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 36 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 -1859 Jun 23. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0561 Aug 11. The total duration of Saros series 36 is 1298.17 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1859 Jun 23 14:36:03 TD Last Eclipse = -0561 Aug 11 23:14:48 TD Duration of Saros 36 = 1298.17 Years
Saros 36 is composed of 73 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 36 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 73 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 39.7% |
| Annular | A | 23 | 31.5% |
| Total | T | 18 | 24.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 4.1% |
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 36 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 36 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 44 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 73 eclipses in Saros 36: 22P 18T 3H 23A 7P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 36 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 36 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0885 Jan 29 | 03m50s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1084 Oct 01 | 00m09s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -1300 May 25 | 06m00s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -1156 Aug 19 | 02m09s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1138 Aug 30 | 01m32s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -1102 Sep 21 | 00m23s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1480 Feb 06 | - | 0.95466 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1859 Jun 23 | - | 0.01806 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 36. 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 36.
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
00342 -38 -1859 Jun 23 14:36:03 43093 -47724 Pb -1.5239 0.0181 67.0S 142.0E 0
00388 -37 -1841 Jul 04 22:03:49 42671 -47501 P -1.4564 0.1461 66.0S 17.6E 0
00434 -36 -1823 Jul 15 05:38:07 42252 -47278 P -1.3935 0.2659 65.0S 108.1W 0
00480 -35 -1805 Jul 26 13:20:27 41834 -47055 P -1.3363 0.3747 64.1S 124.7E 0
00527 -34 -1787 Aug 05 21:11:03 41419 -46832 P -1.2853 0.4718 63.2S 4.3W 0
00572 -33 -1769 Aug 17 05:11:34 41005 -46609 P -1.2420 0.5539 62.4S 135.5W 0
00617 -32 -1751 Aug 27 13:20:51 40594 -46386 P -1.2053 0.6232 61.8S 91.3E 0
00662 -31 -1733 Sep 07 21:38:26 40185 -46163 P -1.1752 0.6800 61.2S 43.7W 0
00709 -30 -1715 Sep 18 06:04:44 39778 -45940 P -1.1521 0.7235 60.8S 179.2E 0
00753 -29 -1697 Sep 29 14:39:00 39373 -45717 P -1.1353 0.7547 60.6S 40.3E 0
00797 -28 -1679 Oct 09 23:19:31 38970 -45494 P -1.1237 0.7763 60.6S 100.2W 0
00838 -27 -1661 Oct 21 08:05:55 38569 -45271 P -1.1170 0.7887 60.7S 117.9E 0
00879 -26 -1643 Oct 31 16:56:07 38170 -45048 P -1.1135 0.7952 61.0S 25.0W 0
00920 -25 -1625 Nov 12 01:49:44 37773 -44825 P -1.1128 0.7965 61.4S 168.9W 0
00961 -24 -1607 Nov 22 10:42:35 37378 -44602 P -1.1117 0.7986 62.1S 47.2E 0
01002 -23 -1589 Dec 03 19:36:25 36986 -44379 P -1.1114 0.7994 62.8S 97.0W 0
01043 -22 -1571 Dec 14 04:26:39 36595 -44156 P -1.1088 0.8046 63.7S 119.3E 0
01084 -21 -1553 Dec 25 13:14:00 36207 -43933 P -1.1037 0.8148 64.7S 23.9W 0
01124 -20 -1534 Jan 04 21:54:23 35820 -43710 P -1.0931 0.8353 65.7S 165.8W 0
01164 -19 -1516 Jan 16 06:30:12 35436 -43487 P -1.0790 0.8627 66.8S 53.0E 0
01204 -18 -1498 Jan 26 14:57:28 35053 -43264 P -1.0584 0.9028 67.8S 86.5W 0
01244 -17 -1480 Feb 06 23:17:12 34673 -43041 P -1.0317 0.9547 68.8S 135.3E 0
01284 -16 -1462 Feb 17 07:27:51 34295 -42818 T- -0.9981 1.0200 69.7S 1.2W 0
01325 -15 -1444 Feb 28 15:30:44 33919 -42595 T -0.9581 1.0513 75.5S 169.1E 16 614 02m48s
01366 -14 -1426 Mar 10 23:24:56 33545 -42372 T -0.9114 1.0557 68.4S 17.4E 24 451 03m20s
01407 -13 -1408 Mar 21 07:11:08 33173 -42149 T -0.8586 1.0592 59.5S 115.4W 30 379 03m51s
01448 -12 -1390 Apr 01 14:50:14 32803 -41926 T -0.8002 1.0619 50.4S 119.2E 37 337 04m22s
