Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 46

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 46

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 - 72100.0%
PartialP 29 40.3%
AnnularA 43 59.7%
TotalT 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 43100.0%
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 0907m48s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -1227 Jun 2601m37s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -1245 Jun 16 - 0.91769
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse -1371 Apr 01 - 0.02575

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 46

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.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses 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


Catalog of Solar Eclipses 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

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             


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