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 46 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 -1371 Apr 01. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -0091 May 08. The total duration of Saros series 46 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1371 Apr 01 12:44:43 TD Last Eclipse = -0091 May 08 09:27:57 TD Duration of Saros 46 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 46 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 46 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 40.3% |
| Annular | A | 43 | 59.7% |
| 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 46 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 46 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 46: 8P 43A 21P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 46 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 46 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0848 Feb 09 | 07m48s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1227 Jun 26 | 01m37s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1245 Jun 16 | - | 0.91769 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1371 Apr 01 | - | 0.02575 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 46. 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 46.
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
01492 -36 -1371 Apr 01 12:44:43 32416 -41691 Pb -1.5280 0.0258 71.5S 142.6W 0
01534 -35 -1353 Apr 12 19:56:23 32050 -41468 P -1.4667 0.1390 71.4S 94.0E 0
01576 -34 -1335 Apr 23 03:03:14 31687 -41245 P -1.4024 0.2575 71.2S 27.9W 0
01619 -33 -1317 May 04 10:01:54 31325 -41022 P -1.3322 0.3865 70.7S 147.4W 0
01663 -32 -1299 May 14 16:58:50 30966 -40799 P -1.2611 0.5164 70.0S 93.9E 0
01707 -31 -1281 May 25 23:51:04 30609 -40576 P -1.1866 0.6517 69.2S 23.1W 0
01751 -30 -1263 Jun 05 06:43:23 30253 -40353 P -1.1127 0.7847 68.3S 139.5W 0
01797 -29 -1245 Jun 16 13:34:06 29900 -40130 P -1.0381 0.9177 67.3S 105.0E 0
01842 -28 -1227 Jun 26 20:27:49 29549 -39907 A -0.9665 0.9820 52.1S 8.8W 14 258 01m37s
01887 -27 -1209 Jul 08 03:23:31 29200 -39684 A -0.8972 0.9796 39.9S 118.1W 26 165 02m03s
01932 -26 -1191 Jul 18 10:23:28 28853 -39461 A -0.8318 0.9758 32.3S 132.9E 33 155 02m35s
01977 -25 -1173 Jul 29 17:28:25 28508 -39238 A -0.7713 0.9712 27.2S 23.4E 39 160 03m10s
02024 -24 -1155 Aug 09 00:40:11 28165 -39015 A -0.7169 0.9663 24.0S 87.3W 44 172 03m44s
02070 -23 -1137 Aug 20 07:58:52 27825 -38792 A -0.6690 0.9610 22.4S 160.5E 48 186 04m17s
02115 -22 -1119 Aug 30 15:24:47 27486 -38569 A -0.6278 0.9557 22.1S 46.7E 51 203 04m47s
02160 -21 -1101 Sep 10 22:58:38 27150 -38346 A -0.5936 0.9504 23.1S 69.0W 53 221 05m15s
02203 -20 -1083 Sep 21 06:40:11 26815 -38123 A -0.5664 0.9454 25.2S 173.4E 55 239 05m40s
02246 -19 -1065 Oct 02 14:28:21 26483 -37900 A -0.5454 0.9407 28.0S 54.3E 57 257 06m02s
02289 -18 -1047 Oct 12 22:23:36 26152 -37677 A -0.5307 0.9364 31.6S 66.6W 58 274 06m23s
02333 -17 -1029 Oct 24 06:24:09 25824 -37454 A -0.5211 0.9327 35.5S 171.6E 58 291 06m41s
02376 -16 -1011 Nov 03 14:29:28 25498 -37231 A -0.5157 0.9295 39.7S 49.0E 59 305 06m56s
02418 -15 -0993 Nov 14 22:36:00 25174 -37008 A -0.5116 0.9270 43.8S 73.1W 59 317 07m09s
02458 -14 -0975 Nov 25 06:44:22 24851 -36785 A -0.5096 0.9252 47.5S 165.3E 59 326 07m19s
02499 -13 -0957 Dec 06 14:51:13 24531 -36562 A -0.5070 0.9240 50.6S 45.4E 59 332 07m27s
02540 -12 -0939 Dec 16 22:55:10 24214 -36339 A -0.5023 0.9237 52.7S 72.5W 60 333 07m33s
02580 -11 -0921 Dec 28 06:53:44 23898 -36116 A -0.4937 0.9238 53.3S 171.9E 60 331 07m38s
02620 -10 -0902 Jan 07 14:46:26 23584 -35893 A -0.4807 0.9247 52.4S 57.8E 61 324 07m41s
02660 -09 -0884 Jan 18 22:31:37 23272 -35670 A -0.4619 0.9261 50.0S 55.3W 62 314 07m44s