01489 -11 -1372 Apr 11 22:23:02 32436 -41703 T -0.7369 1.0637 41.4S 2.2W 42 306 04m52s
01531 -10 -1354 Apr 23 05:49:30 32070 -41480 T -0.6687 1.0648 32.5S 120.7W 48 283 05m19s
01573 -09 -1336 May 03 13:12:26 31706 -41257 T -0.5980 1.0649 24.0S 122.7E 53 263 05m41s
01616 -08 -1318 May 14 20:31:36 31345 -41034 T -0.5244 1.0641 15.8S 7.8E 58 245 05m55s
01660 -07 -1300 May 25 03:50:16 30985 -40811 T -0.4509 1.0624 8.3S 106.3W 63 229 06m00s
01704 -06 -1282 Jun 05 11:06:36 30628 -40588 T -0.3759 1.0598 1.2S 140.9E 68 212 05m54s
01749 -05 -1264 Jun 15 18:25:38 30272 -40365 T -0.3036 1.0564 4.9N 28.3E 72 195 05m38s
01795 -04 -1246 Jun 27 01:45:21 29919 -40142 T -0.2321 1.0522 10.2N 83.8W 77 178 05m13s
01840 -03 -1228 Jul 07 09:09:34 29568 -39919 T -0.1653 1.0474 14.5N 163.7E 81 160 04m41s
01885 -02 -1210 Jul 18 16:36:28 29219 -39696 Tm -0.1014 1.0419 17.6N 51.1E 84 141 04m04s
01930 -01 -1192 Jul 29 00:10:28 28872 -39473 T -0.0440 1.0360 19.4N 62.7W 88 121 03m26s
01975 00 -1174 Aug 09 07:49:30 28527 -39250 T 0.0084 1.0297 20.1N 177.7W 89 101 02m47s
02022 01 -1156 Aug 19 15:35:41 28184 -39027 T 0.0541 1.0233 19.6N 65.5E 87 80 02m09s
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
02068 02 -1138 Aug 30 23:28:43 27843 -38804 H3 0.0932 1.0168 18.0N 53.2W 85 58 01m32s
02113 03 -1120 Sep 10 07:29:50 27504 -38581 H 0.1245 1.0105 15.6N 174.3W 83 36 00m57s
02158 04 -1102 Sep 21 15:37:58 27168 -38358 H 0.1494 1.0042 12.5N 62.4E 81 15 00m23s
02201 05 -1084 Oct 01 23:51:56 26833 -38135 A 0.1687 0.9984 9.0N 62.6W 80 6 00m09s
02244 06 -1066 Oct 13 08:12:39 26500 -37912 A 0.1816 0.9929 5.2N 170.4E 80 25 00m41s
02287 07 -1048 Oct 23 16:38:03 26170 -37689 A 0.1898 0.9880 1.4N 42.2E 79 43 01m11s
02331 08 -1030 Nov 04 01:07:24 25841 -37466 A 0.1940 0.9836 2.4S 87.0W 79 59 01m40s
02374 09 -1012 Nov 14 09:38:15 25515 -37243 A 0.1962 0.9799 5.7S 143.6E 79 73 02m07s
02416 10 -0994 Nov 25 18:10:20 25191 -37020 A 0.1968 0.9767 8.6S 14.2E 79 84 02m32s
02456 11 -0976 Dec 06 02:40:40 24869 -36797 A 0.1981 0.9742 10.7S 114.6W 79 94 02m54s
02497 12 -0958 Dec 17 11:07:32 24549 -36574 A 0.2014 0.9723 11.8S 117.6E 78 101 03m14s
02538 13 -0940 Dec 27 19:29:39 24231 -36351 A 0.2080 0.9709 11.9S 8.9W 78 107 03m29s
02578 14 -0921 Jan 08 03:45:32 23915 -36128 A 0.2185 0.9699 10.9S 133.9W 77 111 03m40s
02618 15 -0903 Jan 18 11:52:49 23601 -35905 A 0.2356 0.9694 8.7S 103.0E 76 113 03m46s
02658 16 -0885 Jan 29 19:51:01 23289 -35682 A 0.2593 0.9691 5.3S 18.2W 75 115 03m50s
02699 17 -0867 Feb 09 03:39:24 22979 -35459 A 0.2902 0.9690 0.8S 137.5W 73 116 03m49s
02740 18 -0849 Feb 20 11:17:55 22671 -35236 A 0.3281 0.9689 4.6N 105.2E 71 118 03m46s
02780 19 -0831 Mar 02 18:44:13 22366 -35013 A 0.3752 0.9688 11.1N 9.7W 68 121 03m41s
02821 20 -0813 Mar 14 02:01:21 22062 -34790 A 0.4288 0.9684 18.2N 122.8W 64 125 03m36s
02862 21 -0795 Mar 24 09:07:14 21761 -34567 A 0.4910 0.9679 26.1N 126.5E 60 132 03m31s
02903 22 -0777 Apr 04 16:05:25 21461 -34344 A 0.5584 0.9669 34.6N 17.3E 56 143 03m25s
02944 23 -0759 Apr 14 22:53:03 21164 -34121 A 0.6336 0.9654 43.8N 89.9W 50 160 03m20s
02986 24 -0741 Apr 26 05:35:33 20869 -33898 A 0.7120 0.9634 53.5N 163.3E 44 188 03m16s
03030 25 -0723 May 06 12:10:17 20576 -33675 A 0.7960 0.9606 64.2N 56.1E 37 236 03m12s
03074 26 -0705 May 17 18:41:36 20284 -33452 A 0.8817 0.9569 75.6N 59.6W 28 336 03m08s
03118 27 -0687 May 28 01:08:50 19995 -33229 A 0.9697 0.9513 80.3N 112.4E 13 772 03m05s
03163 28 -0669 Jun 08 07:36:00 19708 -33006 P 1.0569 0.8693 67.7N 24.4W 0
03208 29 -0651 Jun 18 14:02:56 19424 -32783 P 1.1432 0.7194 66.7N 133.3W 0
03253 30 -0633 Jun 29 20:31:44 19141 -32560 P 1.2270 0.5745 65.7N 117.9E 0
03299 31 -0615 Jul 10 03:04:02 18860 -32337 P 1.3070 0.4372 64.7N 8.7E 0
03346 32 -0597 Jul 21 09:41:13 18581 -32114 P 1.3824 0.3088 63.8N 101.5W 0
03393 33 -0579 Jul 31 16:24:28 18305 -31891 P 1.4518 0.1915 63.0N 147.1E 0
03440 34 -0561 Aug 11 23:14:48 18030 -31668 Pe 1.5148 0.0861 62.3N 34.2E 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)"
