Eclipses of the Sun can only occur during the New Moon phase. It is then possible for the Moon's penumbral, umbral or antumbral shadows to sweep across Earth's surface thereby producing an eclipse. Not all New Moons result in a solar eclipse because the Moon's orbit is tilted about 5 degrees to Earth's about the Sun. Consequently, the Moon's shadows miss Earth at most New Moon's. Nevertheless, there are 2 to 5 solar eclipses every calendar year. There are four types of solar eclipses: partial, annular, total and hybrid[1]. For more information, see Basic Solar Eclipse Geometry.
During the 10 century period 2001 to 3000 ( 2001 CE to 3000 CE[2]), Earth will experience 2388 solar eclipses. The following table shows the number of eclipses of each type over this period.
| Solar Eclipses: 2001 - 3000 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 2388 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 847 | 35.5% |
| Annular | A | 834 | 34.9% |
| Total | T | 650 | 27.2% |
| Hybrid | H | 57 | 2.4% |
Annular and total eclipses can be further classified as either: 1) Central (two limits), 2) Central (one limit) or 3) Non-Central (one limit). The statistical distribution of these classes during the 30th century CE appears in the following three tables (no Hybrids are included since all are central with two limits).
| Annular and Total Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All | 1484 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 1442 | 97.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 23 | 1.5% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 19 | 1.3% |
| Annular Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Annular Eclipses | 834 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 803 | 96.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 15 | 1.8% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 16 | 1.9% |
| Total Eclipses | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Total Eclipses | 650 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 639 | 98.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 8 | 1.2% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 3 | 0.5% |
The longest central[3] solar eclipses of this period are:
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 2186 Jul 16 Duration = 07m29s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2010 Jan 15 Duration = 11m08s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 2013 Nov 03 Duration = 01m40s
Long Hybrid Solar Eclipses are relatively rare. The following catalog lists concise details and local circumstances for all Hybrid Solar Eclipses with durations exceeding 01m 00s. The Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipses contains a detailed description and explanation of each item listed in the catalog. For eclipses from -1999 to +3000, the Catalog Number in the first column serves as a link to a global map of Earth showing the geographic visibility of each eclipse. The date and time of the eclipse are given at the instant of greatest eclipse[4] in Terrestrial Dynamical Time. The Saros Number in the sixth column links to a table listing all eclipses in the Saros series. The Key to Solar Eclipse Maps explains the features plotted on each map.
The data presented here are based in part on the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.
TD of
Catalog Calendar Greatest Luna Saros Ecl. Ecl. Sun Sun Path Central
Number Date Eclipse ΔT Num Num Type Gamma Mag. Lat. Long. Alt Azm Width Dur.
s ° ° ° ° km
09538 2013 Nov 03 12:47:36 67 171 143 H3 0.3272 1.0159 3.5N 11.7W 71 192 58 01m40s
09559 2023 Apr 20 04:17:56 76 288 129 H -0.3952 1.0132 9.6S 125.8E 67 334 49 01m16s
09578 2031 Nov 14 21:07:31 86 394 143 H 0.3078 1.0106 0.6S 137.6W 72 189 38 01m08s
09900 2172 Oct 17 16:01:36 341 2137 146 H3 -0.1484 1.0174 17.3S 66.7W 81 28 60 01m34s
09944 2190 Oct 29 00:05:50 388 2360 146 H -0.1161 1.0116 19.6S 173.1E 83 25 40 01m04s
10340 2349 Oct 13 03:28:54 848 4326 149 H -0.0532 1.0126 10.6S 127.0E 87 16 43 01m18s
10430 2386 Apr 29 12:32:25 972 4778 154 H2 -0.5483 1.0146 18.1S 2.8E 57 347 60 01m30s
10720 2508 Sep 26 07:14:51 1447 6292 152 H 0.2046 1.0134 9.0N 81.0E 78 209 47 01m14s
10803 2545 Apr 12 16:19:46 1606 6744 157 H 0.3942 1.0149 29.4N 70.1W 67 149 55 01m17s
11078 2667 Sep 10 11:25:05 2201 8258 155 H -0.3393 1.0134 14.2S 11.4E 70 18 49 01m22s
11162 2704 Mar 27 19:45:56 2397 8710 160 H -0.2211 1.0148 9.5S 101.4W 77 342 52 01m29s
11461 2826 Aug 24 15:52:15 3112 10224 158 H 0.4557 1.0123 34.6N 29.9W 63 212 47 01m03s
11554 2863 Mar 10 22:51:08 3343 10676 163 H 0.0299 1.0147 2.3S 147.4W 88 151 50 01m21s
11817 2967 Jul 28 13:27:22 4049 11967 161 H3 -0.4892 1.0147 10.4S 7.0W 61 8 58 01m37s
11861 2985 Aug 07 20:31:50 4178 12190 161 H -0.5686 1.0097 18.3S 115.6W 55 12 41 01m02s
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.
[1] Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. (See: Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses)
[2] The terms BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions )
[3] Central solar eclipses are eclipses in which the central axis of the Moon's shadow strikes the Earth's surface. All partial (penumbral) eclipses are non-central eclipses since the shadow axis misses Earth. However, umbral eclipses (total, annular and hybrid) may be either central (usually) or non-central (rarely).
[4] Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to the Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is virtually identical to the instants of greatest magnitude and greatest duration. However, for annular eclipses, the instant of greatest duration may occur at either the time of greatest eclipse or near the sunrise and sunset points of the eclipse path.
Special thanks to Dan McGlaun for extracting the individual eclipse maps from the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 for use in this catalog.
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 Solar 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)"
