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 76 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 -0575 Jun 18. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0705 Jul 25. The total duration of Saros series 76 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -0575 Jun 18 02:27:50 TD Last Eclipse = 0705 Jul 25 13:52:37 TD Duration of Saros 76 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 76 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 76 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 40.3% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 41.7% |
| Total | T | 8 | 11.1% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 6.9% |
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 76 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 76 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 43 | 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 76: 22P 8T 5H 30A 7P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 76 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 76 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0363 Jan 02 | 10m44s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0056 Jul 01 | 00m20s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | -0052 Apr 27 | 01m25s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | -0178 Feb 11 | 00m26s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | -0034 May 09 | 01m23s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 0038 Jun 21 | 00m11s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0196 Feb 01 | - | 0.99241 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | -0575 Jun 18 | - | 0.01558 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 76. 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 76.
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
03404 -38 -0575 Jun 18 02:27:50 18245 -31843 Pb -1.5192 0.0156 66.7S 143.8W 0
03451 -37 -0557 Jun 29 09:56:05 17971 -31620 P -1.4503 0.1502 65.7S 92.4E 0
03496 -36 -0539 Jul 09 17:29:47 17699 -31397 P -1.3859 0.2759 64.8S 32.3W 0
03541 -35 -0521 Jul 21 01:06:17 17429 -31174 P -1.3239 0.3964 63.9S 157.4W 0
03586 -34 -0503 Jul 31 08:50:27 17162 -30951 P -1.2681 0.5044 63.0S 76.0E 0
03631 -33 -0485 Aug 11 16:39:41 16848 -30728 P -1.2165 0.6036 62.3S 51.9W 0
03674 -32 -0467 Aug 22 00:36:58 16536 -30505 P -1.1716 0.6889 61.7S 178.4E 0
03718 -31 -0449 Sep 02 08:41:00 16233 -30282 P -1.1326 0.7625 61.2S 47.2E 0
03762 -30 -0431 Sep 12 16:53:58 15938 -30059 P -1.1012 0.8209 60.9S 86.0W 0
03804 -29 -0413 Sep 24 01:14:10 15650 -29836 P -1.0760 0.8671 60.8S 139.0E 0
03846 -28 -0395 Oct 04 09:41:25 15371 -29613 P -1.0569 0.9014 60.8S 2.4E 0
03888 -27 -0377 Oct 15 18:15:21 15098 -29390 P -1.0438 0.9244 60.9S 135.9W 0
03929 -26 -0359 Oct 26 02:55:14 14831 -29167 P -1.0362 0.9369 61.3S 84.3E 0
03968 -25 -0341 Nov 06 11:39:10 14571 -28944 P -1.0323 0.9426 61.8S 56.7W 0
04008 -24 -0323 Nov 16 20:25:59 14317 -28721 P -1.0315 0.9427 62.4S 161.5E 0
04049 -23 -0305 Nov 28 05:14:09 14068 -28498 P -1.0324 0.9400 63.2S 19.2E 0
04090 -22 -0287 Dec 08 14:02:31 13825 -28275 P -1.0341 0.9359 64.1S 123.4W 0
04130 -21 -0269 Dec 19 22:47:56 13587 -28052 P -1.0343 0.9349 65.1S 94.3E 0
04170 -20 -0251 Dec 30 07:30:44 13354 -27829 P -1.0329 0.9369 66.2S 47.6W 0
04211 -19 -0232 Jan 10 16:07:48 13126 -27606 P -1.0278 0.9461 67.3S 171.4E 0
04252 -18 -0214 Jan 21 00:38:49 12902 -27383 P -1.0182 0.9634 68.3S 31.4E 0
04293 -17 -0196 Feb 01 09:01:17 12683 -27160 P -1.0024 0.9924 69.3S 107.1W 0
04335 -16 -0178 Feb 11 17:16:19 12468 -26937 T -0.9813 1.0078 76.5S 87.2E 10 153 00m26s
04378 -15 -0160 Feb 23 01:22:05 12257 -26714 T -0.9536 1.0099 74.2S 77.5W 17 117 00m36s
04421 -14 -0142 Mar 05 09:17:45 12050 -26491 T -0.9180 1.0118 67.5S 138.9E 23 103 00m46s
04464 -13 -0124 Mar 15 17:04:11 11846 -26268 T -0.8757 1.0131 59.5S 8.0E 28 93 00m56s
