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 49 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 -1248 Feb 22. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0032 Mar 29. The total duration of Saros series 49 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1248 Feb 22 01:19:20 TD Last Eclipse = 0032 Mar 29 23:10:01 TD Duration of Saros 49 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 49 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 49 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 32 | 44.4% |
| Annular | A | 40 | 55.6% |
| 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 49 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 49 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 49: 9P 40A 23P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 49 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 49 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0762 Dec 10 | 11m29s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -1086 May 29 | 00m58s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1104 May 18 | - | 0.92210 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -1248 Feb 22 | - | 0.04927 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 49. 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 49.
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
01789 -36 -1248 Feb 22 01:19:20 29965 -40171 Pb 1.5180 0.0493 61.8N 131.1W 0
01834 -35 -1230 Mar 04 09:02:14 29613 -39948 P 1.4798 0.1189 61.3N 102.7E 0
01879 -34 -1212 Mar 14 16:33:47 29264 -39725 P 1.4331 0.2040 61.0N 20.5W 0
01924 -33 -1194 Mar 25 23:56:37 28917 -39502 P 1.3801 0.3006 60.8N 141.4W 0
01969 -32 -1176 Apr 05 07:09:46 28571 -39279 P 1.3203 0.4096 60.7N 100.1E 0
02016 -31 -1158 Apr 16 14:16:12 28228 -39056 P 1.2557 0.5268 60.8N 16.6W 0
02062 -30 -1140 Apr 26 21:15:19 27887 -38833 P 1.1859 0.6532 61.1N 131.6W 0
02107 -29 -1122 May 08 04:08:41 27548 -38610 P 1.1121 0.7859 61.5N 114.7E 0
02152 -28 -1104 May 18 10:58:05 27211 -38387 P 1.0360 0.9221 62.0N 2.0E 0
02195 -27 -1086 May 29 17:44:39 26876 -38164 A 0.9583 0.9840 71.3N 74.5W 16 204 00m58s
02238 -26 -1068 Jun 09 00:29:44 26543 -37941 A 0.8802 0.9831 74.7N 142.1W 28 127 01m07s
02281 -25 -1050 Jun 20 07:15:06 26213 -37718 A 0.8029 0.9806 73.7N 144.7E 36 116 01m22s
02324 -24 -1032 Jun 30 14:02:38 25884 -37495 A 0.7281 0.9772 70.0N 61.5E 43 119 01m44s
02367 -23 -1014 Jul 11 20:53:54 25557 -37272 A 0.6573 0.9731 64.9N 30.9W 49 129 02m11s
02409 -22 -0996 Jul 22 03:48:45 25233 -37049 A 0.5900 0.9685 58.9N 129.3W 54 141 02m45s
02450 -21 -0978 Aug 02 10:50:28 24910 -36826 A 0.5291 0.9636 52.6N 127.3E 58 156 03m24s
02491 -20 -0960 Aug 12 17:58:00 24590 -36603 A 0.4738 0.9584 46.0N 20.5E 61 172 04m07s
02532 -19 -0942 Aug 24 01:14:02 24272 -36380 A 0.4261 0.9533 39.5N 89.6W 65 189 04m54s
02573 -18 -0924 Sep 03 08:36:30 23956 -36157 A 0.3843 0.9480 33.0N 158.0E 67 206 05m44s
02613 -17 -0906 Sep 14 16:08:17 23641 -35934 A 0.3512 0.9431 26.8N 42.8E 69 224 06m33s
02653 -16 -0888 Sep 24 23:47:00 23329 -35711 A 0.3243 0.9383 20.8N 74.4W 71 241 07m23s
02694 -15 -0870 Oct 06 07:33:24 23019 -35488 A 0.3044 0.9341 15.2N 166.4E 72 257 08m11s
02735 -14 -0852 Oct 16 15:26:05 22711 -35265 A 0.2902 0.9302 10.1N 45.8E 73 272 08m58s
02774 -13 -0834 Oct 27 23:24:23 22405 -35042 A 0.2810 0.9270 5.4N 76.1W 74 285 09m41s
02815 -12 -0816 Nov 07 07:26:32 22102 -34819 A 0.2757 0.9244 1.3N 161.3E 74 296 10m21s
02856 -11 -0798 Nov 18 15:30:01 21800 -34596 A 0.2717 0.9225 2.2S 38.6E 74 304 10m53s
02897 -10 -0780 Nov 28 23:34:55 21500 -34373 A 0.2693 0.9212 5.0S 84.3W 74 310 11m17s
02938 -09 -0762 Dec 10 07:38:16 21203 -34150 A 0.2654 0.9206 7.1S 153.5E 75 312 11m29s
