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 72 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 -0389 Jun 17. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 0891 Jul 25. The total duration of Saros series 72 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0389 Jun 17 03:09:25 TD
Last Eclipse = 0891 Jul 25 02:50:16 TD
Duration of Saros 72 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 72 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 72 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 16 | 22.2% |
| Partial | P | 42 | 58.3% |
| Total | T | 14 | 19.4% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 72 occur in the order of 8N 20P 14T 22P 8N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
20 Partial
14 Total
22 Partial
8 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 72 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0224 Jun 18 Duration = 01h41m50s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0350 Sep 02 Duration = 00h30m55s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0098 Apr 04 Duration = 03h14m22s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0245 Sep 11 Duration = 00h57m12s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0263 Aug 31 Duration = 04h46m57s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0891 Jul 25 Duration = 00h31m39s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 72 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0368 Sep 13 Magnitude = 0.9733
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0245 Sep 11 Magnitude = 0.0555
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 72 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 -0389 Jun 17 03:09:25 15284 -29543 N t- 1.4986 0.1426 -0.9259 116.1 - -
02 -33 -0371 Jun 27 09:32:39 15013 -29320 N t- 1.4147 0.2969 -0.7721 165.1 - -
03 -32 -0353 Jul 08 15:59:40 14748 -29097 N t- 1.3329 0.4475 -0.6224 199.8 - -
04 -31 -0335 Jul 18 22:34:06 14490 -28874 N t- 1.2560 0.5891 -0.4819 226.0 - -
05 -30 -0317 Jul 30 05:15:36 14238 -28651 N t- 1.1839 0.7220 -0.3503 246.8 - -
06 -29 -0299 Aug 09 12:05:24 13991 -28428 N t- 1.1175 0.8446 -0.2293 263.4 - -
07 -28 -0281 Aug 20 19:04:22 13749 -28205 N t- 1.0578 0.9551 -0.1205 276.6 - -
08 -27 -0263 Aug 31 02:13:47 13513 -27982 Nx t- 1.0057 1.0515 -0.0258 286.9 - -
09 -26 -0245 Sep 11 09:33:24 13281 -27759 P t- 0.9610 1.1343 0.0555 295.0 57.2 -
10 -25 -0227 Sep 21 17:03:05 13055 -27536 P t- 0.9238 1.2033 0.1232 301.1 84.3 -
11 -24 -0209 Oct 03 00:42:59 12832 -27313 P t- 0.8938 1.2588 0.1776 305.6 100.2 -
12 -23 -0191 Oct 13 08:32:42 12614 -27090 P t- 0.8711 1.3008 0.2190 308.6 110.4 -
13 -22 -0173 Oct 24 16:29:53 12401 -26867 P t- 0.8538 1.3325 0.2506 310.6 117.3 -
14 -21 -0155 Nov 04 00:34:55 12191 -26644 P h- 0.8422 1.3537 0.2722 311.6 121.5 -
15 -20 -0137 Nov 15 08:44:45 11985 -26421 P h- 0.8339 1.3684 0.2881 311.9 124.4 -
16 -19 -0119 Nov 25 16:59:21 11783 -26198 P h- 0.8286 1.3772 0.2987 311.7 126.2 -
17 -18 -0101 Dec 07 01:14:01 11584 -25975 P h- 0.8226 1.3867 0.3109 311.4 128.2 -
18 -17 -0083 Dec 17 09:30:45 11388 -25752 P a- 0.8178 1.3940 0.3215 310.9 129.8 -
19 -16 -0065 Dec 28 17:44:40 11196 -25529 P a- 0.8105 1.4053 0.3368 310.7 132.3 -
20 -15 -0046 Jan 08 01:56:02 11006 -25306 P a- 0.8001 1.4220 0.3583 310.7 135.6 -
21 -14 -0028 Jan 19 10:01:13 10819 -25083 P a- 0.7841 1.4487 0.3903 311.3 140.5 -
22 -13 -0010 Jan 29 18:02:01 10635 -24860 P a- 0.7637 1.4832 0.4306 312.4 146.2 -
23 -12 0008 Feb 10 01:55:27 10453 -24637 P a- 0.7366 1.5298 0.4834 314.1 153.2 -
24 -11 0026 Feb 20 09:41:53 10273 -24414 P a- 0.7030 1.5882 0.5482 316.3 161.0 -
25 -10 0044 Mar 02 17:20:47 10094 -24191 P a- 0.6624 1.6594 0.6260 319.0 169.4 -
26 -09 0062 Mar 14 00:53:05 9918 -23968 P a- 0.6151 1.7429 0.7160 322.0 177.9 -