04507 -12 -0106 Mar 27 00:41:08 11646 -26045 T -0.8261 1.0142 51.0S 116.0W 34 86 01m07s
04550 -11 -0088 Apr 06 08:09:48 11450 -25822 T -0.7707 1.0148 42.5S 124.2E 39 79 01m16s
04594 -10 -0070 Apr 17 15:29:01 11256 -25599 T -0.7084 1.0149 34.0S 8.1E 45 72 01m22s
04639 -09 -0052 Apr 27 22:41:58 11066 -25376 T -0.6416 1.0143 25.7S 105.4W 50 63 01m25s
04684 -08 -0034 May 09 05:47:57 10878 -25153 H -0.5697 1.0131 17.7S 143.6E 55 55 01m23s
04731 -07 -0016 May 19 12:49:09 10693 -24930 H -0.4948 1.0112 10.1S 34.6E 60 44 01m15s
04777 -06 0002 May 30 19:45:43 10510 -24707 H -0.4168 1.0087 3.1S 72.5W 65 33 01m00s
04823 -05 0020 Jun 10 02:40:35 10329 -24484 H -0.3383 1.0055 3.2N 178.4W 70 20 00m38s
04869 -04 0038 Jun 21 09:34:16 10151 -24261 H -0.2595 1.0016 8.7N 76.8E 75 6 00m11s
04914 -03 0056 Jul 01 16:27:58 9974 -24038 A -0.1816 0.9972 13.2N 27.3W 80 10 00m20s
04958 -02 0074 Jul 12 23:23:58 9798 -23815 Am -0.1064 0.9922 16.7N 131.3W 84 27 00m52s
05002 -01 0092 Jul 23 06:23:12 9624 -23592 A -0.0345 0.9868 19.0N 124.4E 88 46 01m26s
05047 00 0110 Aug 03 13:27:32 9451 -23369 A 0.0323 0.9812 20.1N 19.1E 88 67 02m00s
05091 01 0128 Aug 13 20:36:30 9279 -23146 A 0.0943 0.9752 20.3N 87.4W 84 89 02m35s
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
05135 02 0146 Aug 25 03:52:42 9107 -22923 A 0.1497 0.9692 19.4N 164.1E 81 112 03m11s
05177 03 0164 Sep 04 11:15:41 8936 -22700 A 0.1987 0.9632 17.8N 53.6E 78 136 03m48s
05218 04 0182 Sep 15 18:45:44 8765 -22477 A 0.2409 0.9574 15.6N 59.1W 76 159 04m27s
05259 05 0200 Sep 26 02:23:46 8594 -22254 A 0.2758 0.9517 13.0N 174.1W 74 183 05m08s
05300 06 0218 Oct 07 10:08:56 8423 -22031 A 0.3038 0.9465 10.2N 68.7E 72 205 05m51s
05342 07 0236 Oct 17 18:01:50 8251 -21808 A 0.3248 0.9417 7.4N 50.6W 71 226 06m37s
05383 08 0254 Oct 29 01:58:53 8079 -21585 A 0.3418 0.9374 4.7N 171.1W 70 246 07m23s
05424 09 0272 Nov 08 10:02:12 7907 -21362 A 0.3528 0.9337 2.2N 66.8E 69 262 08m10s
05464 10 0290 Nov 19 18:07:55 7734 -21139 A 0.3609 0.9307 0.3N 55.8W 69 276 08m56s
05503 11 0308 Nov 30 02:16:27 7560 -20916 A 0.3664 0.9284 1.1S 179.1W 69 288 09m37s
05542 12 0326 Dec 11 10:23:27 7385 -20693 A 0.3724 0.9267 1.7S 58.0E 68 296 10m11s
05582 13 0344 Dec 21 18:30:19 7209 -20470 A 0.3783 0.9258 1.5S 64.8W 68 302 10m34s
05622 14 0363 Jan 02 02:32:58 7032 -20247 A 0.3870 0.9254 0.3S 173.3E 67 305 10m44s
05663 15 0381 Jan 12 10:30:55 6855 -20024 A 0.3991 0.9256 1.9N 52.3E 66 305 10m40s
05704 16 0399 Jan 23 18:21:42 6677 -19801 A 0.4165 0.9263 5.2N 67.1W 65 304 10m25s
05746 17 0417 Feb 03 02:05:28 6499 -19578 A 0.4393 0.9274 9.4N 174.8E 64 302 09m59s
05787 18 0435 Feb 14 09:39:34 6320 -19355 A 0.4697 0.9289 14.5N 58.7E 62 300 09m26s
05827 19 0453 Feb 24 17:04:40 6142 -19132 A 0.5070 0.9305 20.6N 55.6W 59 299 08m48s
05870 20 0471 Mar 08 00:19:40 5964 -18909 A 0.5522 0.9323 27.4N 167.8W 56 301 08m07s
05913 21 0489 Mar 18 07:26:06 5788 -18686 A 0.6038 0.9340 35.0N 81.6E 53 306 07m25s
05957 22 0507 Mar 29 14:20:55 5611 -18463 A 0.6647 0.9356 43.3N 26.8W 48 318 06m42s
06001 23 0525 Apr 08 21:08:45 5434 -18240 A 0.7309 0.9369 52.4N 134.3W 43 342 06m01s
06046 24 0543 Apr 20 03:47:29 5259 -18017 A 0.8044 0.9378 62.4N 118.1E 36 389 05m23s
06092 25 0561 Apr 30 10:21:38 5085 -17794 A 0.8811 0.9379 73.1N 3.9E 28 491 04m48s
06138 26 0579 May 11 16:48:05 4912 -17571 A 0.9638 0.9365 80.3N 163.3W 15 926 04m15s
06184 27 0597 May 21 23:13:25 4740 -17348 P 1.0472 0.8815 68.5N 46.0E 0
06229 28 0615 Jun 02 05:35:00 4570 -17125 P 1.1337 0.7339 67.4N 61.3W 0
06274 29 0633 Jun 12 11:57:22 4401 -16902 P 1.2191 0.5877 66.4N 168.2W 0
06319 30 0651 Jun 23 18:19:23 4234 -16679 P 1.3048 0.4409 65.4N 85.3E 0
06366 31 0669 Jul 04 00:46:07 4068 -16456 P 1.3865 0.3008 64.5N 21.9W 0
06411 32 0687 Jul 15 07:16:25 3905 -16233 P 1.4655 0.1655 63.7N 129.7W 0
06455 33 0705 Jul 25 13:52:37 3743 -16010 Pe 1.5397 0.0384 62.9N 121.2E 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)"
