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 141 all occur at the Moons 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 1608 Aug 25. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 2888 Oct 11. The total duration of Saros series 141 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1608 Aug 25 19:20:07 TD Last Eclipse = 2888 Oct 11 03:14:10 TD Duration of Saros 141 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 141 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
Lunar Eclipses of Saros 141 | |||
Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
Penumbral | N | 32 | 44.4% |
Partial | P | 14 | 19.4% |
Total | T | 26 | 36.1% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 141 occur in the order of 24N 7P 26T 7P 8N which corresponds to:
24 Penumbral 7 Partial 26 Total 7 Partial 8 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 141 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 2293 Oct 16 Duration = 01h44m36s Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 2618 May 01 Duration = 00h11m36s Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2636 May 12 Duration = 03h22m51s Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2744 Jul 16 Duration = 00h34m55s Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 2762 Jul 28 Duration = 04h33m10s Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1608 Aug 25 Duration = 00h21m08s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 141 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2636 May 12 Magnitude = 0.8894 Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2744 Jul 16 Magnitude = 0.0202
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 141 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 -38 1608 Aug 25 19:20:07 109 -4841 Nb a- -1.5413 0.0062 -0.9471 21.1 - - 02 -37 1626 Sep 06 03:05:57 84 -4618 N a- -1.4897 0.1028 -0.8544 85.7 - - 03 -36 1644 Sep 16 10:59:45 57 -4395 N a- -1.4448 0.1873 -0.7742 115.0 - - 04 -35 1662 Sep 27 18:59:20 32 -4172 N a- -1.4052 0.2625 -0.7037 135.6 - - 05 -34 1680 Oct 08 03:06:25 14 -3949 N a- -1.3719 0.3258 -0.6450 150.6 - - 06 -33 1698 Oct 19 11:20:30 8 -3726 N a- -1.3447 0.3783 -0.5973 161.9 - - 07 -32 1716 Oct 30 19:42:19 10 -3503 N a- -1.3238 0.4189 -0.5613 170.2 - - 08 -31 1734 Nov 11 04:10:31 11 -3280 N a- -1.3088 0.4488 -0.5360 176.2 - - 09 -30 1752 Nov 21 12:43:58 13 -3057 N a- -1.2983 0.4701 -0.5189 180.5 - - 10 -29 1770 Dec 02 21:22:32 16 -2834 N a- -1.2926 0.4825 -0.5104 183.2 - - 11 -28 1788 Dec 13 06:04:27 16 -2611 N a- -1.2898 0.4894 -0.5069 185.0 - - 12 -27 1806 Dec 25 14:48:04 12 -2388 N a- -1.2891 0.4923 -0.5071 186.0 - - 13 -26 1825 Jan 04 23:31:53 10 -2165 N a- -1.2890 0.4937 -0.5081 186.8 - - 14 -25 1843 Jan 16 08:14:24 6 -1942 N a- -1.2885 0.4955 -0.5083 187.7 - - 15 -24 1861 Jan 26 16:54:03 8 -1719 N a- -1.2864 0.5002 -0.5052 189.0 - - 16 -23 1879 Feb 07 01:28:35 -5 -1496 N a- -1.2809 0.5108 -0.4956 191.4 - - 17 -22 1897 Feb 17 09:57:44 -6 -1273 N a- -1.2717 0.5281 -0.4790 194.8 - - 18 -21 1915 Mar 01 18:19:32 17 -1050 N a- -1.2573 0.5548 -0.4528 199.8 - - 19 -20 1933 Mar 12 02:33:03 24 -827 N a- -1.2369 0.5923 -0.4154 206.3 - - 20 -19 1951 Mar 23 10:37:33 30 -604 N a- -1.2099 0.6418 -0.3661 214.3 - - 21 -18 1969 Apr 02 18:33:06 39 -381 N a- -1.1764 0.7033 -0.3047 223.7 - - 22 -17 1987 Apr 14 02:19:50 55 -158 N h- -1.1364 0.7769 -0.2313 234.1 - - 23 -16 2005 Apr 24 09:55:55 65 65 N h- -1.0885 0.8650 -0.1436 245.6 - - 24 -15 2023 May 05 17:24:05 73 288 N h- -1.0349 0.9636 -0.0457 257.5 - - 25 -14 2041 May 16 00:43:03 86 511 P t- -0.9746 1.0747 0.0645 269.7 58.5 - 26 -13 2059 May 27 07:55:35 112 734 P t- -0.9097 1.1946 0.1829 281.7 97.2 - 27 -12 2077 Jun 06 14:59:52 151 