Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series

Saros Series 171

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 171 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 2675 May 01. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 3937 Jun 07. The total duration of Saros series 171 is 1262.11 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  2675 May 01   21:07:16 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  3937 Jun 07   13:54:49 TD

                      Duration of Saros 171  =  1262.11 Years

Saros 171 is composed of 71 lunar eclipses as follows:

Lunar Eclipses of Saros 171
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 71100.0%
PenumbralN 27 38.0%
PartialP 18 25.4%
TotalT 26 36.6%

The 71 lunar eclipses in Saros 171 occur in the order of 8N 10P 26T 8P 19N which corresponds to:

                                     8  Penumbral
                                    10  Partial
                                    26  Total
                                     8  Partial
                                    19  Penumbral

The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 171 are as follows.

            Longest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:    3342 Jun 11      Duration = 01h42m25s
           Shortest  Total  Lunar Eclipse:    3450 Aug 16      Duration = 00h12m59s

            Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    3468 Aug 26      Duration = 03h11m30s
           Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    2819 Jul 28      Duration = 00h50m10s

          Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:    3612 Nov 21      Duration = 04h40m07s
         Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:    2675 May 01      Duration = 00h59m42s

The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 171 are:

            Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    2981 Nov 03      Magnitude = 0.9645
           Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse:    3594 Nov 11      Magnitude = 0.0445

Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 171 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.



Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 171

                          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  -37   2675 May 01  21:07:16   2314   8352   Nb  a-  -1.5178  0.0500 -0.9046   59.7    -      -  
 02  -36   2693 May 12  05:00:40   2414   8575   N   a-  -1.4659  0.1435 -0.8076  100.1    -      -  
 03  -35   2711 May 24  12:47:50   2515   8798   N   a-  -1.4090  0.2463 -0.7018  129.8    -      -  
 04  -34   2729 Jun 03  20:29:16   2619   9021   N   a-  -1.3473  0.3582 -0.5872  154.7    -      -  
 05  -33   2747 Jun 15  04:06:13   2724   9244   N   a-  -1.2818  0.4774 -0.4659  176.4    -      -  
 06  -32   2765 Jun 25  11:39:32   2832   9467   N   a-  -1.2132  0.6024 -0.3393  195.6    -      -  
 07  -31   2783 Jul 06  19:11:10   2942   9690   N   a-  -1.1430  0.7309 -0.2100  212.7    -      -  
 08  -30   2801 Jul 17  02:40:12   3054   9913   N   a-  -1.0705  0.8637 -0.0768  228.0    -      -  
 09  -29   2819 Jul 28  10:10:35   3168  10136   P   a-  -0.9992  0.9947  0.0538  241.4   50.2    -  
 10  -28   2837 Aug 07  17:40:59   3284  10359   P   a-  -0.9279  1.1261  0.1842  253.3   91.2    -  

 11  -27   2855 Aug 19  01:14:47   3402  10582   P   a-  -0.8594  1.2526  0.3091  263.6  116.1    -  
 12  -26   2873 Aug 29  08:50:19   3522  10805   P   a-  -0.7924  1.3766  0.4310  272.8  134.8    -  
 13  -25   2891 Sep 09  16:31:35   3644  11028   P   a-  -0.7303  1.4918  0.5435  280.5  148.9    -  
 14  -24   2909 Sep 21  00:16:53   3768  11251   P   a-  -0.6720  1.6003  0.6488  287.2  160.1    -  
 15  -23   2927 Oct 02  08:08:17   3895  11474   P   a-  -0.6192  1.6991  0.7441  292.9  168.9    -  
 16  -22   2945 Oct 12  16:05:42   4023  11697   P   a-  -0.5716  1.7885  0.8295  297.7  176.0    -  
 17  -21   2963 Oct 24  00:10:50   4153  11920   P   a-  -0.5306  1.8657  0.9027  301.8  181.5    -  
 18  -20   2981 Nov 03  08:22:42   4286  12143   P   a-  -0.4957  1.9318  0.9645  305.1  185.8    -  
 19  -19   2999 Nov 14  16:41:25   4421  12366   T   a-  -0.4669  1.9868  1.0153  308.0  189.1   18.5
 20  -18   3017 Nov 26  01:06:47   4557  12589   T   p-  -0.4440  2.0309  1.0552  310.3  191.6   34.7

