Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 20

Introduction

The periodicity and recurrence of 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 13 centuries and contains 70 or more eclipses. Every saros series begins with a number of partial eclipses near one of Earth's polar regions. The series will then produce several dozen central[2] eclipses before ending with a group of partial eclipses near the opposite pole. For more information, see Periodicity of Solar Eclipses.


Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 20

Solar eclipses of Saros 20 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -2286 Jun 05. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1006 Jul 13. The total duration of Saros series 20 is 1280.14 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -2286 Jun 05   01:55:59 TD
                       Last Eclipse =  -1006 Jul 13   10:26:39 TD

                      Duration of Saros  20  =  1280.14 Years

Saros 20 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 20
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PartialP 15 20.8%
AnnularA 12 16.7%
TotalT 43 59.7%
Hybrid[3]H 2 2.8%

Umbral eclipses (annular, total and hybrid) 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 in Saros series 20 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 20
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 57100.0%
Central (two limits) 56 98.2%
Central (one limit) 1 1.8%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 20: 8P 12A 2H 43T 7P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 20 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 20
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -2142 Aug 3002m49s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -1944 Dec 2700m20s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -1673 Jun 0806m49s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -1889 Jan 2900m54s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1907 Jan 1800m27s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -1925 Jan 0700m02s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1114 May 09 - 0.95792
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1006 Jul 13 - 0.10563

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 20

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 20. A description or explanation of each parameter listed in the catalog can be found in Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.

Several fields in the catalog link to web pages or files containing additional information for each eclipse (for the years -1999 through +3000). The following gives a brief explanation of each link.


For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Animation of Saros 20.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 20

                         TD of
 Seq. Rel.   Calendar   Greatest          Luna  Ecl.           Ecl.                Sun Path  Central
 Num. Num.     Date      Eclipse     ΔT   Num.  Type  Gamma    Mag.    Lat   Long  Alt Width   Dur.
                                      s                                 °      °     °    km

----- -35 -2286 Jun 05  01:55:59  53686 -53006   Pb  -1.4860  0.1212  69.0S  39.0E   0             
----- -34 -2268 Jun 15  08:34:46  53215 -52783   P   -1.4045  0.2641  68.0S  74.4W   0             
----- -33 -2250 Jun 26  15:20:11  52746 -52560   P   -1.3266  0.4008  67.0S 171.1E   0             
----- -32 -2232 Jul 06  22:14:06  52280 -52337   P   -1.2545  0.5279  66.0S  55.0E   0             
----- -31 -2214 Jul 18  05:16:05  51815 -52114   P   -1.1876  0.6457  65.0S  62.7W   0             
----- -30 -2196 Jul 28  12:29:22  51353 -51891   P   -1.1286  0.7497  64.0S 177.1E   0             
----- -29 -2178 Aug 08  19:52:29  50893 -51668   P   -1.0763  0.8419  63.1S  54.9E   0             
----- -28 -2160 Aug 19  03:26:23  50434 -51445   P   -1.0319  0.9202  62.3S  69.8W   0             
----- -27 -2142 Aug 30  11:10:36  49978 -51222   As  -0.9947  0.9631  59.1S 170.0E   4   -   02m49s
----- -26 -2124 Sep 09  19:06:14  49524 -50999   A   -0.9661  0.9659  52.8S  55.3E  14  476  02m42s

----- -25 -2106 Sep 21  03:11:14  49072 -50776   A   -0.9439  0.9675  51.4S  68.7W  19  349  02m33s
----- -24 -2088 Oct 01  11:24:50  48622 -50553   A   -0.9278  0.9688  51.9S 163.8E  21  295  02m23s
----- -23 -2070 Oct 12  19:46:23  48174 -50330   A   -0.9173  0.9703  53.8S  33.3E  23  263  02m11s
----- -22 -2052 Oct 23  04:14:46  47728 -50107   A   -0.9119  0.9721  56.6S  99.6W  24  240  01m59s
----- -21 -2034 Nov 03  12:46:47  47284 -49884   A   -0.9084  0.9744  60.0S 126.2E  24  217  01m45s
----- -20 -2016 Nov 13  21:21:51  46842 -49661   A   -0.9068  0.9771  63.8S   9.0W  25  193  01m30s
00004 -19 -1998 Nov 25  05:57:03  46403 -49438   A   -0.9045  0.9806  67.8S 143.8W  25  162  01m14s
00047 -18 -1980 Dec 05  14:32:25  45965 -49215   A   -0.9018  0.9845  72.0S  82.1E  25  127  00m58s
00090 -17 -1962 Dec 16  23:03:15  45530 -48992   A   -0.8949  0.9893  76.3S  47.3W  26   85  00m39s
00133 -16 -1944 Dec 27  07:31:39  45096 -48769   A   -0.8854  0.9946  80.4S 169.0W  27   41  00m20s

