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.
Solar eclipses of Saros 31 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -1805 Jan 31. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0489 Mar 31. The total duration of Saros series 31 is 1316.20 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1805 Jan 31 08:30:57 TD Last Eclipse = -0489 Mar 31 01:26:56 TD Duration of Saros 31 = 1316.20 Years
Saros 31 is composed of 74 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 31 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 74 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 34 | 45.9% |
| Annular | A | 40 | 54.1% |
| Total | T | 0 | 0.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 0 | 0.0% |
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 31 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 31 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 39 | 97.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.5% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 74 eclipses in Saros 31: 10P 40A 24P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 31 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 31 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1319 Nov 18 | 11m29s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0940 Jul 02 | 01m24s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1643 May 07 | - | 0.94835 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1805 Jan 31 | - | 0.00808 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 31. 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 31.
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
00478 -35 -1805 Jan 31 08:30:57 41845 -47061 Pb 1.5526 0.0081 63.3N 167.9W 0
00525 -34 -1787 Feb 10 16:07:23 41430 -46838 P 1.5213 0.0626 62.5N 66.9E 0
00570 -33 -1769 Feb 21 23:32:24 41016 -46615 P 1.4816 0.1318 61.8N 55.2W 0
00615 -32 -1751 Mar 04 06:47:43 40605 -46392 P 1.4347 0.2136 61.3N 174.7W 0
00660 -31 -1733 Mar 15 13:52:14 40196 -46169 P 1.3796 0.3097 60.9N 68.6E 0
00707 -30 -1715 Mar 25 20:46:57 39789 -45946 P 1.3171 0.4188 60.7N 45.6W 0
00751 -29 -1697 Apr 06 03:33:07 39383 -45723 P 1.2482 0.5389 60.6N 157.5W 0
00795 -28 -1679 Apr 16 10:11:56 38980 -45500 P 1.1740 0.6681 60.6N 92.4E 0
00837 -27 -1661 Apr 27 16:44:02 38579 -45277 P 1.0949 0.8056 60.8N 16.0W 0
00878 -26 -1643 May 07 23:11:49 38180 -45054 P 1.0124 0.9483 61.2N 123.4W 0
00919 -25 -1625 May 19 05:36:22 37784 -44831 A 0.9278 0.9523 66.7N 179.3E 21 469 03m19s
00960 -24 -1607 May 29 12:00:07 37389 -44608 A 0.8427 0.9525 66.9N 103.4E 32 322 03m32s
01001 -23 -1589 Jun 09 18:22:35 36996 -44385 A 0.7568 0.9516 65.7N 23.0E 41 271 03m51s
01042 -22 -1571 Jun 20 00:48:42 36606 -44162 A 0.6743 0.9499 63.3N 61.8W 47 249 04m15s
01083 -21 -1553 Jul 01 07:17:10 36217 -43939 A 0.5941 0.9476 59.7N 150.2W 53 240 04m44s
01123 -20 -1535 Jul 11 13:52:31 35831 -43716 A 0.5194 0.9449 55.3N 116.6E 58 238 05m19s
01163 -19 -1517 Jul 22 20:32:30 35446 -43493 A 0.4487 0.9418 50.0N 19.7E 63 241 05m59s
01203 -18 -1499 Aug 02 03:22:20 35064 -43270 A 0.3864 0.9386 44.4N 81.5W 67 248 06m42s
01243 -17 -1481 Aug 13 10:18:57 34683 -43047 A 0.3298 0.9351 38.4N 174.1E 71 256 07m27s
01283 -16 -1463 Aug 23 17:25:29 34305 -42824 A 0.2817 0.9318 32.3N 66.3E 73 266 08m10s
01324 -15 -1445 Sep 04 00:40:23 33929 -42601 A 0.2404 0.9286 26.2N 44.3W 76 276 08m51s
01365 -14 -1427 Sep 14 08:05:58 33555 -42378 A 0.2080 0.9256 20.2N 158.0W 78 286 09m27s
01406 -13 -1409 Sep 25 15:39:41 33183 -42155 A 0.1825 0.9229 14.4N 86.1E 79 296 10m00s
01447 -12 -1391 Oct 05 23:21:33 32813 -41932 A 0.1637 0.9207 8.9N 31.9W 81 304 10m27s
01488 -11 -1373 Oct 17 07:10:35 32445 -41709 A 0.1509 0.9190 3.7N 151.7W 81 310 10m51s
01530 -10 -1355 Oct 27 15:05:56 32080 -41486 A 0.1429 0.9180 1.0S 87.2E 82 314 11m10s
01572 -09 -1337 Nov 07 23:04:53 31716 -41263 A 0.1379 0.9176 5.3S 34.6W 82 316 11m24s
01615 -08 -1319 Nov 18 07:06:24 31354 -41040 A 0.1346 0.9178 9.1S 156.7W 82 315 11m29s