02980 -08 -0744 Dec 20 15:38:37 20907 -33927 A 0.2595 0.9207 8.6S 32.2E 75 311 11m26s
03023 -07 -0726 Dec 31 23:33:25 20614 -33704 A 0.2491 0.9215 9.5S 87.6W 76 306 11m10s
03068 -06 -0707 Jan 11 07:22:27 20322 -33481 A 0.2340 0.9229 9.8S 154.2E 77 299 10m42s
03112 -05 -0689 Jan 22 15:04:06 20033 -33258 A 0.2127 0.9248 9.6S 37.9E 78 290 10m05s
03157 -04 -0671 Feb 01 22:36:20 19746 -33035 A 0.1837 0.9271 9.0S 76.0W 79 278 09m24s
03202 -03 -0653 Feb 13 05:59:48 19460 -32812 A 0.1475 0.9298 8.1S 172.4E 82 266 08m43s
03247 -02 -0635 Feb 23 13:13:23 19177 -32589 A 0.1032 0.9326 7.0S 63.3E 84 253 08m05s
03293 -01 -0617 Mar 06 20:17:43 18896 -32366 A 0.0513 0.9357 5.7S 43.3W 87 240 07m30s
03340 00 -0599 Mar 17 03:12:05 18617 -32143 Am -0.0090 0.9387 4.6S 147.3W 89 227 07m01s
03387 01 -0581 Mar 28 09:58:33 18341 -31920 A -0.0757 0.9417 3.7S 110.8E 86 216 06m37s
03434 02 -0563 Apr 07 16:37:26 18066 -31697 A -0.1488 0.9445 3.2S 10.9E 81 207 06m20s
03480 03 -0545 Apr 18 23:09:10 17793 -31474 A -0.2280 0.9470 3.3S 87.2W 77 199 06m07s
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
03525 04 -0527 Apr 29 05:36:29 17522 -31251 A -0.3108 0.9492 4.1S 175.7E 72 195 06m01s
03570 05 -0509 May 10 12:00:03 17254 -31028 A -0.3967 0.9510 5.8S 79.4E 67 194 05m57s
03615 06 -0491 May 20 18:22:59 16958 -30805 A -0.4836 0.9522 8.6S 17.2W 61 197 05m58s
03660 07 -0473 Jun 01 00:43:55 16643 -30582 A -0.5724 0.9530 12.6S 113.8W 55 207 05m59s
03704 08 -0455 Jun 11 07:08:11 16336 -30359 A -0.6586 0.9531 17.7S 148.1E 49 226 05m58s
03747 09 -0437 Jun 22 13:34:11 16039 -30136 A -0.7436 0.9527 24.2S 48.9E 42 258 05m53s
03790 10 -0419 Jul 02 20:06:15 15749 -29913 A -0.8239 0.9517 31.9S 52.8W 34 312 05m43s
03832 11 -0401 Jul 14 02:42:55 15466 -29690 A -0.9009 0.9499 41.7S 157.1W 25 427 05m26s
03874 12 -0383 Jul 24 09:29:05 15191 -29467 A -0.9706 0.9468 55.1S 93.1E 13 844 05m02s
03915 13 -0365 Aug 04 16:22:57 14922 -29244 P -1.0341 0.9075 69.1S 28.1W 0
03954 14 -0347 Aug 14 23:26:34 14660 -29021 P -1.0902 0.8105 70.0S 147.4W 0
03994 15 -0329 Aug 26 06:39:50 14404 -28798 P -1.1389 0.7263 70.7S 90.3E 0
04035 16 -0311 Sep 05 14:04:12 14153 -28575 P -1.1791 0.6569 71.3S 35.3W 0
04077 17 -0293 Sep 16 21:38:41 13908 -28352 P -1.2116 0.6008 71.7S 163.8W 0
04117 18 -0275 Sep 27 05:23:15 13669 -28129 P -1.2366 0.5576 71.8S 64.9E 0
04157 19 -0257 Oct 08 13:17:29 13434 -27906 P -1.2544 0.5270 71.7S 68.8W 0
04198 20 -0239 Oct 18 21:21:02 13204 -27683 P -1.2656 0.5077 71.3S 155.4E 0
04239 21 -0221 Oct 30 05:31:21 12979 -27460 P -1.2721 0.4966 70.7S 18.3E 0
04280 22 -0203 Nov 09 13:48:43 12758 -27237 P -1.2738 0.4937 69.9S 119.9W 0
04321 23 -0185 Nov 20 22:09:44 12542 -27014 P -1.2734 0.4944 69.0S 101.6E 0
04364 24 -0167 Dec 01 06:34:42 12329 -26791 P -1.2707 0.4992 67.9S 37.2W 0
04407 25 -0149 Dec 12 14:58:47 12121 -26568 P -1.2695 0.5013 66.9S 175.2W 0
04450 26 -0131 Dec 22 23:24:08 11916 -26345 P -1.2683 0.5036 65.8S 47.1E 0
04493 27 -0112 Jan 03 07:45:39 11715 -26122 P -1.2712 0.4985 64.8S 89.3W 0
04536 28 -0094 Jan 13 16:04:15 11517 -25899 P -1.2771 0.4883 63.8S 135.5E 0
04579 29 -0076 Jan 25 00:16:04 11323 -25676 P -1.2891 0.4668 63.0S 2.4E 0
04624 30 -0058 Feb 04 08:23:05 11131 -25453 P -1.3058 0.4370 62.3S 129.4W 0
04669 31 -0040 Feb 15 16:22:41 10942 -25230 P -1.3294 0.3942 61.7S 101.0E 0
04715 32 -0022 Feb 26 00:15:02 10756 -25007 P -1.3595 0.3393 61.3S 26.7W 0
04761 33 -0004 Mar 08 07:59:58 10573 -24784 P -1.3963 0.2713 61.0S 152.5W 0
04806 34 0014 Mar 19 15:38:24 10391 -24561 P -1.4389 0.1919 60.9S 83.4E 0
04852 35 0032 Mar 29 23:10:01 10212 -24338 Pe -1.4877 0.1002 61.0S 39.0W 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)"
