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 146 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 1843 Jul 11. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 3123 Aug 29. The total duration of Saros series 146 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1843 Jul 11 16:49:54 TD
Last Eclipse = 3123 Aug 29 06:55:44 TD
Duration of Saros 146 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 146 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 146 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 16 | 22.2% |
| Partial | P | 39 | 54.2% |
| Total | T | 17 | 23.6% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 146 occur in the order of 9N 20P 17T 19P 7N which corresponds to:
9 Penumbral
20 Partial
17 Total
19 Partial
7 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 146 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 2492 Aug 08 Duration = 01h39m22s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 2366 May 25 Duration = 00h03m52s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2672 Nov 27 Duration = 03h07m05s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2997 Jun 12 Duration = 00h45m14s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1987 Oct 07 Duration = 04h13m28s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1843 Jul 11 Duration = 00h43m18s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 146 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2672 Nov 27 Magnitude = 0.9755
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 2997 Jun 12 Magnitude = 0.0389
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 146 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 1843 Jul 11 16:49:54 6 -1936 Nb h- 1.5468 0.0226 -0.9831 43.3 - -
02 -35 1861 Jul 21 23:50:38 8 -1713 N a- 1.4659 0.1695 -0.8334 116.6 - -
03 -34 1879 Aug 02 06:57:44 -5 -1490 N a- 1.3889 0.3098 -0.6909 155.0 - -
04 -33 1897 Aug 12 14:08:38 -5 -1267 N a- 1.3135 0.4472 -0.5517 183.2 - -
05 -32 1915 Aug 24 21:27:17 18 -1044 N a- 1.2435 0.5750 -0.4226 204.4 - -
06 -31 1933 Sep 04 04:52:20 24 -821 N a- 1.1776 0.6955 -0.3013 221.4 - -
07 -30 1951 Sep 15 12:27:06 30 -598 N a- 1.1186 0.8034 -0.1928 234.6 - -
08 -29 1969 Sep 25 20:10:19 40 -375 N a- 1.0655 0.9007 -0.0953 245.1 - -
09 -28 1987 Oct 07 04:02:30 56 -152 N a- 1.0189 0.9863 -0.0096 253.5 - -
10 -27 2005 Oct 17 12:04:27 65 71 P a- 0.9796 1.0585 0.0625 259.8 56.0 -
11 -26 2023 Oct 28 20:15:18 74 294 P a- 0.9471 1.1181 0.1220 264.6 77.4 -
12 -25 2041 Nov 08 04:35:05 86 517 P a- 0.9212 1.1656 0.1696 268.0 90.3 -
13 -24 2059 Nov 19 13:01:36 113 740 P a- 0.9004 1.2037 0.2079 270.5 99.2 -
14 -23 2077 Nov 29 21:35:53 152 963 P a- 0.8854 1.2309 0.2356 272.0 105.0 -
15 -22 2095 Dec 11 06:15:02 193 1186 P a- 0.8742 1.2510 0.2565 272.9 108.9 -
16 -21 2113 Dec 22 14:58:42 236 1409 P a- 0.8666 1.2644 0.2712 273.2 111.5 -
17 -20 2132 Jan 02 23:44:22 281 1632 P a- 0.8604 1.2750 0.2835 273.4 113.6 -
18 -19 2150 Jan 13 08:31:35 328 1855 P a- 0.8552 1.2834 0.2941 273.3 115.3 -
19 -18 2168 Jan 24 17:17:30 367 2078 P a- 0.8487 1.2940 0.3073 273.4 117.4 -
20 -17 2186 Feb 04 02:01:15 408 2301 P a- 0.8402 1.3080 0.3244 273.7 120.1 -
21 -16 2204 Feb 16 10:41:26 451 2524 P a- 0.8285 1.3276 0.3475 274.5 123.7 -
22 -15 2222 Feb 26 19:17:36 497 2747 P a- 0.8137 1.3530 0.3767 275.6 128.0 -
23 -14 2240 Mar 09 03:46:50 544 2970 P a- 0.7925 1.3898 0.4175 277.4 133.8 -
24 -13 2258 Mar 20 12:10:19 593 3193 P a- 0.7663 1.4358 0.4676 279.8 140.3 -
25 -12 2276 Mar 30 20:26:06 645 3416 P a- 0.7334 1.4941 0.5301 282.8 147.8 -
26 -11 2294 Apr 11 04:36:13 698 3639 P a- 0.6956 1.5613 0.6014 286.1 155.5 -
27 -10 2312 Apr 22 12:37:09 754 3862 P a- 0.6499 1.6433 0.6873 290.0 163.8 -