 21  -17   3035 Dec 07  09:38:44   4696  12812   T   p-  -0.4267  2.0647  1.0851  312.3  193.5   42.8
 22  -16   3053 Dec 17  18:15:16   4837  13035   T   p-  -0.4136  2.0907  1.1074  314.0  194.9   47.8
 23  -15   3071 Dec 29  02:56:36   4980  13258   T   p-  -0.4046  2.1088  1.1220  315.4  196.0   50.8
 24  -14   3090 Jan 08  11:40:20   5125  13481   T   p-  -0.3980  2.1225  1.1328  316.7  196.9   52.8
 25  -13   3108 Jan 20  20:26:23   5272  13704   T   p-  -0.3936  2.1317  1.1395  317.9  197.6   54.1
 26  -12   3126 Jan 31  05:10:58   5421  13927   T   p-  -0.3884  2.1424  1.1482  319.0  198.4   55.7
 27  -11   3144 Feb 11  13:55:25   5572  14150   T   p-  -0.3834  2.1522  1.1565  320.2  199.2   57.2
 28  -10   3162 Feb 21  22:35:26   5725  14373   T   p-  -0.3752  2.1680  1.1711  321.5  200.3   59.7
 29  -09   3180 Mar 04  07:11:39   5881  14596   T   p-  -0.3644  2.1881  1.1904  322.9  201.7   62.7
 30  -08   3198 Mar 15  15:40:25   6038  14819   T   p-  -0.3480  2.2185  1.2203  324.6  203.5   67.0

 31  -07   3216 Mar 26  00:03:32   6198  15042   T   p-  -0.3276  2.2559  1.2576  326.5  205.6   71.7
 32  -06   3234 Apr 06  08:17:56   6359  15265   T   p-  -0.3004  2.3059  1.3075  328.6  208.1   77.2
 33  -05   3252 Apr 16  16:23:56   6523  15488   T-  p-  -0.2671  2.3671  1.3686  330.8  210.8   82.9
 34  -04   3270 Apr 28  00:20:35   6689  15711   T-  p-  -0.2267  2.4413  1.4427  333.2  213.6   88.6
 35  -03   3288 May 08  08:08:58   6856  15934   T-  pp  -0.1802  2.5266  1.5279  335.6  216.3   93.7
 36  -02   3306 May 20  15:48:20   7026  16157   T-  pp  -0.1268  2.6248  1.6257  337.8  218.7   98.0
 37  -01   3324 May 30  23:19:14   7198  16380   T-  pp  -0.0670  2.7348  1.7350  339.8  220.7  101.1
 38   00   3342 Jun 11  06:42:41   7372  16603   T-  pp  -0.0018  2.8552  1.8542  341.3  221.8  102.4
 39   01   3360 Jun 21  13:59:42   7548  16826   T+  pp   0.0677  2.7350  1.7325  342.3  222.0  101.6
 40   02   3378 Jul 02  21:10:03   7726  17049   T+  pp   0.1420  2.5996  1.5952  342.5  221.0   98.0


Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 171

                          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   03   3396 Jul 13  04:15:53   7907  17272   T+  -p   0.2193  2.4590  1.4521  342.0  218.6   91.0
 42   04   3414 Jul 25  11:17:45   8089  17495   T   -a   0.2988  2.3146  1.3048  340.5  214.5   79.2
 43   05   3432 Aug 04  18:18:17   8273  17718   T   -a   0.3785  2.1702  1.1569  338.0  208.8   59.9
 44   06   3450 Aug 16  01:16:05   8460  17941   T   -h   0.4592  2.0240  1.0067  334.6  201.0   13.0
 45   07   3468 Aug 26  08:15:44   8648  18164   P   -h   0.5373  1.8830  0.8613  330.3  191.5    -  
 46   08   3486 Sep 06  15:15:54   8839  18387   P   -h   0.6138  1.7451  0.7186  325.0  179.8    -  
 47   09   3504 Sep 17  22:20:12   9031  18610   P   -h   0.6859  1.6154  0.5836  319.2  166.2    -  
 48   10   3522 Sep 29  05:26:51   9226  18833   P   -h   0.7550  1.4913  0.4540  312.7  150.1    -  
 49   11   3540 Oct 09  12:40:00   9423  19056   P   -h   0.8179  1.3789  0.3359  305.9  131.8    -  
 50   12   3558 Oct 20  19:58:19   9622  19279   P   -h   0.8754  1.2763  0.2274  299.1  110.5    -  

 51   13   3576 Oct 31  03:23:02   9823  19502   P   -h   0.9269  1.1848  0.1300  292.3   85.0    -  
 52   14   3594 Nov 11  10:54:54  10026  19725   P   -h   0.9719  1.1052  0.0445  285.9   50.5    -  
 53   15   3612 Nov 21  18:34:14  10231  19948   Nx  -h   1.0104  1.0375 -0.0288  280.1    -      -  
 54   16   3630 Dec 03  02:21:01  10438  20171   N   -h   1.0419  0.9823 -0.0894  275.2    -      -  
 55   17   3648 Dec 13  10:12:46  10647  20394   N   -h   1.0689  0.9352 -0.1415  270.7    -      -  
 56   18   3666 Dec 24  18:11:21  10858  20617   N   -h   1.0898  0.8993 -0.1819  267.3    -      -  
 57   19   3685 Jan 04  02:13:46  11072  20840   N   -t   1.1073  0.8690 -0.2161  264.4    -      -  
 58   20   3703 Jan 16  10:20:05  11287  21063   N   -t   1.1210  0.8455 -0.2428  262.1    -      -  
 59   21   3721 Jan 26  18:27:05  11505  21286   N   -t   1.1338  0.8234 -0.2675  259.9    -      -  
 60   22   3739 Feb 07  02:35:29  11724  21509   N   -t   1.1449  0.8040 -0.2888  257.9    -      -  

 61   23   3757 Feb 17  10:41:32  11946  21732   N   -t   1.1574  0.7816 -0.3123  255.3    -      -  
 62   24   3775 Feb 28  18:44:46  12170  21955   N   -t   1.1717  0.7555 -0.3388  252.1    -      -  
 63   25   3793 Mar 11  02:42:56  12395  22178   N   -t   1.1897  0.7223 -0.3718  247.6    -      -  
 64   26   3811 Mar 23  10:36:05  12623  22401   N   -t   1.2113  0.6824 -0.4109  241.9    -      -  
 65   27   3829 Apr 02  18:20:50  12853  22624   N   -t   1.2392  0.6306 -0.4614  233.9    -      -  
 66   28   3847 Apr 14  01:58:31  13085  22847   N   -t   1.2723  0.5689 -0.5214  223.6    -      -  
 67   29   3865 Apr 24  09:26:52  13319  23070   N   -t   1.3124  0.4942 -0.5939  210.0    -      -  
 68   30   3883 May 05  16:47:56  13556  23293   N   -t   1.3581  0.4093 -0.6766  192.7    -      -  
 69   31   3901 May 16  23:57:46  13794  23516   N   -t   1.4121  0.3089 -0.7745  169.0    -      -  
 70   32   3919 May 28  07:01:10  14034  23739   N   -t   1.4707  0.2002 -0.8808  137.4    -      -  

 71   33   3937 Jun 07  13:54:49  14276  23962   Ne  -t   1.5362  0.0787 -0.9999   87.1    -      -  


Footnotes

[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.


Calendar

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..


Predictions

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

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.


Acknowledgments

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)"


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2009 Sep 29