Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Saros Series 77

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 77

Solar eclipses of Saros 77 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 -0474 Jul 11. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 0788 Aug 06. The total duration of Saros series 77 is 1262.11 years. In summary:

                      First Eclipse =  -0474 Jul 11   14:09:39 TD
                       Last Eclipse =   0788 Aug 06   11:52:52 TD

                      Duration of Saros  77  =  1262.11 Years

Saros 77 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 77
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 71100.0%
PartialP 26 36.6%
AnnularA 36 50.7%
TotalT 7 9.9%
Hybrid[3]H 2 2.8%

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 77 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 77
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 45100.0%
Central (two limits) 43 95.6%
Central (one limit) 1 2.2%
Non-Central (one limit) 1 2.2%

The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 77: 18P 36A 2H 7T 8P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 77 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 77
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0131 Feb 0107m45s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse 0482 Feb 0400m05s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse 0626 May 0103m01s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse 0536 Mar 0801m17s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 0518 Feb 2500m50s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 0500 Feb 1500m22s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse 0662 May 23 - 0.94399
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 0788 Aug 06 - 0.06068

Description of the Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 77

The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 77. 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 77.



Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 77

                         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

03658 -33 -0474 Jul 11  14:09:39  16658 -30593   Pb   1.4887  0.1193  66.8N 142.4W   0             
03702 -32 -0456 Jul 21  20:57:12  16351 -30370   P    1.4221  0.2366  67.8N 103.5E   0             
03745 -31 -0438 Aug 02  03:48:23  16053 -30147   P    1.3586  0.3475  68.8N  12.0W   0             
03788 -30 -0420 Aug 12  10:47:49  15763 -29924   P    1.3022  0.4450  69.7N 130.1W   0             
03830 -29 -0402 Aug 23  17:53:19  15480 -29701   P    1.2510  0.5327  70.5N 109.7E   0             
03872 -28 -0384 Sep 03  01:08:00  15204 -29478   P    1.2073  0.6067  71.2N  13.4W   0             
03913 -27 -0366 Sep 14  08:29:47  14936 -29255   P    1.1697  0.6697  71.7N 138.7W   0             
03952 -26 -0348 Sep 24  16:01:22  14673 -29032   P    1.1402  0.7185  71.9N  93.1E   0             
03992 -25 -0330 Oct 05  23:39:58  14416 -28809   P    1.1169  0.7567  71.8N  36.8W   0             
04033 -24 -0312 Oct 16  07:25:31  14166 -28586   P    1.0994  0.7848  71.5N 168.4W   0             

04074 -23 -0294 Oct 27  15:17:24  13920 -28363   P    1.0873  0.8041  71.0N  58.9E   0             
04114 -22 -0276 Nov 06  23:14:33  13680 -28140   P    1.0793  0.8166  70.2N  74.6W   0             
04154 -21 -0258 Nov 18  07:14:57  13445 -27917   P    1.0744  0.8243  69.3N 151.8E   0             
04195 -20 -0240 Nov 28  15:16:22  13215 -27694   P    1.0702  0.8310  68.2N  18.7E   0             
04236 -19 -0222 Dec 09  23:18:20  12990 -27471   P    1.0664  0.8371  67.1N 114.0W   0             
04277 -18 -0204 Dec 20  07:18:35  12769 -27248   P    1.0610  0.8464  66.0N 114.4E   0             
04318 -17 -0186 Dec 31  15:14:40  12552 -27025   P    1.0521  0.8615  65.0N  15.7W   0             
04361 -16 -0167 Jan 10  23:05:42  12340 -26802   P    1.0389  0.8841  64.0N 144.1W   0             
04405 -15 -0149 Jan 22  06:49:55  12131 -26579   A+   1.0200  0.9166  63.1N  89.6E   0             
04448 -14 -0131 Feb 01  14:27:14  11926 -26356   An   0.9951  0.9121  59.7N  29.0W   4   -   07m45s

04491 -13 -0113 Feb 12  21:54:51  11725 -26133   A    0.9620  0.9179  51.6N 135.4W  15 1135  07m43s
04534 -12 -0095 Feb 23  05:14:37  11527 -25910   A    0.9222  0.9229  47.7N 115.3E  22  732  07m19s
04577 -11 -0077 Mar 06  12:24:40  11332 -25687   A    0.8741  0.9279  45.2N   8.4E  29  539  06m50s
04622 -10 -0059 Mar 16  19:25:48  11140 -25464   A    0.8184  0.9329  43.7N  96.0W  35  422  06m19s
04667 -09 -0041 Mar 28  02:18:20  10952 -25241   A    0.7551  0.9377  42.9N 162.3E  41  343  05m50s
04713 -08 -0023 Apr 07  09:03:45  10765 -25018   A    0.6856  0.9425  42.5N  62.9E  46  285  05m23s
04759 -07 -0005 Apr 18  15:43:14  10582 -24795   A    0.6104  0.9470  42.3N  34.4W  52  242  05m00s
04804 -06  0013 Apr 28  22:16:18  10400 -24572   A    0.5293  0.9512  41.8N 129.6W  58  208  04m41s
04850 -05  0031 May 10  04:46:51  10221 -24349   A    0.4456  0.9549  41.0N 136.1E  63  183  04m26s
04897 -04  0049 May 20  11:14:25  10043 -24126   A    0.3588  0.9583  39.4N  42.6E  69  162  04m15s