957 P t- -0.8387 1.3257 0.3123 293.6 125.0 - 28 -11 2095 Jun 17 22:00:11 192 1180 P t- -0.7653 1.4617 0.4459 304.7 146.9 - 29 -10 2113 Jun 29 04:55:26 235 1403 P t- -0.6887 1.6035 0.5849 315.1 165.2 - 30 -09 2131 Jul 10 11:47:56 280 1626 P t- -0.6107 1.7483 0.7265 324.5 180.4 - 31 -08 2149 Jul 20 18:38:11 327 1849 P t- -0.5315 1.8957 0.8700 333.1 193.2 - 32 -07 2167 Aug 01 01:28:59 366 2072 T t- -0.4536 2.0407 1.0108 340.5 203.6 16.6 33 -06 2185 Aug 11 08:20:59 407 2295 T t- -0.3774 2.1828 1.1482 346.9 212.0 59.3 34 -05 2203 Aug 23 15:15:12 450 2518 T pp -0.3039 2.3203 1.2806 352.2 218.6 78.1 35 -04 2221 Sep 02 22:13:42 495 2741 T- pp -0.2348 2.4498 1.4048 356.6 223.5 89.7 36 -03 2239 Sep 14 05:17:34 543 2964 T- pp -0.1708 2.5701 1.5194 360.2 227.0 97.0 37 -02 2257 Sep 24 12:27:34 592 3187 T- pp -0.1123 2.6802 1.6239 363.1 229.3 101.4 38 -01 2275 Oct 05 19:44:07 643 3410 T- pp -0.0599 2.7794 1.7172 365.3 230.8 103.7 39 00 2293 Oct 16 03:08:18 697 3633 T- pp -0.0144 2.8658 1.7979 367.1 231.6 104.6 40 01 2311 Oct 28 10:40:16 752 3856 T+ pp 0.0241 2.8509 1.7773 368.6 231.9 104.5
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 02 2329 Nov 07 18:18:33 810 4079 T+ pp 0.0568 2.7935 1.7146 369.8 231.9 103.7 42 03 2347 Nov 19 02:04:59 870 4302 T+ pp 0.0825 2.7489 1.6651 370.8 231.8 102.7 43 04 2365 Nov 29 09:57:07 931 4525 T+ pp 0.1031 2.7133 1.6251 371.8 231.6 101.7 44 05 2383 Dec 10 17:55:40 995 4748 T+ pp 0.1179 2.6881 1.5961 372.6 231.5 100.8 45 06 2401 Dec 21 01:56:07 1061 4971 T+ pp 0.1306 2.6663 1.5711 373.3 231.4 99.9 46 07 2420 Jan 01 10:00:56 1129 5194 T+ pp 0.1394 2.6514 1.5539 374.0 231.4 99.2 47 08 2438 Jan 11 18:05:30 1199 5417 T+ pp 0.1483 2.6358 1.5366 374.5 231.3 98.5 48 09 2456 Jan 23 02:10:08 1271 5640 T+ pp 0.1568 2.6207 1.5206 374.9 231.3 97.9 49 10 2474 Feb 02 10:11:05 1346 5863 T+ pp 0.1681 2.6001 1.4998 375.0 231.1 96.9 50 11 2492 Feb 13 18:09:20 1422 6086 T+ pp 0.1814 2.5754 1.4757 375.0 230.7 95.6 51 12 2510 Feb 25 02:01:15 1500 6309 T+ pp 0.1998 2.5411 1.4426 374.6 230.1 93.7 52 13 2528 Mar 07 09:46:47 1581 6532 T+ pp 0.2233 2.4970 1.4003 373.9 229.1 90.8 53 14 2546 Mar 18 17:24:17 1663 6755 T+ -p 0.2534 2.4406 1.3462 372.7 227.5 86.4 54 15 2564 Mar 29 00:54:06 1748 6978 T -p 0.2895 2.3731 1.2813 371.1 225.2 79.9 55 16 2582 Apr 09 08:13:59 1834 7201 T -t 0.3337 2.2904 1.2017 368.7 221.9 69.7 56 17 2600 Apr 20 15:25:41 1923 7424 T -t 0.3845 2.1957 1.1101 365.5 217.3 53.2 57 18 2618 May 01 22:28:05 2014 7647 T -t 0.4426 2.0873 1.0049 361.4 211.1 11.6 58 19 2636 May 12 05:23:36 2107 7870 P -t 0.5064 1.9687 0.8894 356.1 202.9 - 59 20 2654 May 23 12:09:21 2202 8093 P -t 0.5779 1.8359 0.7597 349.4 191.8 - 60 21 2672 Jun 02 18:50:39 2299 8316 P -t 0.6528 1.6971 0.6238 341.3 177.8 - 61 22 2690 Jun 14 01:25:03 2398 8539 P -t 0.7329 1.5487 0.4780 331.4 159.2 - 62 23 2708 Jun 25 07:57:36 2499 8762 P -t 0.8147 1.3974 0.3292 319.9 135.1 - 63 24 2726 Jul 06 14:25:33 2602 8985 P -t 0.9000 1.2399 0.1736 306.2 100.2 - 64 25 2744 Jul 16 20:55:09 2707 9208 P -t 0.9841 1.0848 0.0202 290.8 34.9 - 65 26 2762 Jul 28 03:24:16 2815 9431 N -t 1.0681 0.9301 -0.1333 273.2 - - 66 27 2780 Aug 07 09:56:19 2924 9654 N -t 1.1498 0.7796 -0.2829 253.5 - - 67 28 2798 Aug 18 16:31:28 3035 9877 N -t 1.2293 0.6336 -0.4284 231.4 - - 68 29 2816 Aug 28 23:13:01 3149 10100 N -t 1.3037 0.4969 -0.5648 207.2 - - 69 30 2834 Sep 09 06:01:06 3265 10323 N -t 1.3730 0.3698 -0.6920 180.6 - - 70 31 2852 Sep 19 12:56:17 3382 10546 N -t 1.4368 0.2528 -0.8093 150.6 - - 71 32 2870 Sep 30 20:00:43 3502 10769 N -t 1.4935 0.1491 -0.9136 116.5 - - 72 33 2888 Oct 11 03:14:10 3624 10992 N -t 1.5434 0.0578 -1.0055 72.9 - -
[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)"