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 70 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 -0821 Sep 05. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0676 Feb 19. The total duration of Saros series 70 is 1496.50 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0821 Sep 05 00:54:14 TD Last Eclipse = 0676 Feb 19 13:37:43 TD Duration of Saros 70 = 1496.50 Years
Saros 70 is composed of 84 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 70 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 84 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 44 | 52.4% |
| Annular | A | 32 | 38.1% |
| Total | T | 5 | 6.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 3 | 3.6% |
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 70 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 70 | ||
| 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 84 eclipses in Saros 70: 23P 5T 3H 32A 21P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 70 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 70 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0027 Jan 26 | 07m34s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | -0262 Aug 06 | 00m13s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0370 Jun 02 | 02m17s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0334 Jun 24 | 01m55s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0316 Jul 04 | 01m30s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0280 Jul 26 | 00m24s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0424 Apr 30 | - | 0.96634 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0676 Feb 19 | - | 0.03349 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 70. 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 70.
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
02804 -49 -0821 Sep 05 00:54:14 22189 -34883 Pb -1.5106 0.0413 61.3S 171.0W 0
02845 -48 -0803 Sep 15 09:13:10 21886 -34660 P -1.4824 0.0966 61.0S 54.2E 0
02886 -47 -0785 Sep 26 17:39:36 21586 -34437 P -1.4605 0.1394 60.8S 82.4W 0
02927 -46 -0767 Oct 07 02:13:14 21288 -34214 P -1.4446 0.1707 60.8S 139.3E 0
02969 -45 -0749 Oct 18 10:53:50 20992 -33991 P -1.4347 0.1904 61.0S 0.8W 0
03011 -44 -0731 Oct 28 19:38:52 20698 -33768 P -1.4286 0.2025 61.3S 142.1W 0
03055 -43 -0713 Nov 09 04:28:32 20406 -33545 P -1.4268 0.2066 61.8S 75.4E 0
03099 -42 -0695 Nov 19 13:20:05 20116 -33322 P -1.4268 0.2071 62.5S 67.8W 0
03144 -41 -0677 Nov 30 22:13:15 19828 -33099 P -1.4286 0.2040 63.3S 148.4E 0
03189 -40 -0659 Dec 11 07:03:44 19542 -32876 P -1.4287 0.2038 64.2S 5.0E 0
03234 -39 -0641 Dec 22 15:53:17 19258 -32653 P -1.4287 0.2039 65.1S 138.5W 0
03280 -38 -0622 Jan 02 00:37:29 18977 -32430 P -1.4255 0.2098 66.2S 79.0E 0
03326 -37 -0604 Jan 13 09:16:42 18697 -32207 P -1.4187 0.2223 67.2S 62.8W 0
03373 -36 -0586 Jan 23 17:47:38 18420 -31984 P -1.4060 0.2458 68.2S 157.0E 0