02701 -08 -0866 Jan 29 06:07:11 22962 -35447 A -0.4358 0.9280 46.0S 167.3W 64 301 07m46s
02742 -07 -0848 Feb 09 13:33:40 22655 -35224 A -0.4026 0.9301 40.9S 81.4E 66 286 07m48s
02782 -06 -0830 Feb 19 20:49:59 22349 -35001 A -0.3612 0.9327 34.8S 28.8W 69 269 07m48s
02823 -05 -0812 Mar 02 03:56:29 22046 -34778 A -0.3122 0.9353 27.9S 137.6W 72 253 07m46s
02864 -04 -0794 Mar 13 10:52:47 21745 -34555 A -0.2548 0.9381 20.4S 115.4E 75 237 07m40s
02905 -03 -0776 Mar 23 17:40:54 21445 -34332 A -0.1907 0.9407 12.6S 10.0E 79 223 07m32s
02946 -02 -0758 Apr 04 00:20:54 21148 -34109 A -0.1200 0.9432 4.4S 93.7W 83 211 07m20s
02988 -01 -0740 Apr 14 06:52:52 20853 -33886 A -0.0426 0.9455 4.1N 164.6E 88 201 07m04s
03032 00 -0722 Apr 25 13:19:51 20560 -33663 Am 0.0391 0.9475 12.6N 64.3E 88 193 06m45s
03076 01 -0704 May 05 19:42:17 20269 -33440 A 0.1249 0.9491 21.1N 34.5W 83 188 06m23s
03120 02 -0686 May 17 02:03:10 19980 -33217 A 0.2121 0.9503 29.4N 132.2W 78 187 05m59s
03165 03 -0668 May 27 08:21:30 19693 -32994 A 0.3016 0.9510 37.5N 131.7E 72 189 05m34s
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
03210 04 -0650 Jun 07 14:42:20 19408 -32771 A 0.3893 0.9512 45.0N 36.3E 67 194 05m12s
03255 05 -0632 Jun 17 21:04:47 19126 -32548 A 0.4762 0.9509 51.9N 57.6W 61 205 04m53s
03302 06 -0614 Jun 29 03:31:25 18845 -32325 A 0.5597 0.9503 57.8N 149.8W 56 221 04m37s
03349 07 -0596 Jul 09 10:03:01 18566 -32102 A 0.6394 0.9490 62.4N 119.8E 50 244 04m26s
03396 08 -0578 Jul 20 16:42:17 18290 -31879 A 0.7131 0.9476 65.2N 30.4E 44 275 04m19s
03443 09 -0560 Jul 30 23:29:54 18015 -31656 A 0.7805 0.9456 66.1N 59.8W 38 320 04m16s
03488 10 -0542 Aug 11 06:25:39 17743 -31433 A 0.8418 0.9435 65.6N 152.8W 32 384 04m17s
03533 11 -0524 Aug 21 13:32:20 17473 -31210 A 0.8945 0.9412 64.2N 109.3E 26 484 04m20s
03578 12 -0506 Sep 01 20:49:02 17205 -30987 A 0.9396 0.9387 62.7N 7.5E 20 664 04m25s
03623 13 -0488 Sep 12 04:17:06 16899 -30764 A 0.9761 0.9359 61.6N 97.0W 12 1132 04m30s
03667 14 -0470 Sep 23 11:54:07 16586 -30541 A+ 1.0061 0.9514 60.6N 163.4E 0
03711 15 -0452 Oct 03 19:42:34 16281 -30318 P 1.0275 0.9146 60.7N 36.4E 0
03755 16 -0434 Oct 15 03:38:57 15985 -30095 P 1.0434 0.8875 60.8N 92.6W 0
03798 17 -0416 Oct 25 11:43:57 15696 -29872 P 1.0527 0.8718 61.2N 136.3E 0
03840 18 -0398 Nov 05 19:54:43 15415 -29649 P 1.0582 0.8627 61.7N 3.6E 0
03882 19 -0380 Nov 16 04:11:34 15141 -29426 P 1.0592 0.8616 62.3N 130.7W 0
03923 20 -0362 Nov 27 12:30:33 14874 -29203 P 1.0592 0.8622 63.1N 94.2E 0
03962 21 -0344 Dec 07 20:51:06 14613 -28980 P 1.0588 0.8640 64.0N 41.4W 0
04002 22 -0326 Dec 19 05:10:48 14357 -28757 P 1.0595 0.8640 65.0N 177.2W 0
04043 23 -0308 Dec 29 13:29:23 14108 -28534 P 1.0614 0.8622 66.1N 46.9E 0
04084 24 -0289 Jan 09 21:42:33 13864 -28311 P 1.0685 0.8515 67.2N 88.2W 0
04124 25 -0271 Jan 20 05:51:47 13625 -28088 P 1.0794 0.8342 68.2N 137.3E 0
04164 26 -0253 Jan 31 13:53:47 13391 -27865 P 1.0968 0.8054 69.2N 4.0E 0
04205 27 -0235 Feb 10 21:50:55 13162 -27642 P 1.1190 0.7678 70.1N 128.7W 0
04246 28 -0217 Feb 22 05:38:32 12938 -27419 P 1.1494 0.7153 70.8N 100.4E 0
04287 29 -0199 Mar 04 13:21:05 12718 -27196 P 1.1848 0.6531 71.4N 29.7W 0
04328 30 -0181 Mar 15 20:54:50 12502 -26973 P 1.2282 0.5757 71.7N 158.0W 0
04371 31 -0163 Mar 26 04:23:52 12291 -26750 P 1.2760 0.4891 71.7N 74.9E 0
04414 32 -0145 Apr 06 11:45:06 12083 -26527 P 1.3309 0.3886 71.6N 50.2W 0
04457 33 -0127 Apr 16 19:03:40 11879 -26304 P 1.3888 0.2815 71.2N 174.4W 0
04500 34 -0109 Apr 28 02:16:52 11678 -26081 P 1.4516 0.1641 70.6N 63.3E 0
04543 35 -0091 May 08 09:27:57 11481 -25858 Pe 1.5167 0.0414 69.8N 57.9W 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)"
