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 74 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 -0331 May 07. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 0949 Jun 13. The total duration of Saros series 74 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0331 May 07 14:03:46 TD
Last Eclipse = 0949 Jun 13 11:57:25 TD
Duration of Saros 74 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 74 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 74 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 18 | 25.0% |
| Partial | P | 43 | 59.7% |
| Total | T | 11 | 15.3% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 74 occur in the order of 9N 22P 11T 21P 9N which corresponds to:
9 Penumbral
22 Partial
11 Total
21 Partial
9 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 74 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0318 May 31 Duration = 01h46m36s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0228 Apr 07 Duration = 00h36m19s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0426 Aug 04 Duration = 03h25m58s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0787 Mar 08 Duration = 00h44m16s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0805 Mar 19 Duration = 04h31m26s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0331 May 07 Duration = 00h07m47s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 74 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0426 Aug 04 Magnitude = 0.9318
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0787 Mar 08 Magnitude = 0.0347
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 74 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 -36 -0331 May 07 14:03:46 14436 -28827 Nb a- 1.5502 0.0008 -0.9742 7.8 - -
02 -35 -0313 May 18 21:14:43 14185 -28604 N h- 1.4829 0.1255 -0.8518 97.8 - -
03 -34 -0295 May 29 04:23:26 13939 -28381 N h- 1.4143 0.2528 -0.7274 137.7 - -
04 -33 -0277 Jun 09 11:29:51 13699 -28158 N h- 1.3443 0.3831 -0.6007 168.2 - -
05 -32 -0259 Jun 19 18:35:16 13464 -27935 N h- 1.2741 0.5139 -0.4739 193.2 - -
06 -31 -0241 Jul 01 01:41:50 13233 -27712 N h- 1.2053 0.6426 -0.3500 214.3 - -
07 -30 -0223 Jul 11 08:50:31 13007 -27489 N t- 1.1388 0.7672 -0.2305 232.3 - -
08 -29 -0205 Jul 22 16:03:28 12786 -27266 N t- 1.0763 0.8848 -0.1186 247.7 - -
09 -28 -0187 Aug 01 23:19:19 12569 -27043 N t- 1.0167 0.9971 -0.0123 261.1 - -
10 -27 -0169 Aug 13 06:42:12 12356 -26820 P t- 0.9634 1.0981 0.0823 272.4 65.9 -
11 -26 -0151 Aug 23 14:10:24 12147 -26597 P t- 0.9149 1.1904 0.1681 282.2 93.4 -
12 -25 -0133 Sep 03 21:46:42 11942 -26374 P t- 0.8738 1.2692 0.2402 290.2 110.8 -
13 -24 -0115 Sep 14 05:28:55 11740 -26151 P t- 0.8382 1.3379 0.3023 297.1 123.6 -
14 -23 -0097 Sep 25 13:20:18 11542 -25928 P t- 0.8107 1.3915 0.3496 302.6 132.4 -
15 -22 -0079 Oct 05 21:17:30 11347 -25705 P t- 0.7887 1.4351 0.3870 307.2 138.9 -
16 -21 -0061 Oct 17 05:21:30 11155 -25482 P t- 0.7730 1.4668 0.4129 310.8 143.3 -
17 -20 -0043 Oct 27 13:30:22 10966 -25259 P t- 0.7619 1.4898 0.4306 313.7 146.4 -
18 -19 -0025 Nov 07 21:44:44 10780 -25036 P t- 0.7565 1.5020 0.4382 315.8 147.9 -
19 -18 -0007 Nov 18 06:00:55 10596 -24813 P t- 0.7529 1.5106 0.4428 317.6 148.9 -
20 -17 0011 Nov 29 14:18:40 10414 -24590 P t- 0.7514 1.5151 0.4439 319.0 149.5 -
21 -16 0029 Dec 09 22:35:32 10235 -24367 P t- 0.7499 1.5192 0.4454 320.3 150.1 -
22 -15 0047 Dec 21 06:51:24 10057 -24144 P t- 0.7484 1.5229 0.4473 321.5 150.7 -
23 -14 0065 Dec 31 15:01:36 9881 -23921 P t- 0.7428 1.5337 0.4568 323.1 152.5 -
24 -13 0084 Jan 11 23:07:35 9706 -23698 P t- 0.7345 1.5492 0.4718 325.0 154.9 -
25 -12 0102 Jan 22 07:05:05 9533 -23475 P t- 0.7199 1.5761 0.4987 327.5 159.0 -
26 -11 0120 Feb 02 14:56:03 9360 -23252 P t- 0.7004 1.6115 0.5347 330.5 164.0 -