04941 -03  0067 May 31  17:42:22   9867 -23903   A    0.2714  0.9612  37.0N  51.4W  74  146  04m08s
04985 -02  0085 Jun 11  00:09:59   9693 -23680   A    0.1828  0.9636  33.6N 145.9W  79  134  04m04s
05030 -01  0103 Jun 22  06:42:09   9519 -23457   A    0.0971  0.9654  29.4N 117.6E  84  125  04m02s
05074  00  0121 Jul 02  13:17:36   9346 -23234   A    0.0136  0.9668  24.3N  19.4E  89  120  04m02s
05118  01  0139 Jul 13  19:59:21   9175 -23011   A   -0.0655  0.9677  18.7N  81.3W  86  116  04m02s
05161  02  0157 Jul 24  02:47:35   9003 -22788   Am  -0.1401  0.9682  12.6N 175.5E  82  115  04m01s
05202  03  0175 Aug 04  09:44:59   8832 -22565   A   -0.2079  0.9684   6.2N  69.4E  78  116  03m59s
05243  04  0193 Aug 14  16:50:56   8661 -22342   A   -0.2692  0.9683   0.4S  39.4W  74  118  03m56s
05284  05  0211 Aug 26  00:06:18   8490 -22119   A   -0.3234  0.9679   7.0S 150.9W  71  122  03m51s
05325  06  0229 Sep 05  07:32:08   8319 -21896   A   -0.3696  0.9676  13.6S  94.8E  68  125  03m46s


Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 77

                         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

05366  07  0247 Sep 16  15:08:27   8147 -21673   A   -0.4079  0.9671  20.0S  22.1W  66  129  03m40s
05408  08  0265 Sep 26  22:54:42   7975 -21450   A   -0.4387  0.9669  26.2S 141.2W  64  132  03m32s
05448  09  0283 Oct 08  06:51:00   7802 -21227   A   -0.4620  0.9669  32.1S  97.6E  62  134  03m24s
05488  10  0301 Oct 18  14:56:19   7628 -21004   A   -0.4787  0.9672  37.5S  25.1W  61  134  03m15s
05527  11  0319 Oct 29  23:10:06   7454 -20781   A   -0.4892  0.9679  42.3S 149.0W  60  132  03m04s
05567  12  0337 Nov 09  07:29:17   7278 -20558   A   -0.4961  0.9691  46.6S  87.0E  60  128  02m52s
05607  13  0355 Nov 20  15:55:14   7102 -20335   A   -0.4984  0.9708  49.9S  37.4W  60  121  02m38s
05647  14  0373 Dec 01  00:23:43   6925 -20112   A   -0.4996  0.9732  52.3S 161.1W  60  111  02m22s
05688  15  0391 Dec 12  08:55:08   6747 -19889   A   -0.4991  0.9761  53.5S  75.4E  60   99  02m04s
05729  16  0409 Dec 22  17:24:51   6569 -19666   A   -0.5009  0.9797  53.6S  47.3W  60   84  01m44s

05770  17  0428 Jan 03  01:54:51   6391 -19443   A   -0.5033  0.9838  52.5S 170.4W  60   66  01m22s
05811  18  0446 Jan 13  10:20:25   6213 -19220   A   -0.5105  0.9884  50.6S  66.9E  59   47  00m58s
05853  19  0464 Jan 24  18:42:06   6035 -18997   A   -0.5215  0.9935  48.0S  55.9W  58   27  00m32s
05896  20  0482 Feb 04  02:57:02   5857 -18774   A   -0.5389  0.9989  45.2S 178.0W  57    4  00m05s
05940  21  0500 Feb 15  11:06:27   5681 -18551   H   -0.5616  1.0046  42.2S  60.6E  56   19  00m22s
05984  22  0518 Feb 25  19:08:25   5504 -18328   H   -0.5912  1.0104  39.6S  59.6W  54   44  00m50s
06028  23  0536 Mar 08  03:03:15   5328 -18105   T   -0.6276  1.0162  37.4S 178.3W  51   70  01m17s
06074  24  0554 Mar 19  10:50:48   5153 -17882   T   -0.6708  1.0217  35.9S  64.5E  48   98  01m44s
06120  25  0572 Mar 29  18:32:10   4980 -17659   T   -0.7198  1.0270  35.3S  51.2W  44  129  02m10s
06166  26  0590 Apr 10  02:06:40   4808 -17436   T   -0.7752  1.0318  36.0S 165.2W  39  166  02m33s

06211  27  0608 Apr 20  09:36:37   4637 -17213   T   -0.8352  1.0358  38.3S  82.0E  33  214  02m51s
06256  28  0626 May 01  17:01:46   4468 -16990   T   -0.8997  1.0389  42.9S  29.1W  26  294  03m01s
06301  29  0644 May 12  00:25:07   4300 -16767   T   -0.9666  1.0400  51.6S 137.6W  14  531  02m56s
06347  30  0662 May 23  07:44:42   4133 -16544   P   -1.0371  0.9440  63.5S 118.9E   0             
06393  31  0680 Jun 02  15:04:59   3969 -16321   P   -1.1075  0.8109  64.4S   1.5W   0             
06437  32  0698 Jun 13  22:24:22   3807 -16098   P   -1.1789  0.6750  65.3S 122.0W   0             
06480  33  0716 Jun 24  05:46:51   3646 -15875   P   -1.2484  0.5420  66.3S 116.4E   0             
06523  34  0734 Jul 05  13:10:19   3489 -15652   P   -1.3172  0.4098  67.3S   5.9W   0             
06565  35  0752 Jul 15  20:39:39   3333 -15429   P   -1.3816  0.2859  68.3S 130.1W   0             
06606  36  0770 Jul 27  04:12:53   3181 -15206   P   -1.4428  0.1682  69.2S 104.3E   0             

06647  37  0788 Aug 06  11:52:52   3031 -14983   Pe  -1.4989  0.0607  70.0S  23.7W   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)"


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Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses

Periodicity of Solar Eclipses

Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses

2009 Sep 26