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 78 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 -0125 Apr 10. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 1155 May 18. The total duration of Saros series 78 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0125 Apr 10 15:04:46 TD
Last Eclipse = 1155 May 18 14:32:01 TD
Duration of Saros 78 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 78 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 19 | 26.4% |
| Partial | P | 28 | 38.9% |
| Total | T | 25 | 34.7% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 78 occur in the order of 7N 9P 25T 19P 12N which corresponds to:
7 Penumbral
9 Partial
25 Total
19 Partial
12 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 78 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0488 Apr 12 Duration = 01h41m38s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 0163 Sep 30 Duration = 00h38m34s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0145 Sep 18 Duration = 03h25m01s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0939 Jan 08 Duration = 00h13m51s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0017 Jun 14 Duration = 04h35m59s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0125 Apr 10 Duration = 01h09m55s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 78 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0145 Sep 18 Magnitude = 0.9994
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0939 Jan 08 Magnitude = 0.0041
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 78 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 -0125 Apr 10 15:04:46 11857 -26280 Nb t- 1.5505 0.0507 -1.0242 69.9 - -
02 -33 -0107 Apr 20 21:38:22 11656 -26057 N t- 1.4755 0.1868 -0.8850 132.4 - -
03 -32 -0089 May 02 04:07:43 11460 -25834 N t- 1.3963 0.3307 -0.7383 173.7 - -
04 -31 -0071 May 12 10:32:34 11266 -25611 N t- 1.3125 0.4831 -0.5833 206.6 - -
05 -30 -0053 May 23 16:56:42 11075 -25388 N t- 1.2273 0.6384 -0.4260 233.6 - -
06 -29 -0035 Jun 02 23:18:12 10887 -25165 N t- 1.1391 0.7994 -0.2632 256.8 - -
07 -28 -0017 Jun 14 05:43:03 10702 -24942 N t- 1.0524 0.9577 -0.1036 276.0 - -
08 -27 0001 Jun 24 12:08:47 10519 -24719 P t- 0.9653 1.1170 0.0567 292.5 57.9 -
09 -26 0019 Jul 05 18:40:32 10338 -24496 P t- 0.8822 1.2693 0.2096 306.0 108.8 -
10 -25 0037 Jul 16 01:16:00 10160 -24273 P t- 0.8011 1.4179 0.3584 317.4 138.8 -
11 -24 0055 Jul 27 08:01:10 9983 -24050 P t- 0.7267 1.5545 0.4949 326.3 159.4 -
12 -23 0073 Aug 06 14:53:14 9807 -23827 P t- 0.6568 1.6829 0.6230 333.6 174.7 -
13 -22 0091 Aug 17 21:55:26 9633 -23604 P t- 0.5941 1.7983 0.7378 339.2 186.1 -
14 -21 0109 Aug 28 05:07:04 9460 -23381 P t- 0.5383 1.9011 0.8399 343.4 194.5 -
15 -20 0127 Sep 08 12:30:19 9287 -23158 P t- 0.4912 1.9879 0.9261 346.4 200.6 -
16 -19 0145 Sep 18 20:03:29 9116 -22935 P t- 0.4511 2.0618 0.9994 348.4 205.0 -
17 -18 0163 Sep 30 03:46:43 8945 -22712 T h- 0.4183 2.1220 1.0592 349.7 208.1 38.6
18 -17 0181 Oct 10 11:39:46 8774 -22489 T a- 0.3929 2.1688 1.1059 350.3 210.2 50.7
19 -16 0199 Oct 21 19:42:04 8603 -22266 T a- 0.3744 2.2027 1.1400 350.4 211.4 57.5
20 -15 0217 Nov 01 03:51:19 8432 -22043 T a- 0.3609 2.2270 1.1651 350.1 212.0 61.7
21 -14 0235 Nov 12 12:07:20 8260 -21820 T a- 0.3524 2.2419 1.1813 349.4 212.2 64.2
22 -13 0253 Nov 22 20:27:42 8088 -21597 T p- 0.3467 2.2513 1.1927 348.5 212.2 65.7
23 -12 0271 Dec 04 04:51:46 7916 -21374 T p- 0.3434 2.2561 1.2000 347.4 211.9 66.7
24 -11 0289 Dec 14 13:15:32 7743 -21151 T p- 0.3392 2.2621 1.2093 346.2 211.8 67.8
25 -10 0307 Dec 25 21:40:21 7569 -20928 T p- 0.3352 2.2676 1.2187 345.0 211.6 69.0
26 -09 0326 Jan 05 06:02:03 7394 -20705 T p- 0.3282 2.2780 1.2337 343.8 211.7 70.8
27 -08 0344 Jan 16 14:20:47 7218 -20482 T p- 0.3178 2.2946 1.2555 342.7 212.1 73.3
