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 33 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 -1982 Aug 02. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -0485 Jan 17. The total duration of Saros series 33 is 1496.50 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1982 Aug 02 01:40:26 TD Last Eclipse = -0485 Jan 17 02:08:17 TD Duration of Saros 33 = 1496.50 Years
Saros 33 is composed of 84 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 33 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 84 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 42 | 50.0% |
| Annular | A | 23 | 27.4% |
| Total | T | 15 | 17.9% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 4.8% |
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 33 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 33 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 84 eclipses in Saros 33: 23P 15T 4H 23A 19P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 33 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 33 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0828 Jun 25 | 04m51s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1225 Oct 31 | 00m24s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1459 Jun 11 | 04m34s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1315 Sep 06 | 02m14s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1297 Sep 17 | 01m40s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1243 Oct 19 | 00m04s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1585 Mar 28 | - | 0.99597 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0485 Jan 17 | - | 0.00663 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 33. 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 33.
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
00042 -49 -1982 Aug 02 01:40:26 46022 -49244 Pb 1.4996 0.0678 67.5N 157.3E 0
00085 -48 -1964 Aug 12 09:35:44 45586 -49021 P 1.4540 0.1540 68.5N 25.2E 0
00128 -47 -1946 Aug 23 17:40:35 45153 -48798 P 1.4157 0.2262 69.4N 109.9W 0
00171 -46 -1928 Sep 03 01:53:33 44721 -48575 P 1.3838 0.2863 70.2N 112.4E 0
00215 -45 -1910 Sep 14 10:16:33 44291 -48352 P 1.3600 0.3312 70.9N 28.4W 0
00259 -44 -1892 Sep 24 18:46:57 43864 -48129 P 1.3420 0.3652 71.4N 171.6W 0
00304 -43 -1874 Oct 06 03:24:58 43438 -47906 P 1.3299 0.3878 71.6N 43.0E 0
00351 -42 -1856 Oct 16 12:08:28 43015 -47683 P 1.3223 0.4022 71.5N 103.9W 0
00397 -41 -1838 Oct 27 20:57:36 42594 -47460 P 1.3189 0.4084 71.2N 108.1E 0
00442 -40 -1820 Nov 07 05:49:12 42175 -47237 P 1.3177 0.4108 70.7N 40.2W 0
00488 -39 -1802 Nov 18 14:42:23 41758 -47014 P 1.3175 0.4110 69.9N 171.6E 0
00535 -38 -1784 Nov 28 23:35:25 41342 -46791 P 1.3172 0.4116 69.0N 24.2E 0
00580 -37 -1766 Dec 10 08:27:16 40929 -46568 P 1.3157 0.4144 68.0N 122.3W 0
00625 -36 -1748 Dec 20 17:14:20 40519 -46345 P 1.3104 0.4242 66.9N 93.0E 0
00670 -35 -1729 Jan 01 01:57:02 40110 -46122 P 1.3017 0.4405 65.9N 50.1W 0