00176 -15 -1925 Jan 07  15:52:48  44665 -48546   H   -0.8696  1.0006  83.1S  91.4E  29    4  00m02s
00220 -14 -1907 Jan 18  00:08:49  44236 -48323   H   -0.8487  1.0071  81.7S   4.7E  32   47  00m27s
00264 -13 -1889 Jan 29  08:15:48  43808 -48100   T   -0.8198  1.0140  76.7S 101.4W  35   85  00m54s
00309 -12 -1871 Feb 08  16:17:25  43383 -47877   T   -0.7858  1.0210  70.3S 141.1E  38  117  01m24s
00356 -11 -1853 Feb 20  00:10:17  42960 -47654   T   -0.7440  1.0282  63.0S  21.0E  42  143  01m57s
00402 -10 -1835 Mar 02  07:56:34  42539 -47431   T   -0.6959  1.0353  55.3S  99.4W  46  165  02m34s
00447 -09 -1817 Mar 13  15:35:24  42120 -47208   T   -0.6407  1.0421  47.2S 141.1E  50  183  03m14s
00493 -08 -1799 Mar 23  23:09:16  41703 -46985   T   -0.5805  1.0485  38.9S  22.6E  54  197  03m55s
00540 -07 -1781 Apr 04  06:37:38  41289 -46762   T   -0.5149  1.0545  30.4S  94.7W  59  209  04m36s
00585 -06 -1763 Apr 14  14:01:43  40876 -46539   T   -0.4451  1.0598  21.9S 149.1E  63  218  05m15s

00630 -05 -1745 Apr 25  21:23:14  40465 -46316   T   -0.3724  1.0644  13.6S  33.8E  68  226  05m50s
00676 -04 -1727 May 06  04:43:17  40057 -46093   T   -0.2975  1.0681   5.4S  80.7W  73  232  06m18s
00723 -03 -1709 May 17  12:02:25  39650 -45870   T   -0.2214  1.0711   2.5N 165.4E  77  237  06m38s
00767 -02 -1691 May 27  19:22:45  39246 -45647   T   -0.1459  1.0731   9.8N  51.8E  82  240  06m48s
00811 -01 -1673 Jun 08  02:45:01  38843 -45424   T   -0.0714  1.0742  16.6N  61.6W  86  241  06m49s
00851  00 -1655 Jun 18  10:11:15  38443 -45201   T    0.0000  1.0745  22.6N 175.0W  90  242  06m41s
00892  01 -1637 Jun 29  17:40:22  38045 -44978   Tm   0.0694  1.0740  27.7N  71.7E  86  241  06m27s
00933  02 -1619 Jul 10  01:16:28  37649 -44755   T    0.1332  1.0727  31.7N  42.4W  82  238  06m08s
00974  03 -1601 Jul 21  08:58:04  37255 -44532   T    0.1927  1.0707  34.4N 157.1W  79  235  05m47s
01015  04 -1583 Jul 31  16:48:13  36863 -44309   T    0.2452  1.0683  35.7N  86.4E  76  230  05m26s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 20

                         TD of
 Seq. Rel.   Calendar   Greatest          Luna  Ecl.           Ecl.                Sun Path  Central
 Num. Num.     Date      Eclipse     ΔT   Num.  Type  Gamma    Mag.    Lat   Long  Alt Width   Dur.
                                      s                                 °      °     °    km

