 0.2731 260.4 109.7 -
64 29 0606 May 27 17:37:56 4655 -17237 P -a 0.9530 1.0794 0.1385 249.3 79.6 -
65 30 0624 Jun 07 01:04:30 4485 -17014 P -a 1.0266 0.9445 0.0032 236.8 12.4 -
66 31 0642 Jun 18 08:30:02 4317 -16791 N -a 1.1008 0.8089 -0.1334 222.5 - -
67 32 0660 Jun 28 15:57:32 4151 -16568 N -a 1.1732 0.6769 -0.2670 206.6 - -
68 33 0678 Jul 09 23:25:34 3986 -16345 N -a 1.2448 0.5467 -0.3995 188.4 - -
69 34 0696 Jul 20 06:58:24 3824 -16122 N -a 1.3120 0.4250 -0.5242 168.4 - -
70 35 0714 Jul 31 14:33:59 3663 -15899 N -a 1.3764 0.3085 -0.6441 145.4 - -
71 36 0732 Aug 10 22:15:39 3505 -15676 N -a 1.4353 0.2024 -0.7542 119.2 - -
72 37 0750 Aug 22 06:02:05 3350 -15453 N -a 1.4900 0.1043 -0.8567 86.6 - -
73 38 0768 Sep 01 13:56:35 3197 -15230 Ne -a 1.5377 0.0190 -0.9466 37.3 - -
[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)"