03421 -35 -0568 Feb 04 02:12:07 18144 -31761 P -1.3889 0.2776 69.2S 17.8E 0
03467 -34 -0550 Feb 14 10:27:15 17871 -31538 P -1.3651 0.3219 70.1S 119.5W 0
03512 -33 -0532 Feb 25 18:33:18 17600 -31315 P -1.3347 0.3787 70.8S 104.8E 0
03557 -32 -0514 Mar 08 02:30:09 17331 -31092 P -1.2977 0.4481 71.3S 29.1W 0
03602 -31 -0496 Mar 18 10:18:15 17050 -30869 P -1.2540 0.5302 71.6S 161.1W 0
03647 -30 -0478 Mar 29 17:57:45 16732 -30646 P -1.2039 0.6240 71.7S 68.7E 0
03691 -29 -0460 Apr 09 01:28:57 16423 -30423 P -1.1479 0.7291 71.5S 59.3W 0
03734 -28 -0442 Apr 20 08:53:18 16123 -30200 P -1.0866 0.8437 71.2S 174.6E 0
03778 -27 -0424 Apr 30 16:11:23 15831 -29977 P -1.0208 0.9663 70.6S 50.6E 0
03820 -26 -0406 May 11 23:23:29 15547 -29754 T -0.9507 1.0249 54.1S 88.5W 18 278 01m56s
03862 -25 -0388 May 22 06:32:18 15269 -29531 T -0.8785 1.0251 41.8S 153.6E 28 179 02m12s
03904 -24 -0370 Jun 02 13:37:55 14999 -29308 T -0.8041 1.0238 32.1S 40.6E 36 136 02m17s
03943 -23 -0352 Jun 12 20:43:07 14735 -29085 T -0.7303 1.0213 24.1S 70.5W 43 106 02m11s
03982 -22 -0334 Jun 24 03:46:52 14477 -28862 T -0.6560 1.0179 17.3S 179.8E 49 81 01m55s
04023 -21 -0316 Jul 04 10:53:21 14225 -28639 H3 -0.5847 1.0137 12.0S 70.4E 54 58 01m30s
04064 -20 -0298 Jul 15 18:01:16 13978 -28416 H -0.5152 1.0089 7.7S 38.6W 59 36 00m59s
04105 -19 -0280 Jul 26 01:13:50 13737 -28193 H -0.4506 1.0037 4.9S 148.3W 63 14 00m24s
04145 -18 -0262 Aug 06 08:30:11 13501 -27970 A -0.3900 0.9979 3.2S 101.5E 67 8 00m13s
04186 -17 -0244 Aug 16 15:53:47 13269 -27747 A -0.3361 0.9920 2.8S 10.4W 70 30 00m51s
04227 -16 -0226 Aug 27 23:23:22 13043 -27524 A -0.2879 0.9858 3.4S 123.6W 73 52 01m28s
04268 -15 -0208 Sep 07 07:00:00 12821 -27301 A -0.2462 0.9797 4.9S 121.3E 76 74 02m05s
04309 -14 -0190 Sep 18 14:44:22 12603 -27078 A -0.2118 0.9736 7.3S 4.3E 78 96 02m41s
04351 -13 -0172 Sep 28 22:36:11 12390 -26855 A -0.1846 0.9679 10.3S 114.6W 79 117 03m17s
04395 -12 -0154 Oct 10 06:35:16 12180 -26632 A -0.1637 0.9624 13.7S 124.7E 80 138 03m52s
04437 -11 -0136 Oct 20 14:39:14 11974 -26409 A -0.1476 0.9574 17.2S 2.9E 81 157 04m26s
04480 -10 -0118 Oct 31 22:49:30 11772 -26186 A -0.1375 0.9529 20.8S 120.2W 82 174 05m00s
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
04523 -09 -0100 Nov 11 07:02:52 11573 -25963 A -0.1308 0.9490 24.1S 116.3E 82 189 05m32s
04566 -08 -0082 Nov 22 15:19:03 11378 -25740 A -0.1272 0.9458 27.0S 7.5W 83 201 06m01s
04611 -07 -0064 Dec 02 23:34:49 11186 -25517 Am -0.1241 0.9432 29.1S 130.7W 83 212 06m28s
04656 -06 -0046 Dec 14 07:50:16 10996 -25294 A -0.1213 0.9413 30.4S 106.5E 83 219 06m50s
04702 -05 -0028 Dec 24 16:01:49 10809 -25071 A -0.1161 0.9400 30.5S 15.1W 83 224 07m08s
04749 -04 -0009 Jan 05 00:08:42 10625 -24848 A -0.1079 0.9393 29.4S 135.6W 84 227 07m21s
04794 -03 0009 Jan 15 08:08:55 10443 -24625 A -0.0949 0.9392 27.2S 105.2E 84 227 07m30s
04840 -02 0027 Jan 26 16:02:14 10263 -24402 A -0.0771 0.9395 23.8S 13.0W 85 225 07m34s
