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 52 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 -1378 Aug 14. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0155 Feb 19. The total duration of Saros series 52 is 1532.56 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1378 Aug 14 13:12:41 TD Last Eclipse = 0155 Feb 19 11:13:58 TD Duration of Saros 52 = 1532.56 Years
Saros 52 is composed of 86 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 52 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 86 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 46 | 53.5% |
| Annular | A | 40 | 46.5% |
| 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 52 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 52 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 39 | 97.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.5% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 86 eclipses in Saros 52: 24P 40A 22P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 52 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 52 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0530 Jan 04 | 10m50s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0945 May 01 | 01m30s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0963 Apr 20 | - | 0.92237 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0155 Feb 19 | - | 0.01147 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 52. 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 52.
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
01477 -46 -1378 Aug 14 13:12:41 32551 -41773 Pb -1.5201 0.0278 62.5S 68.7E 0
01519 -45 -1360 Aug 24 21:13:05 32184 -41550 P -1.4850 0.0962 61.9S 62.1W 0
01561 -44 -1342 Sep 05 05:21:06 31820 -41327 P -1.4566 0.1517 61.4S 165.4E 0
01604 -43 -1324 Sep 15 13:36:18 31458 -41104 P -1.4346 0.1945 61.0S 31.3E 0
01648 -42 -1306 Sep 26 21:58:51 31098 -40881 P -1.4191 0.2249 60.8S 104.6W 0
01691 -41 -1288 Oct 07 06:27:50 30740 -40658 P -1.4092 0.2444 60.8S 117.9E 0
01736 -40 -1270 Oct 18 15:02:56 30384 -40435 P -1.4049 0.2535 60.9S 21.0W 0
01781 -39 -1252 Oct 28 23:40:54 30030 -40212 P -1.4034 0.2573 61.2S 160.8W 0
01826 -38 -1234 Nov 09 08:23:08 29678 -39989 P -1.4060 0.2534 61.6S 58.4E 0
01871 -37 -1216 Nov 19 17:05:52 29328 -39766 P -1.4101 0.2466 62.2S 82.8W 0
01916 -36 -1198 Dec 01 01:48:49 28980 -39543 P -1.4147 0.2388 63.0S 135.8E 0
01961 -35 -1180 Dec 11 10:27:44 28635 -39320 P -1.4171 0.2350 63.8S 4.8W 0
02007 -34 -1162 Dec 22 19:03:55 28291 -39097 P -1.4181 0.2335 64.8S 145.1W 0
02053 -33 -1143 Jan 02 03:33:34 27950 -38874 P -1.4149 0.2394 65.8S 75.9E 0
02099 -32 -1125 Jan 13 11:56:16 27610 -38651 P -1.4071 0.2534 66.8S 61.9W 0
02144 -31 -1107 Jan 23 20:10:09 27273 -38428 P -1.3934 0.2781 67.9S 162.1E 0
02187 -30 -1089 Feb 04 04:15:20 26938 -38205 P -1.3734 0.3140 68.9S 27.8E 0
02230 -29 -1071 Feb 14 12:10:04 26605 -37982 P -1.3461 0.3632 69.8S 104.5W 0