27 -08 0080 Mar 24 08:17:51 9743 -23745 P a- 0.5607 1.8395 0.8191 325.1 186.4 -
28 -07 0098 Apr 04 15:36:48 9569 -23522 P a- 0.5004 1.9469 0.9329 328.2 194.4 -
29 -06 0116 Apr 14 22:50:23 9396 -23299 T a- 0.4345 2.0648 1.0567 331.0 201.6 36.9
30 -05 0134 Apr 26 06:00:42 9224 -23076 T a- 0.3648 2.1898 1.1873 333.3 207.7 64.1
31 -04 0152 May 06 13:06:28 9053 -22853 T a- 0.2901 2.3242 1.3269 335.1 212.7 80.6
32 -03 0170 May 17 20:11:58 8882 -22630 T+ p- 0.2142 2.4613 1.4686 336.2 216.4 91.2
33 -02 0188 May 28 03:15:54 8711 -22407 T+ pp 0.1357 2.6032 1.6145 336.6 218.8 98.0
34 -01 0206 Jun 08 10:22:12 8540 -22184 T+ pp 0.0584 2.7432 1.7581 336.1 219.8 101.3
35 00 0224 Jun 18 17:28:31 8369 -21961 T- pp -0.0198 2.8128 1.8305 334.9 219.4 101.8
36 01 0242 Jun 30 00:40:21 8197 -21738 T- pp -0.0943 2.6748 1.6948 333.0 217.9 99.6
37 02 0260 Jul 10 07:55:34 8025 -21515 T- pp -0.1671 2.5403 1.5621 330.4 215.2 94.9
38 03 0278 Jul 21 15:17:39 7852 -21292 T- -p -0.2349 2.4154 1.4384 327.4 211.7 87.9
39 04 0296 Jul 31 22:45:33 7679 -21069 T -p -0.2985 2.2983 1.3219 324.0 207.4 78.4
40 05 0314 Aug 12 06:22:48 7504 -20846 T -p -0.3552 2.1942 1.2180 320.5 202.8 66.6
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 0332 Aug 22 14:07:55 7329 -20623 T -p -0.4061 2.1009 1.1246 316.9 197.9 51.8
42 07 0350 Sep 02 22:01:41 7153 -20400 T -a -0.4507 2.0192 1.0425 313.4 193.0 30.9
43 08 0368 Sep 13 06:04:43 6976 -20177 P -a -0.4882 1.9507 0.9733 310.2 188.4 -
44 09 0386 Sep 24 14:17:03 6799 -19954 P -a -0.5186 1.8954 0.9173 307.4 184.3 -
45 10 0404 Oct 04 22:38:21 6621 -19731 P -a -0.5422 1.8523 0.8735 305.0 180.8 -
46 11 0422 Oct 16 07:06:52 6443 -19508 P -a -0.5604 1.8191 0.8398 303.0 178.0 -
47 12 0440 Oct 26 15:43:29 6264 -19285 P -a -0.5725 1.7972 0.8174 301.4 175.9 -
48 13 0458 Nov 07 00:25:45 6086 -19062 P -a -0.5804 1.7827 0.8029 300.3 174.5 -
49 14 0476 Nov 17 09:12:48 5908 -18839 P -a -0.5846 1.7749 0.7954 299.4 173.6 -
50 15 0494 Nov 28 18:02:34 5732 -18616 P -a -0.5869 1.7704 0.7915 298.7 173.1 -
51 16 0512 Dec 09 02:54:28 5555 -18393 P -a -0.5877 1.7684 0.7907 298.2 172.8 -
52 17 0530 Dec 20 11:45:39 5379 -18170 P -a -0.5893 1.7645 0.7885 297.5 172.4 -
53 18 0548 Dec 30 20:35:05 5204 -17947 P -a -0.5927 1.7573 0.7833 296.7 171.8 -
54 19 0567 Jan 11 05:21:17 5030 -17724 P -a -0.5990 1.7445 0.7730 295.6 170.9 -
55 20 0585 Jan 21 14:03:47 4857 -17501 P -a -0.6083 1.7261 0.7573 294.3 169.5 -
56 21 0603 Feb 01 22:39:19 4686 -17278 P -a -0.6239 1.6959 0.7302 292.5 167.1 -
57 22 0621 Feb 12 07:08:56 4516 -17055 P -a -0.6446 1.6564 0.6938 290.1 163.8 -
58 23 0639 Feb 23 15:30:42 4348 -16832 P -a -0.6720 1.6043 0.6449 287.0 159.1 -
59 24 0657 Mar 05 23:46:12 4181 -16609 P -a -0.7048 1.5425 0.5864 283.3 153.1 -
60 25 0675 Mar 17 07:51:56 4016 -16386 P -a -0.7459 1.4657 0.5126 278.5 144.8 -
61 26 0693 Mar 27 15:51:57 3853 -16163 P -a -0.7917 1.3801 0.4298 272.8 134.3 -
62 27 0711 Apr 07 23:43:02 3693 -15940 P -a -0.8454 1.2804 0.3325 265.7 119.9 -
63 28 0729 Apr 18 07:28:45 3534 -15717 P -a -0.9032 1.1733 0.2274 257.4 100.7 -
64 29 0747 Apr 29 15:06:35 3378 -15494 P -a -0.9676 1.0545 0.1101 247.3 71.3 -
65 30 0765 May 09 22:41:10 3225 -15271 N -a -1.0343 0.9315 -0.0120 235.7 - -
66 31 0783 May 21 06:10:31 3074 -15048 N -a -1.1053 0.8011 -0.1422 221.7 - -
67 32 0801 May 31 13:37:25 2927 -14825 N -a -1.1781 0.6678 -0.2758 205.4 - -
68 33 0819 Jun 11 21:02:15 2783 -14602 N -a -1.2522 0.5323 -0.4123 186.2 - -
69 34 0837 Jun 22 04:27:12 2643 -14379 N -a -1.3259 0.3978 -0.5484 163.3 - -
70 35 0855 Jul 03 11:52:35 2506 -14156 N -a -1.3988 0.2653 -0.6832 135.3 - -
71 36 0873 Jul 13 19:19:38 2373 -13933 N -a -1.4698 0.1364 -0.8151 98.4 - -
72 37 0891 Jul 25 02:50:16 2245 -13710 Ne -a -1.5377 0.0137 -0.9413 31.6 - -
[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)"