04886 -01 0045 Feb 05 23:45:29 10085 -24179 A -0.0514 0.9402 19.2S 129.3W 87 222 07m34s
04930 00 0063 Feb 17 07:19:50 9909 -23956 A -0.0188 0.9412 13.8S 115.9E 89 218 07m30s
04974 01 0081 Feb 27 14:43:32 9734 -23733 A 0.0220 0.9424 7.6S 3.1E 89 213 07m23s
05019 02 0099 Mar 10 21:58:35 9560 -23510 A 0.0692 0.9437 0.8S 108.0W 86 208 07m12s
05063 03 0117 Mar 21 05:01:14 9387 -23287 A 0.1263 0.9449 6.6N 143.6E 83 205 06m59s
05107 04 0135 Apr 01 11:56:36 9215 -23064 A 0.1888 0.9460 14.3N 36.9E 79 202 06m43s
05151 05 0153 Apr 11 18:41:20 9044 -22841 A 0.2599 0.9470 22.5N 67.2W 75 202 06m24s
05193 06 0171 Apr 23 01:20:33 8873 -22618 A 0.3349 0.9476 30.9N 169.7W 70 204 06m04s
05234 07 0189 May 03 07:50:35 8702 -22395 A 0.4170 0.9478 39.5N 90.5E 65 211 05m43s
05275 08 0207 May 14 14:17:53 8531 -22172 A 0.5008 0.9476 48.1N 7.7W 60 223 05m22s
05316 09 0225 May 24 20:39:31 8360 -21949 A 0.5890 0.9468 56.8N 103.0W 54 243 05m02s
05357 10 0243 Jun 05 03:00:14 8188 -21726 A 0.6774 0.9456 65.4N 164.8E 47 274 04m45s
05398 11 0261 Jun 15 09:19:24 8016 -21503 A 0.7667 0.9436 73.7N 79.7E 40 326 04m31s
05438 12 0279 Jun 26 15:41:17 7843 -21280 A 0.8534 0.9410 80.3N 15.7E 31 423 04m20s
05478 13 0297 Jul 06 22:05:39 7670 -21057 A 0.9379 0.9373 78.8N 15.1W 20 688 04m12s
05517 14 0315 Jul 18 04:34:43 7495 -20834 P 1.0183 0.9296 63.5N 74.6W 0
05557 15 0333 Jul 28 11:09:49 7320 -20611 P 1.0937 0.8007 62.8N 176.6E 0
05597 16 0351 Aug 08 17:52:21 7144 -20388 P 1.1632 0.6821 62.1N 66.2E 0
05637 17 0369 Aug 19 00:43:14 6967 -20165 P 1.2258 0.5758 61.5N 46.2W 0
05679 18 0387 Aug 30 07:43:13 6790 -19942 P 1.2812 0.4820 61.1N 160.7W 0
05720 19 0405 Sep 09 14:53:32 6612 -19719 P 1.3285 0.4022 60.9N 82.3E 0
05761 20 0423 Sep 20 22:13:51 6433 -19496 P 1.3680 0.3358 60.8N 37.2W 0
05802 21 0441 Oct 01 05:43:30 6255 -19273 P 1.4003 0.2818 60.9N 159.0W 0
05843 22 0459 Oct 12 13:23:10 6077 -19050 P 1.4248 0.2409 61.1N 76.7E 0
05886 23 0477 Oct 22 21:11:13 5899 -18827 P 1.4426 0.2113 61.5N 49.8W 0
05929 24 0495 Nov 03 05:07:15 5723 -18604 P 1.4546 0.1912 62.0N 178.4W 0
05973 25 0513 Nov 13 13:08:18 5546 -18381 P 1.4630 0.1770 62.7N 51.6E 0
06017 26 0531 Nov 24 21:15:03 5370 -18158 P 1.4671 0.1697 63.5N 80.1W 0
06062 27 0549 Dec 05 05:24:33 5195 -17935 P 1.4693 0.1655 64.5N 147.2E 0
06108 28 0567 Dec 16 13:35:23 5021 -17712 P 1.4708 0.1621 65.5N 13.9E 0
06154 29 0585 Dec 26 21:45:28 4849 -17489 P 1.4733 0.1569 66.5N 119.7W 0
06199 30 0604 Jan 07 05:53:30 4677 -17266 P 1.4780 0.1475 67.6N 106.7E 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
06244 31 0622 Jan 17 13:58:14 4508 -17043 P 1.4858 0.1326 68.7N 26.7W 0
06289 32 0640 Jan 28 21:57:14 4339 -16820 P 1.4986 0.1089 69.6N 159.2W 0
06335 33 0658 Feb 08 05:51:03 4173 -16597 P 1.5160 0.0767 70.4N 69.0E 0
06381 34 0676 Feb 19 13:37:43 4008 -16374 Pe 1.5396 0.0335 71.1N 61.6W 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)"