01056  05 -1565 Aug 12  00:44:52  36473 -44086   T    0.2924  1.0653  35.8N  31.7W  73  223  05m05s
01097  06 -1547 Aug 22  08:51:29  36085 -43863   T    0.3316  1.0622  34.6N 152.7W  70  216  04m46s
01137  07 -1529 Sep 02  17:05:29  35699 -43640   T    0.3648  1.0588  32.5N  83.8E  68  207  04m29s
01177  08 -1511 Sep 13  01:28:05  35316 -43417   T    0.3910  1.0555  29.6N  42.6W  67  198  04m15s
01217  09 -1493 Sep 24  09:58:07  34934 -43194   T    0.4111  1.0522  26.2N 171.5W  66  188  04m03s
01257  10 -1475 Oct 04  18:35:57  34554 -42971   T    0.4246  1.0492  22.4N  57.0E  65  179  03m53s
01297  11 -1457 Oct 16  03:19:31  34177 -42748   T    0.4335  1.0465  18.6N  76.3W  64  170  03m46s
01338  12 -1439 Oct 26  12:07:11  33801 -42525   T    0.4389  1.0443  14.8N 149.2E  64  163  03m41s
01379  13 -1421 Nov 06  20:58:56  33428 -42302   T    0.4408  1.0425  11.2N  13.6E  64  157  03m39s
01420  14 -1403 Nov 17  05:52:19  33057 -42079   T    0.4410  1.0412   8.1N 122.4W  64  152  03m40s

01461  15 -1385 Nov 28  14:45:32  32688 -41856   T    0.4414  1.0404   5.5N 101.7E  64  150  03m43s
01503  16 -1367 Dec 08  23:36:35  32321 -41633   T    0.4432  1.0401   3.8N  33.5W  64  149  03m48s
01545  17 -1349 Dec 20  08:24:42  31955 -41410   T    0.4473  1.0402   2.9N 167.8W  63  150  03m54s
01588  18 -1331 Dec 30  17:08:09  31593 -41187   T    0.4551  1.0406   3.1N  59.0E  63  153  04m00s
01631  19 -1312 Jan 11  01:44:54  31232 -40964   T    0.4680  1.0413   4.4N  72.6W  62  156  04m06s
01675  20 -1294 Jan 21  10:14:58  30873 -40741   T    0.4862  1.0422   6.8N 157.2E  61  161  04m11s
01720  21 -1276 Feb 01  18:36:42  30516 -40518   T    0.5111  1.0430  10.3N  28.8E  59  167  04m13s
01764  22 -1258 Feb 12  02:49:50  30161 -40295   T    0.5430  1.0438  15.0N  98.0W  57  174  04m11s
01810  23 -1240 Feb 23  10:53:38  29809 -40072   T    0.5822  1.0442  20.6N 137.0E  54  181  04m06s
01855  24 -1222 Mar 05  18:48:58  29458 -39849   T    0.6280  1.0444  27.2N  13.5E  51  189  03m56s

01899  25 -1204 Mar 16  02:35:36  29110 -39626   T    0.6804  1.0439  34.6N 108.5W  47  198  03m41s
01944  26 -1186 Mar 27  10:13:06  28763 -39403   T    0.7399  1.0429  43.0N 130.6E  42  211  03m23s
01990  27 -1168 Apr 06  17:43:29  28419 -39180   T    0.8047  1.0409  52.2N   9.7E  36  229  02m59s
02036  28 -1150 Apr 18  01:06:16  28077 -38957   T    0.8751  1.0378  62.5N 113.9W  29  263  02m31s
02082  29 -1132 Apr 28  08:24:17  27736 -38734   T    0.9484  1.0331  72.9N 106.5E  18  360  01m58s
02127  30 -1114 May 09  15:35:44  27398 -38511   P    1.0262  0.9579  70.4N  75.9W   0             
02171  31 -1096 May 19  22:45:34  27062 -38288   P    1.1043  0.8104  69.6N 162.6E   0             
02214  32 -1078 May 31  05:51:56  26728 -38065   P    1.1844  0.6600  68.7N  42.7E   0             
02257  33 -1060 Jun 10  12:58:45  26396 -37842   P    1.2630  0.5134  67.7N  76.9W   0             
02300  34 -1042 Jun 21  20:05:00  26067 -37619   P    1.3408  0.3695  66.7N 164.3E   0             

02344  35 -1024 Jul 02  03:14:33  25739 -37396   P    1.4149  0.2339  65.7N  45.0E   0             
02386  36 -1006 Jul 13  10:26:39  25413 -37173   Pe   1.4859  0.1056  64.7N  74.5W   0             


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.


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]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).

[3]Hybrid eclipses are also known as annular/total eclipses. Such an eclipse is both total and annular along different sections of its umbral path. For more information, see Five Millennium Catalog of Hybrid Solar Eclipses .

[4]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is nearly equal 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.


Acknowledgments

The information presented on this web page is based on data published in Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. The individual global maps appearing in links (both GIF an animation) were extracted from full page plates appearing in Five Millennium Canon by Dan McGlaun. The Besselian elements were provided by Jean Meeus. Fred Espenak assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all eclipse calculations.

Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)"


Return to:

Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26