00717 -34 -1711 Jan 11 10:32:45 39703 -45899 P 1.2875 0.4674 64.8N 169.1E 0
00761 -33 -1693 Jan 22 19:02:44 39298 -45676 P 1.2686 0.5034 63.9N 30.1E 0
00805 -32 -1675 Feb 02 03:22:41 38896 -45453 P 1.2417 0.5548 63.0N 106.1W 0
00846 -31 -1657 Feb 13 11:36:16 38495 -45230 P 1.2097 0.6162 62.3N 119.5E 0
00887 -30 -1639 Feb 23 19:39:29 38097 -45007 P 1.1695 0.6937 61.6N 12.0W 0
00928 -29 -1621 Mar 07 03:36:28 37700 -44784 P 1.1243 0.7812 61.2N 141.8W 0
00969 -28 -1603 Mar 17 11:23:31 37306 -44561 P 1.0711 0.8846 60.8N 91.0E 0
01010 -27 -1585 Mar 28 19:05:42 36914 -44338 P 1.0137 0.9960 60.6N 35.0W 0
01051 -26 -1567 Apr 08 02:40:01 36523 -44115 T 0.9502 1.0617 57.0N 125.2W 18 649 03m40s
01092 -25 -1549 Apr 19 10:10:16 36135 -43892 T 0.8833 1.0653 55.0N 130.4E 28 449 04m00s
01132 -24 -1531 Apr 29 17:35:10 35749 -43669 T 0.8123 1.0672 54.2N 24.5E 35 371 04m13s
01171 -23 -1513 May 11 00:58:13 35365 -43446 T 0.7399 1.0680 53.9N 81.7W 42 326 04m23s
01211 -22 -1495 May 21 08:18:46 34983 -43223 T 0.6657 1.0676 53.6N 172.9E 48 294 04m29s
01251 -21 -1477 Jun 01 15:38:49 34604 -43000 T 0.5914 1.0662 52.9N 67.8E 53 267 04m33s
01291 -20 -1459 Jun 11 22:59:34 34226 -42777 T 0.5183 1.0638 51.5N 37.8W 59 244 04m34s
01332 -19 -1441 Jun 23 06:22:32 33850 -42554 T 0.4478 1.0606 49.3N 144.5W 63 223 04m32s
01373 -18 -1423 Jul 03 13:48:32 33477 -42331 T 0.3805 1.0566 46.2N 107.2E 67 202 04m27s
01415 -17 -1405 Jul 14 21:18:35 33105 -42108 T 0.3172 1.0519 42.3N 3.4W 71 182 04m17s
01456 -16 -1387 Jul 25 04:54:11 32736 -41885 T 0.2592 1.0467 37.8N 116.4W 75 161 04m02s
01498 -15 -1369 Aug 05 12:35:59 32368 -41662 T 0.2075 1.0410 32.8N 128.0E 78 140 03m41s
01540 -14 -1351 Aug 15 20:23:41 32003 -41439 T 0.1616 1.0350 27.5N 10.0E 81 119 03m16s
01582 -13 -1333 Aug 27 04:19:26 31640 -41216 T 0.1231 1.0289 22.0N 110.6W 83 99 02m46s
01625 -12 -1315 Sep 06 12:22:22 31278 -40993 T 0.0914 1.0228 16.4N 126.6E 85 78 02m14s
01669 -11 -1297 Sep 17 20:33:36 30919 -40770 H3 0.0674 1.0168 10.8N 1.4E 86 58 01m40s
01713 -10 -1279 Sep 28 04:50:38 30562 -40547 H 0.0489 1.0110 5.4N 125.3W 87 38 01m07s
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
01757 -09 -1261 Oct 09 13:15:03 30207 -40324 H 0.0373 1.0056 0.3N 106.3E 88 19 00m35s
01803 -08 -1243 Oct 19 21:44:13 29854 -40101 H 0.0303 1.0006 4.6S 23.2W 88 2 00m04s
01848 -07 -1225 Oct 31 06:17:37 29504 -39878 Am 0.0274 0.9963 9.0S 153.5W 88 13 00m24s
01893 -06 -1207 Nov 10 14:53:08 29155 -39655 A 0.0270 0.9923 12.9S 76.0E 89 27 00m49s
01938 -05 -1189 Nov 21 23:29:47 28808 -39432 A 0.0280 0.9891 16.3S 54.4W 88 38 01m11s
01984 -04 -1171 Dec 02 08:05:21 28464 -39209 A 0.0291 0.9864 19.0S 175.9E 88 48 01m29s
02031 -03 -1153 Dec 13 16:37:21 28121 -38986 A 0.0277 0.9844 21.1S 47.3E 89 55 01m43s
02077 -02 -1135 Dec 24 01:05:28 27781 -38763 A 0.0240 0.9828 22.4S 80.0W 89 61 01m54s
02122 -01 -1116 Jan 04 09:27:08 27442 -38540 A 0.0153 0.9818 23.0S 154.4E 89 65 02m00s