02273 -28 -1053 Feb 25 19:54:43 26273 -37759 P -1.3116 0.4254 70.5S 125.1E 0
02316 -27 -1035 Mar 08 03:29:08 25944 -37536 P -1.2696 0.5008 71.1S 3.2W 0
02360 -26 -1017 Mar 19 10:54:23 25617 -37313 P -1.2212 0.5879 71.5S 129.6W 0
02402 -25 -0999 Mar 29 18:08:50 25292 -37090 P -1.1646 0.6895 71.7S 106.5E 0
02443 -24 -0981 Apr 10 01:16:03 24970 -36867 P -1.1028 0.8002 71.6S 15.7W 0
02484 -23 -0963 Apr 20 08:14:34 24649 -36644 P -1.0344 0.9224 71.3S 135.4W 0
02525 -22 -0945 May 01 15:08:00 24330 -36421 A -0.9628 0.9812 59.3S 82.9E 15 252 01m30s
02566 -21 -0927 May 11 21:53:47 24014 -36198 A -0.8855 0.9820 45.6S 33.9W 27 137 01m41s
02606 -20 -0909 May 23 04:37:51 23699 -35975 A -0.8075 0.9811 35.0S 143.2W 36 114 01m59s
02645 -19 -0891 Jun 02 11:17:54 23386 -35752 A -0.7266 0.9792 25.8S 110.7E 43 107 02m22s
02686 -18 -0873 Jun 13 17:58:30 23076 -35529 A -0.6470 0.9766 17.9S 6.0E 50 109 02m51s
02727 -17 -0855 Jun 24 00:38:07 22768 -35306 A -0.5672 0.9733 11.0S 97.5W 55 116 03m23s
02767 -16 -0837 Jul 05 07:21:54 22461 -35083 A -0.4915 0.9695 5.5S 158.9E 61 126 03m55s
02808 -15 -0819 Jul 15 14:07:59 22157 -34860 A -0.4183 0.9652 1.2S 55.4E 65 138 04m27s
02849 -14 -0801 Jul 26 20:59:11 21855 -34637 A -0.3499 0.9606 1.9N 48.8W 70 152 04m57s
02890 -13 -0783 Aug 06 03:56:12 21555 -34414 A -0.2870 0.9557 3.7N 154.1W 73 168 05m26s
02931 -12 -0765 Aug 17 11:00:55 21257 -34191 A -0.2310 0.9507 4.2N 98.8E 77 185 05m53s
02973 -11 -0747 Aug 27 18:13:34 20961 -33968 A -0.1818 0.9457 3.6N 10.1W 80 203 06m20s
03015 -10 -0729 Sep 08 01:33:43 20667 -33745 A -0.1394 0.9409 2.1N 121.1W 82 221 06m47s
03059 -09 -0711 Sep 18 09:03:14 20376 -33522 A -0.1051 0.9363 0.3S 125.5E 84 238 07m15s
03103 -08 -0693 Sep 29 16:40:11 20086 -33299 A -0.0772 0.9320 3.3S 10.0E 86 255 07m44s
03148 -07 -0675 Oct 10 00:24:52 19798 -33076 A -0.0562 0.9282 6.7S 107.4W 87 270 08m13s
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
03193 -06 -0657 Oct 21 08:15:36 19513 -32853 A -0.0405 0.9249 10.3S 133.6E 88 283 08m43s
03238 -05 -0639 Oct 31 16:12:24 19229 -32630 A -0.0302 0.9222 13.9S 13.3E 88 294 09m12s
03284 -04 -0621 Nov 12 00:12:30 18948 -32407 A -0.0230 0.9202 17.3S 107.6W 89 302 09m40s
03331 -03 -0603 Nov 22 08:14:30 18669 -32184 Am -0.0176 0.9188 20.2S 131.4E 89 308 10m06s
03378 -02 -0585 Dec 03 16:16:58 18391 -31961 A -0.0131 0.9182 22.3S 10.6E 89 311 10m27s
03426 -01 -0567 Dec 14 00:18:30 18116 -31738 A -0.0084 0.9182 23.7S 109.7W 89 311 10m42s
03472 00 -0549 Dec 25 08:15:49 17843 -31515 A -0.0002 0.9189 23.9S 131.3E 90 308 10m49s
03517 01 -0530 Jan 04 16:08:23 17572 -31292 A 0.0118 0.9202 22.9S 13.4E 89 302 10m50s
03562 02 -0512 Jan 15 23:54:16 17303 -31069 A 0.0290 0.9222 20.7S 103.2W 88 294 10m41s
03607 03 -0494 Jan 26 07:33:51 17017 -30846 A 0.0513 0.9245 17.4S 141.3E 87 285 10m24s
03651 04 -0476 Feb 06 15:03:05 16700 -30623 A 0.0820 0.9274 12.9S 27.5E 85 274 10m00s