28 -09 2330 May 03 20:33:07 812 4085 P a- 0.5998 1.7334 0.7810 293.9 171.8 -
29 -08 2348 May 14 04:21:14 871 4308 P a- 0.5425 1.8368 0.8878 298.0 179.7 -
30 -07 2366 May 25 12:05:08 933 4531 T a- 0.4817 1.9469 1.0007 302.0 186.9 3.9
31 -06 2384 Jun 04 19:42:06 997 4754 T a- 0.4149 2.0683 1.1244 305.7 193.6 50.8
32 -05 2402 Jun 16 03:16:59 1063 4977 T p- 0.3462 2.1934 1.2513 309.1 199.2 69.4
33 -04 2420 Jun 26 10:47:40 1131 5200 T p- 0.2737 2.3259 1.3849 311.9 203.9 82.0
34 -03 2438 Jul 07 18:17:19 1201 5423 T+ p- 0.2003 2.4604 1.5199 314.2 207.5 90.5
35 -02 2456 Jul 18 01:45:42 1273 5646 T+ p- 0.1257 2.5973 1.6567 315.9 210.0 96.1
36 -01 2474 Jul 29 09:15:38 1348 5869 T+ pp 0.0523 2.7323 1.7910 316.9 211.3 98.9
37 00 2492 Aug 08 16:47:17 1424 6092 T- pp -0.0195 2.7933 1.8505 317.3 211.6 99.4
38 01 2510 Aug 21 00:21:36 1502 6315 T- pp -0.0891 2.6666 1.7219 317.2 210.9 97.7
39 02 2528 Aug 31 08:00:19 1583 6538 T- -p -0.1549 2.5471 1.5999 316.6 209.3 94.1
40 03 2546 Sep 11 15:43:56 1665 6761 T- -p -0.2167 2.4353 1.4850 315.6 207.1 88.7
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 2564 Sep 21 23:33:16 1750 6984 T -p -0.2732 2.3332 1.3795 314.4 204.3 81.6
42 05 2582 Oct 03 07:29:03 1837 7207 T -p -0.3243 2.2415 1.2839 313.0 201.2 73.0
43 06 2600 Oct 14 15:31:59 1925 7430 T -p -0.3690 2.1614 1.1998 311.6 197.9 63.0
44 07 2618 Oct 25 23:42:26 2016 7653 T -a -0.4073 2.0934 1.1276 310.4 194.8 51.5
45 08 2636 Nov 05 07:58:56 2109 7876 T -a -0.4402 2.0352 1.0651 309.3 191.8 37.5
46 09 2654 Nov 16 16:23:11 2204 8099 T -a -0.4662 1.9896 1.0153 308.6 189.2 18.5
47 10 2672 Nov 27 00:53:08 2301 8322 P -a -0.4868 1.9539 0.9755 308.1 187.1 -
48 11 2690 Dec 08 09:29:22 2400 8545 P -a -0.5021 1.9276 0.9455 307.9 185.5 -
49 12 2708 Dec 19 18:08:42 2502 8768 P -a -0.5144 1.9069 0.9212 307.9 184.2 -
50 13 2726 Dec 31 02:52:31 2605 8991 P -a -0.5225 1.8935 0.9048 308.2 183.4 -
51 14 2745 Jan 10 11:37:38 2710 9214 P -a -0.5292 1.8826 0.8912 308.6 182.8 -
52 15 2763 Jan 21 20:23:35 2817 9437 P -a -0.5347 1.8736 0.8801 309.0 182.3 -
53 16 2781 Feb 01 05:07:58 2927 9660 P -a -0.5411 1.8627 0.8674 309.4 181.8 -
54 17 2799 Feb 12 13:50:02 3039 9883 P -a -0.5492 1.8484 0.8520 309.6 181.1 -
55 18 2817 Feb 22 22:27:41 3152 10106 P -a -0.5604 1.8283 0.8309 309.5 179.9 -
56 19 2835 Mar 06 06:59:29 3268 10329 P -a -0.5761 1.7998 0.8019 309.0 178.1 -
57 20 2853 Mar 16 15:24:48 3386 10552 P -a -0.5965 1.7624 0.7643 308.1 175.4 -
58 21 2871 Mar 27 23:42:41 3505 10775 P -a -0.6226 1.7147 0.7165 306.6 171.7 -
59 22 2889 Apr 07 07:51:21 3627 10998 P -a -0.6557 1.6538 0.6556 304.2 166.4 -
60 23 2907 Apr 19 15:51:24 3751 11221 P -a -0.6955 1.5808 0.5826 301.0 159.1 -
61 24 2925 Apr 29 23:42:01 3877 11444 P -a -0.7423 1.4951 0.4967 296.6 149.4 -
62 25 2943 May 11 07:24:37 4006 11667 P -a -0.7949 1.3987 0.4000 291.1 136.5 -
63 26 2961 May 21 14:56:55 4136 11890 P -a -0.8551 1.2886 0.2893 283.9 118.4 -
64 27 2979 Jun 01 22:22:35 4268 12113 P -a -0.9200 1.1699 0.1697 275.1 92.5 -
65 28 2997 Jun 12 05:40:06 4402 12336 P -a -0.9909 1.0405 0.0389 264.0 45.2 -
66 29 3015 Jun 24 12:52:15 4539 12559 N -a -1.0651 0.9053 -0.0982 250.8 - -
67 30 3033 Jul 04 19:57:36 4677 12782 N -h -1.1438 0.7620 -0.2438 234.4 - -
68 31 3051 Jul 16 03:00:27 4818 13005 N -h -1.2235 0.6172 -0.3914 214.9 - -
69 32 3069 Jul 26 09:59:54 4960 13228 N -h -1.3051 0.4692 -0.5428 190.8 - -
70 33 3087 Aug 06 16:58:01 5105 13451 N -h -1.3866 0.3215 -0.6943 160.9 - -
71 34 3105 Aug 17 23:56:01 5252 13674 N -h -1.4671 0.1762 -0.8440 121.2 - -
72 35 3123 Aug 29 06:55:44 5401 13897 Ne -h -1.5449 0.0358 -0.9891 55.5 - -
[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)"