27 -10 0138 Feb 12 22:35:33 9188 -23029 P t- 0.6724 1.6625 0.5865 334.3 170.7 -
28 -09 0156 Feb 24 06:07:20 9017 -22806 P t- 0.6385 1.7240 0.6492 338.5 178.2 -
29 -08 0174 Mar 06 13:26:59 8846 -22583 P t- 0.5955 1.8024 0.7288 343.3 186.6 -
30 -07 0192 Mar 16 20:37:36 8675 -22360 P t- 0.5455 1.8935 0.8213 348.3 195.3 -
31 -06 0210 Mar 28 03:36:38 8504 -22137 P t- 0.4864 2.0012 0.9302 353.6 204.2 -
32 -05 0228 Apr 07 10:28:01 8332 -21914 T t- 0.4216 2.1195 1.0499 358.7 212.5 36.3
33 -04 0246 Apr 18 17:10:07 8161 -21691 T t- 0.3496 2.2511 1.1824 363.4 220.0 66.6
34 -03 0264 Apr 28 23:44:49 7989 -21468 T+ pp 0.2719 2.3933 1.3254 367.5 226.4 84.7
35 -02 0282 May 10 06:13:40 7816 -21245 T+ pp 0.1896 2.5441 1.4766 370.7 231.3 96.5
36 -01 0300 May 20 12:38:15 7642 -21022 T+ pp 0.1038 2.7015 1.6341 373.0 234.6 103.7
37 00 0318 May 31 18:59:58 7467 -20799 T+ pp 0.0160 2.8628 1.7951 374.1 236.0 106.6
38 01 0336 Jun 11 01:19:49 7292 -20576 T- pp -0.0732 2.7580 1.6897 374.0 235.5 105.3
39 02 0354 Jun 22 07:41:06 7116 -20353 T- pp -0.1613 2.5969 1.5275 372.8 233.1 99.6
40 03 0372 Jul 02 14:04:31 6939 -20130 T- pp -0.2478 2.4390 1.3683 370.3 228.8 88.9
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 04 0390 Jul 13 20:31:14 6761 -19907 T -t -0.3315 2.2861 1.2137 366.8 222.7 71.7
42 05 0408 Jul 24 03:03:41 6583 -19684 T -t -0.4106 2.1421 1.0677 362.5 215.0 42.3
43 06 0426 Aug 04 09:42:58 6405 -19461 P -t -0.4840 2.0085 0.9318 357.4 206.0 -
44 07 0444 Aug 14 16:30:29 6227 -19238 P -t -0.5509 1.8870 0.8079 352.0 196.0 -
45 08 0462 Aug 25 23:25:23 6049 -19015 P -t -0.6119 1.7763 0.6947 346.3 185.2 -
46 09 0480 Sep 05 06:30:36 5871 -18792 P -t -0.6646 1.6808 0.5967 340.8 174.3 -
47 10 0498 Sep 16 13:45:04 5695 -18569 P -t -0.7100 1.5988 0.5123 335.6 163.6 -
48 11 0516 Sep 26 21:09:37 5518 -18346 P -t -0.7473 1.5314 0.4428 330.9 153.6 -
49 12 0534 Oct 08 04:43:19 5342 -18123 P -t -0.7773 1.4772 0.3868 326.7 144.6 -
50 13 0552 Oct 18 12:26:42 5167 -17900 P -t -0.8000 1.4364 0.3446 323.4 137.2 -
51 14 0570 Oct 29 20:18:13 4994 -17677 P -t -0.8163 1.4068 0.3141 320.7 131.4 -
52 15 0588 Nov 09 04:15:35 4821 -17454 P -t -0.8283 1.3849 0.2921 318.5 126.9 -
53 16 0606 Nov 20 12:19:35 4650 -17231 P -t -0.8354 1.3717 0.2792 316.9 124.1 -
54 17 0624 Nov 30 20:26:50 4481 -17008 P -t -0.8398 1.3630 0.2717 315.5 122.4 -
55 18 0642 Dec 12 04:36:58 4313 -16785 P -t -0.8428 1.3565 0.2672 314.2 121.2 -
56 19 0660 Dec 22 12:45:46 4146 -16562 P -t -0.8473 1.3469 0.2603 312.6 119.5 -
57 20 0679 Jan 02 20:55:00 3982 -16339 P -t -0.8519 1.3366 0.2535 310.8 117.8 -
58 21 0697 Jan 13 05:00:08 3819 -16116 P -t -0.8601 1.3195 0.2405 308.4 114.7 -
59 22 0715 Jan 24 13:01:07 3659 -15893 P -t -0.8723 1.2947 0.2205 305.2 109.9 -
60 23 0733 Feb 03 20:55:25 3501 -15670 P -t -0.8903 1.2591 0.1902 301.0 102.3 -
61 24 0751 Feb 15 04:44:01 3345 -15447 P -t -0.9135 1.2135 0.1504 295.8 91.2 -
62 25 0769 Feb 25 12:24:44 3193 -15224 P -t -0.9436 1.1553 0.0983 289.2 74.1 -
63 26 0787 Mar 08 19:58:14 3043 -15001 P -t -0.9799 1.0854 0.0347 281.2 44.3 -
64 27 0805 Mar 19 03:24:04 2896 -14778 Nx -t -1.0232 1.0029 -0.0415 271.4 - -
65 28 0823 Mar 30 10:43:23 2753 -14555 N -t -1.0722 0.9097 -0.1284 259.8 - -
66 29 0841 Apr 09 17:55:20 2614 -14332 N -t -1.1279 0.8044 -0.2275 245.8 - -
67 30 0859 Apr 21 01:02:34 2478 -14109 N -t -1.1880 0.6912 -0.3348 229.4 - -
68 31 0877 May 01 08:04:53 2346 -13886 N -t -1.2528 0.5693 -0.4510 209.7 - -
69 32 0895 May 12 15:05:21 2218 -13663 N -t -1.3197 0.4439 -0.5712 186.6 - -
70 33 0913 May 22 22:02:04 2094 -13440 N -t -1.3904 0.3118 -0.6985 157.6 - -
71 34 0931 Jun 03 05:00:15 1975 -13217 N -t -1.4606 0.1810 -0.8252 121.0 - -
72 35 0949 Jun 13 11:57:25 1860 -12994 Ne -t -1.5324 0.0473 -0.9551 62.3 - -
[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)"