01659 -07 -1301 Nov 29 15:08:25 30995 -40817 A 0.1315 0.9188 12.2S 81.3E 83 311 11m26s
01703 -06 -1283 Dec 09 23:10:06 30637 -40594 A 0.1275 0.9205 14.7S 40.3W 83 303 11m11s
01748 -05 -1265 Dec 21 07:07:40 30282 -40371 A 0.1197 0.9229 16.6S 160.6W 83 293 10m44s
01794 -04 -1247 Dec 31 15:01:47 29929 -40148 A 0.1084 0.9259 17.8S 80.2E 84 280 10m06s
01839 -03 -1228 Jan 11 22:49:04 29577 -39925 A 0.0909 0.9295 18.4S 37.2W 85 265 09m19s
01884 -02 -1210 Jan 22 06:30:03 29228 -39702 A 0.0678 0.9337 18.4S 152.9W 86 248 08m26s
01929 -01 -1192 Feb 02 14:02:01 28881 -39479 A 0.0364 0.9381 18.0S 93.7E 88 230 07m33s
01974 00 -1174 Feb 12 21:26:57 28536 -39256 A -0.0013 0.9430 17.2S 18.0W 90 211 06m40s
02021 01 -1156 Feb 24 04:43:07 28193 -39033 A -0.0471 0.9480 16.2S 127.4W 87 191 05m52s
02067 02 -1138 Mar 06 11:50:47 27852 -38810 Am -0.1004 0.9532 15.0S 125.2E 84 172 05m07s
02112 03 -1120 Mar 16 18:50:43 27513 -38587 A -0.1607 0.9582 13.9S 19.8E 81 154 04m28s
02157 04 -1102 Mar 28 01:44:10 27177 -38364 A -0.2270 0.9632 13.0S 84.0W 77 136 03m52s
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
02200 05 -1084 Apr 07 08:32:24 26842 -38141 A -0.2985 0.9678 12.5S 173.5E 73 120 03m22s
02243 06 -1066 Apr 18 15:15:13 26509 -37918 A -0.3752 0.9722 12.6S 72.2E 68 106 02m56s
02286 07 -1048 Apr 28 21:56:14 26179 -37695 A -0.4542 0.9760 13.4S 28.7W 63 95 02m33s
02330 08 -1030 May 10 04:35:16 25850 -37472 A -0.5354 0.9794 15.2S 129.4W 58 85 02m14s
02373 09 -1012 May 20 11:15:02 25524 -37249 A -0.6168 0.9821 18.0S 129.4E 52 79 01m57s
02415 10 -0994 May 31 17:55:43 25200 -37026 A -0.6985 0.9841 22.1S 27.6E 46 77 01m44s
02455 11 -0976 Jun 11 00:40:34 24877 -36803 A -0.7775 0.9854 27.6S 76.0W 39 81 01m34s
02496 12 -0958 Jun 22 07:29:45 24557 -36580 A -0.8536 0.9859 34.6S 178.7E 31 95 01m27s
02537 13 -0940 Jul 02 14:24:34 24239 -36357 A -0.9259 0.9853 44.1S 70.9E 22 139 01m24s
02577 14 -0922 Jul 13 21:26:58 23923 -36134 As -0.9926 0.9822 61.1S 40.6W 5 - 01m27s
02617 15 -0904 Jul 24 04:37:34 23609 -35911 P -1.0531 0.8902 67.6S 160.1W 0
02657 16 -0886 Aug 04 11:57:43 23297 -35688 P -1.1068 0.7938 68.6S 77.1E 0
02698 17 -0868 Aug 14 19:26:56 22987 -35465 P -1.1537 0.7094 69.5S 48.5W 0
02739 18 -0850 Aug 26 03:06:52 22680 -35242 P -1.1926 0.6394 70.3S 177.5W 0
02779 19 -0832 Sep 05 10:56:45 22374 -35019 P -1.2242 0.5826 71.0S 50.5E 0
02820 20 -0814 Sep 16 18:56:14 22070 -34796 P -1.2487 0.5385 71.4S 84.3W 0
02861 21 -0796 Sep 27 03:05:45 21769 -34573 P -1.2660 0.5073 71.7S 138.0E 0
02902 22 -0778 Oct 08 11:23:56 21469 -34350 P -1.2773 0.4870 71.6S 2.0W 0
02943 23 -0760 Oct 18 19:50:33 21172 -34127 P -1.2825 0.4777 71.3S 143.9W 0
02985 24 -0742 Oct 30 04:22:22 20877 -33904 P -1.2844 0.4742 70.8S 73.2E 0
03028 25 -0724 Nov 09 13:00:39 20583 -33681 P -1.2820 0.4785 70.1S 70.7W 0
03072 26 -0706 Nov 20 21:41:18 20292 -33458 P -1.2789 0.4842 69.2S 145.4E 0
03116 27 -0688 Dec 01 06:24:23 20003 -33235 P -1.2745 0.4922 68.2S 1.5E 0
03161 28 -0670 Dec 12 15:05:49 19716 -33012 P -1.2723 0.4963 67.1S 141.4W 0
03206 29 -0652 Dec 22 23:46:43 19431 -32789 P -1.2713 0.4982 66.1S 76.5E 0
03251 30 -0633 Jan 03 08:23:21 19148 -32566 P -1.2746 0.4922 65.0S 64.1W 0
03297 31 -0615 Jan 13 16:55:37 18868 -32343 P -1.2820 0.4784 64.1S 156.8E 0
03344 32 -0597 Jan 25 01:21:19 18589 -32120 P -1.2957 0.4531 63.2S 19.7E 0
03391 33 -0579 Feb 04 09:40:57 18312 -31897 P -1.3147 0.4174 62.5S 115.7W 0
03438 34 -0561 Feb 15 17:52:30 18038 -31674 P -1.3409 0.3679 61.9S 111.2E 0
03484 35 -0543 Feb 26 01:57:02 17765 -31451 P -1.3735 0.3058 61.4S 20.0W 0
03529 36 -0525 Mar 09 09:53:41 17495 -31228 P -1.4130 0.2300 61.1S 149.1W 0
03574 37 -0507 Mar 19 17:44:28 17226 -31005 P -1.4579 0.1431 60.9S 83.3E 0
03619 38 -0489 Mar 31 01:26:56 16925 -30782 Pe -1.5100 0.0418 60.9S 42.3W 0
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] 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.
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)"