03695 05 -0458 Feb 16 22:25:01 16392 -30400 A 0.1187 0.9304 7.5S 85.0W 83 262 09m29s
03738 06 -0440 Feb 28 05:36:11 16093 -30177 A 0.1647 0.9337 1.2S 164.6E 81 250 08m54s
03782 07 -0422 Mar 10 12:40:07 15802 -29954 A 0.2165 0.9371 5.7N 55.5E 77 239 08m14s
03824 08 -0404 Mar 20 19:33:16 15518 -29731 A 0.2774 0.9405 13.4N 51.3W 74 229 07m32s
03866 09 -0386 Apr 01 02:20:48 15241 -29508 A 0.3431 0.9437 21.4N 156.8W 70 220 06m49s
03908 10 -0368 Apr 11 08:59:55 14971 -29285 A 0.4160 0.9467 30.0N 99.6E 65 215 06m06s
03947 11 -0350 Apr 22 15:34:12 14708 -29062 A 0.4930 0.9494 38.8N 2.8W 60 213 05m25s
03987 12 -0332 May 02 22:03:21 14451 -28839 A 0.5746 0.9516 48.0N 103.7W 55 216 04m47s
04028 13 -0314 May 14 04:30:35 14199 -28616 A 0.6581 0.9534 57.5N 156.4E 49 227 04m13s
04069 14 -0296 May 24 10:56:12 13953 -28393 A 0.7430 0.9545 67.3N 57.6E 42 250 03m45s
04109 15 -0278 Jun 04 17:21:55 13712 -28170 A 0.8282 0.9548 77.8N 39.4W 34 297 03m22s
04149 16 -0260 Jun 14 23:50:04 13477 -27947 A 0.9118 0.9541 89.1N 75.8W 24 416 03m05s
04190 17 -0242 Jun 26 06:22:06 13246 -27724 An 0.9929 0.9507 71.0N 57.1W 5 - 02m50s
04231 18 -0224 Jul 06 12:59:15 13020 -27501 P 1.0700 0.8486 64.8N 164.2W 0
04272 19 -0206 Jul 17 19:43:04 12798 -27278 P 1.1423 0.7229 63.9N 84.3E 0
04313 20 -0188 Jul 28 02:35:11 12581 -27055 P 1.2085 0.6078 63.1N 29.1W 0
04356 21 -0170 Aug 08 09:36:26 12368 -26832 P 1.2681 0.5041 62.4N 144.5W 0
04400 22 -0152 Aug 18 16:46:22 12159 -26609 P 1.3214 0.4113 61.8N 98.1E 0
04442 23 -0134 Aug 30 00:07:33 11953 -26386 P 1.3664 0.3330 61.3N 21.9W 0
04485 24 -0116 Sep 09 07:38:46 11752 -26163 P 1.4039 0.2680 61.0N 144.3W 0
04528 25 -0098 Sep 20 15:21:31 11553 -25940 P 1.4331 0.2172 60.9N 90.5E 0
04571 26 -0080 Sep 30 23:12:44 11358 -25717 P 1.4562 0.1769 60.9N 36.8W 0
04616 27 -0062 Oct 12 07:15:02 11166 -25494 P 1.4713 0.1506 61.0N 166.8W 0
04661 28 -0044 Oct 22 15:24:22 10977 -25271 P 1.4815 0.1325 61.4N 61.3E 0
04707 29 -0026 Nov 02 23:41:43 10790 -25048 P 1.4859 0.1244 61.9N 72.7W 0
04753 30 -0008 Nov 13 08:03:40 10606 -24825 P 1.4874 0.1211 62.5N 152.0E 0
04798 31 0010 Nov 24 16:30:45 10425 -24602 P 1.4856 0.1234 63.3N 15.3E 0
04844 32 0028 Dec 05 00:59:19 10245 -24379 P 1.4833 0.1263 64.1N 122.1W 0
04890 33 0046 Dec 16 09:28:43 10067 -24156 P 1.4810 0.1290 65.1N 100.0E 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
04934 34 0064 Dec 26 17:56:59 9891 -23933 P 1.4805 0.1283 66.1N 38.1W 0
04978 35 0083 Jan 07 02:23:03 9716 -23710 P 1.4820 0.1238 67.2N 176.0W 0
05023 36 0101 Jan 17 10:44:09 9542 -23487 P 1.4885 0.1101 68.2N 46.7E 0
05067 37 0119 Jan 28 19:00:14 9370 -23264 P 1.4998 0.0877 69.2N 89.9W 0
05111 38 0137 Feb 08 03:09:58 9198 -23041 P 1.5167 0.0546 70.1N 134.5E 0
05155 39 0155 Feb 19 11:13:58 9026 -22818 Pe 1.5389 0.0115 70.8N 0.2W 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)"