02166 00 -1098 Jan 14 17:41:00 27106 -38317 A 0.0011 0.9811 23.1S 30.9E 90 67 02m03s
02209 01 -1080 Jan 26 01:45:40 26772 -38094 A -0.0200 0.9808 22.5S 90.4W 89 68 02m03s
02252 02 -1062 Feb 05 09:41:12 26439 -37871 A -0.0479 0.9806 21.6S 150.6E 87 69 02m02s
02295 03 -1044 Feb 16 17:26:53 26109 -37648 A -0.0834 0.9805 20.3S 33.9E 85 70 02m00s
02339 04 -1026 Feb 27 01:00:56 25781 -37425 A -0.1278 0.9803 18.9S 79.9W 83 70 01m59s
02381 05 -1008 Mar 09 08:25:24 25455 -37202 A -0.1792 0.9801 17.4S 168.6E 80 72 01m59s
02423 06 -0990 Mar 20 15:39:10 25131 -36979 A -0.2387 0.9795 16.2S 59.8E 76 75 02m02s
02464 07 -0972 Mar 30 22:44:13 24810 -36756 A -0.3046 0.9787 15.3S 46.9W 72 79 02m08s
02505 08 -0954 Apr 11 05:39:32 24490 -36533 A -0.3777 0.9774 15.0S 151.2W 68 86 02m18s
02546 09 -0936 Apr 21 12:28:14 24172 -36310 A -0.4554 0.9757 15.5S 106.1E 63 96 02m32s
02586 10 -0918 May 02 19:10:05 23857 -36087 A -0.5374 0.9733 17.0S 5.0E 57 111 02m52s
02626 11 -0900 May 13 01:46:44 23543 -35864 A -0.6227 0.9703 19.8S 95.0W 51 133 03m16s
02666 12 -0882 May 24 08:19:43 23232 -35641 A -0.7099 0.9666 23.9S 165.5E 45 167 03m44s
02707 13 -0864 Jun 03 14:50:41 22922 -35418 A -0.7974 0.9623 29.9S 66.2E 37 223 04m13s
02747 14 -0846 Jun 14 21:21:50 22615 -35195 A -0.8837 0.9570 38.2S 33.7W 28 333 04m38s
02787 15 -0828 Jun 25 03:52:55 22310 -34972 A -0.9689 0.9501 51.8S 133.5W 14 763 04m51s
02828 16 -0810 Jul 06 10:28:10 22007 -34749 P -1.0492 0.8815 66.0S 123.2E 0
02869 17 -0792 Jul 16 17:06:39 21706 -34526 P -1.1258 0.7483 67.0S 11.7E 0
02910 18 -0774 Jul 27 23:52:12 21407 -34303 P -1.1957 0.6275 68.1S 102.0W 0
02952 19 -0756 Aug 07 06:42:52 21110 -34080 P -1.2607 0.5162 69.1S 142.4E 0
02994 20 -0738 Aug 18 13:43:07 20815 -33857 P -1.3171 0.4204 70.0S 23.8E 0
03038 21 -0720 Aug 28 20:50:35 20522 -33634 P -1.3668 0.3368 70.7S 97.2W 0
03082 22 -0702 Sep 09 04:07:20 20231 -33411 P -1.4085 0.2675 71.3S 138.9E 0
03126 23 -0684 Sep 19 11:32:18 19942 -33188 P -1.4430 0.2106 71.7S 12.6E 0
03171 24 -0666 Sep 30 19:07:00 19656 -32965 P -1.4695 0.1675 71.8S 116.5W 0
03216 25 -0648 Oct 11 02:49:02 19371 -32742 P -1.4896 0.1352 71.7S 112.6E 0
03261 26 -0630 Oct 22 10:37:57 19089 -32519 P -1.5039 0.1124 71.3S 19.8W 0
03307 27 -0612 Nov 01 18:32:05 18809 -32296 P -1.5137 0.0970 70.7S 153.0W 0
03354 28 -0594 Nov 13 02:31:13 18530 -32073 P -1.5195 0.0880 69.9S 73.1E 0
03401 29 -0576 Nov 23 10:31:23 18254 -31850 P -1.5242 0.0804 68.9S 60.4W 0
03448 30 -0558 Dec 04 18:33:02 17980 -31627 P -1.5277 0.0747 67.9S 166.4E 0
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
03493 31 -0540 Dec 15 02:32:19 17708 -31404 P -1.5331 0.0654 66.8S 34.4E 0
03538 32 -0522 Dec 26 10:30:10 17438 -31181 P -1.5394 0.0543 65.7S 96.7W 0
03583 33 -0503 Jan 05 18:21:11 17170 -30958 P -1.5515 0.0332 64.7S 134.4E 0
03628 34 -0485 Jan 17 02:08:17 16858 -30735 Pe -1.5666 0.0066 63.7S 6.6E 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)"