28 -07 0362 Jan 26 22:33:23 7041 -20259 T p- 0.3014 2.3218 1.2882 341.8 212.8 76.8
29 -06 0380 Feb 07 06:41:29 6864 -20036 T p- 0.2806 2.3569 1.3293 341.0 213.8 80.8
30 -05 0398 Feb 17 14:42:35 6686 -19813 T+ p- 0.2533 2.4039 1.3825 340.3 215.0 85.2
31 -04 0416 Feb 28 22:36:15 6508 -19590 T+ p- 0.2190 2.4637 1.4487 339.7 216.3 89.8
32 -03 0434 Mar 11 06:23:02 6330 -19367 T+ p- 0.1781 2.5354 1.5269 339.1 217.6 94.1
33 -02 0452 Mar 21 14:02:47 6151 -19144 T+ p- 0.1304 2.6198 1.6176 338.4 218.8 97.8
34 -01 0470 Apr 01 21:36:16 5974 -18921 T+ pp 0.0768 2.7151 1.7190 337.5 219.4 100.4
35 00 0488 Apr 12 05:03:16 5797 -18698 T+ pp 0.0170 2.8218 1.8317 336.2 219.5 101.6
36 01 0506 Apr 23 12:25:55 5620 -18475 T- pp -0.0474 2.7633 1.7786 334.4 218.8 101.1
37 02 0524 May 03 19:44:18 5444 -18252 T- pp -0.1162 2.6345 1.6548 332.1 217.1 98.4
38 03 0542 May 15 02:59:39 5268 -18029 T- pp -0.1884 2.4998 1.5246 329.1 214.2 93.1
39 04 0560 May 25 10:13:38 5094 -17806 T- -p -0.2624 2.3619 1.3906 325.4 210.1 84.5
40 05 0578 Jun 05 17:27:34 4921 -17583 T -p -0.3375 2.2225 1.2545 320.9 204.7 71.3
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 0596 Jun 16 00:43:12 4749 -17360 T -a -0.4119 2.0847 1.1194 315.8 198.0 50.9
42 07 0614 Jun 27 08:00:24 4579 -17137 P -a -0.4858 1.9481 0.9848 310.0 189.9 -
43 08 0632 Jul 07 15:22:21 4410 -16914 P -a -0.5564 1.8177 0.8559 303.8 180.6 -
44 09 0650 Jul 18 22:48:17 4243 -16691 P -a -0.6247 1.6920 0.7310 297.0 170.1 -
45 10 0668 Jul 29 06:20:47 4077 -16468 P -a -0.6879 1.5759 0.6153 290.1 158.6 -
46 11 0686 Aug 09 13:59:05 3913 -16245 P -a -0.7469 1.4677 0.5068 283.0 146.1 -
47 12 0704 Aug 19 21:46:01 3751 -16022 P -a -0.7994 1.3717 0.4102 276.2 133.1 -
48 13 0722 Aug 31 05:40:33 3592 -15799 P -a -0.8462 1.2864 0.3239 269.7 119.6 -
49 14 0740 Sep 10 13:43:12 3435 -15576 P -a -0.8867 1.2126 0.2490 263.6 105.8 -
50 15 0758 Sep 21 21:54:44 3281 -15353 P -a -0.9203 1.1518 0.1866 258.4 92.3 -
51 16 0776 Oct 02 06:14:18 3129 -15130 P -a -0.9474 1.1027 0.1361 253.9 79.2 -
52 17 0794 Oct 13 14:42:25 2981 -14907 P -a -0.9682 1.0653 0.0972 250.3 67.2 -
53 18 0812 Oct 23 23:16:18 2836 -14684 P -a -0.9846 1.0358 0.0664 247.4 55.7 -
54 19 0830 Nov 04 07:57:58 2694 -14461 P -a -0.9950 1.0173 0.0467 245.5 46.8 -
55 20 0848 Nov 14 16:43:54 2556 -14238 P -a -1.0022 1.0046 0.0333 244.2 39.6 -
56 21 0866 Nov 26 01:34:40 2422 -14015 P -a -1.0058 0.9982 0.0264 243.4 35.3 -
57 22 0884 Dec 06 10:26:38 2292 -13792 P -a -1.0085 0.9931 0.0213 242.8 31.7 -
58 23 0902 Dec 17 19:20:33 2165 -13569 P -a -1.0103 0.9897 0.0184 242.4 29.4 -
59 24 0920 Dec 28 04:12:44 2044 -13346 P -a -1.0135 0.9833 0.0129 241.7 24.6 -
60 25 0939 Jan 08 13:02:53 1926 -13123 P -a -1.0187 0.9733 0.0041 240.6 13.8 -
61 26 0957 Jan 18 21:48:41 1813 -12900 N -a -1.0274 0.9564 -0.0112 238.9 - -
62 27 0975 Jan 30 06:30:05 1705 -12677 N -a -1.0398 0.9327 -0.0330 236.4 - -
63 28 0993 Feb 09 15:03:57 1601 -12454 N -a -1.0584 0.8974 -0.0662 232.8 - -
64 29 1011 Feb 20 23:31:12 1502 -12231 N -a -1.0827 0.8518 -0.1096 227.8 - -
65 30 1029 Mar 03 07:49:56 1407 -12008 N -a -1.1137 0.7937 -0.1654 221.3 - -
66 31 1047 Mar 14 16:02:02 1317 -11785 N -a -1.1500 0.7260 -0.2310 213.2 - -
67 32 1065 Mar 25 00:03:44 1232 -11562 N -a -1.1947 0.6431 -0.3121 202.5 - -
68 33 1083 Apr 05 07:59:31 1151 -11339 N -a -1.2441 0.5516 -0.4019 189.4 - -
69 34 1101 Apr 15 15:46:10 1074 -11116 N -a -1.3010 0.4467 -0.5056 172.3 - -
70 35 1119 Apr 26 23:28:02 1002 -10893 N -a -1.3613 0.3356 -0.6158 151.2 - -
71 36 1137 May 07 07:01:23 934 -10670 N -a -1.4281 0.2128 -0.7384 121.9 - -
72 37 1155 May 18 14:32:01 870 -10447 Ne -a -1.4969 0.0869 -0.8647 79.0 - -
[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)"
