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 108 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 0550 Jan 04. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 1902 Apr 08. The total duration of Saros series 108 is 1352.26 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0550 Jan 04 00:04:07 TD Last Eclipse = 1902 Apr 08 14:05:06 TD Duration of Saros 108 = 1352.26 Years
Saros 108 is composed of 76 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 108 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 76 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 33 | 43.4% |
| Annular | A | 20 | 26.3% |
| Total | T | 18 | 23.7% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 6.6% |
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 108 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 108 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 95.3% |
| Central (one limit) | 2 | 4.7% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 76 eclipses in Saros 108: 12P 20A 5H 18T 21P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 108 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 108 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 0766 May 13 | 03m35s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1108 Dec 04 | 00m08s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 1361 May 05 | 05m07s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 1217 Feb 07 | 02m15s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1199 Jan 28 | 01m45s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1126 Dec 15 | 00m08s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1541 Aug 21 | - | 0.91717 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 0550 Jan 04 | - | 0.00673 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 108. 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 108.
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
06063 -36 0550 Jan 04 00:04:07 5194 -17934 Pb -1.5674 0.0067 67.3S 19.5E 0
06109 -35 0568 Jan 15 07:57:59 5020 -17711 P -1.5538 0.0280 68.4S 110.9W 0
06155 -34 0586 Jan 25 15:47:13 4848 -17488 P -1.5361 0.0559 69.4S 119.2E 0
06200 -33 0604 Feb 05 23:29:00 4677 -17265 P -1.5118 0.0948 70.3S 9.5W 0
06245 -32 0622 Feb 16 07:04:22 4507 -17042 P -1.4819 0.1434 71.0S 137.1W 0
06290 -31 0640 Feb 27 14:30:29 4339 -16819 P -1.4439 0.2060 71.6S 97.0E 0
06336 -30 0658 Mar 09 21:49:57 4172 -16596 P -1.3999 0.2794 71.9S 27.5W 0
06382 -29 0676 Mar 20 05:00:44 4007 -16373 P -1.3481 0.3667 72.0S 150.1W 0
06426 -28 0694 Mar 31 12:04:07 3844 -16150 P -1.2894 0.4669 71.8S 89.3E 0
06470 -27 0712 Apr 10 18:59:59 3684 -15927 P -1.2234 0.5805 71.4S 29.1W 0
06513 -26 0730 Apr 22 01:50:35 3525 -15704 P -1.1522 0.7044 70.8S 145.8W 0
06555 -25 0748 May 02 08:36:33 3369 -15481 P -1.0762 0.8378 70.0S 99.3E 0
06597 -24 0766 May 13 15:18:08 3216 -15258 As -0.9955 0.9562 66.1S 17.0W 3 - 03m35s
06638 -23 0784 May 23 21:58:34 3066 -15035 A -0.9126 0.9653 44.6S 132.5W 24 309 03m30s
06679 -22 0802 Jun 04 04:38:09 2919 -14812 A -0.8275 0.9711 33.2S 121.9E 34 185 03m12s
06720 -21 0820 Jun 14 11:19:09 2775 -14589 A -0.7426 0.9759 24.5S 17.9E 42 128 02m49s
06760 -20 0838 Jun 25 18:01:51 2635 -14366 A -0.6578 0.9798 17.4S 85.4W 49 95 02m24s
06800 -19 0856 Jul 06 00:49:20 2499 -14143 A -0.5758 0.9831 12.0S 171.0E 55 73 02m00s
06840 -18 0874 Jul 17 07:42:26 2366 -13920 A -0.4970 0.9856 8.0S 66.7E 60 58 01m39s
06880 -17 0892 Jul 27 14:41:15 2238 -13697 A -0.4218 0.9877 5.2S 38.6W 65 48 01m22s
06920 -16 0910 Aug 07 21:48:49 2113 -13474 A -0.3526 0.9891 3.8S 145.8W 69 41 01m10s
06960 -15 0928 Aug 18 05:04:32 1993 -13251 A -0.2893 0.9902 3.5S 105.1E 73 36 01m01s
07002 -14 0946 Aug 29 12:31:00 1878 -13028 A -0.2337 0.9909 4.3S 6.6W 76 33 00m55s
07043 -13 0964 Sep 08 20:05:22 1767 -12805 A -0.1838 0.9914 5.8S 120.3W 79 31 00m51s
07083 -12 0982 Sep 20 03:51:25 1660 -12582 A -0.1426 0.9916 8.0S 122.9E 82 30 00m49s
07125 -11 1000 Sep 30 11:45:53 1558 -12359 A -0.1075 0.9919 10.6S 4.1E 84 29 00m47s
07167 -10 1018 Oct 11 19:50:54 1461 -12136 A -0.0806 0.9923 13.5S 117.3W 85 27 00m45s
07209 -09 1036 Oct 22 04:03:26 1368 -11913 A -0.0593 0.9928 16.4S 119.5E 87 25 00m42s
07252 -08 1054 Nov 02 12:25:18 1280 -11690 A -0.0451 0.9937 19.2S 5.8W 87 22 00m38s
07295 -07 1072 Nov 12 20:52:43 1197 -11467 A -0.0348 0.9948 21.6S 132.2W 88 18 00m31s
07339 -06 1090 Nov 24 05:25:50 1118 -11244 A -0.0286 0.9965 23.5S 100.3E 88 12 00m21s
07385 -05 1108 Dec 04 14:02:16 1043 -11021 A -0.0245 0.9986 24.7S 27.7W 88 5 00m08s
07431 -04 1126 Dec 15 22:41:48 973 -10798 H -0.0228 1.0013 25.0S 156.4W 89 5 00m08s
07476 -03 1144 Dec 26 07:20:32 907 -10575 H -0.0195 1.0046 24.3S 75.1E 89 16 00m28s
07521 -02 1163 Jan 06 15:58:40 844 -10352 H -0.0151 1.0084 22.6S 53.4W 89 29 00m51s
07567 -01 1181 Jan 17 00:33:25 786 -10129 H -0.0073 1.0127 19.8S 178.5E 89 44 01m17s
07612 00 1199 Jan 28 09:05:27 732 -9906 H2 0.0033 1.0174 16.2S 50.5E 90 60 01m45s
07657 01 1217 Feb 07 17:30:25 681 -9683 T 0.0204 1.0226 11.7S 76.2W 89 77 02m15s
07703 02 1235 Feb 19 01:50:49 633 -9460 Tm 0.0419 1.0280 6.6S 157.8E 88 95 02m45s
07748 03 1253 Mar 01 10:02:56 589 -9237 T 0.0710 1.0336 0.8S 33.4E 86 113 03m15s
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
07792 04 1271 Mar 12 18:09:34 547 -9014 T 0.1052 1.0392 5.4N 89.9W 84 132 03m44s
07835 05 1289 Mar 23 02:07:05 508 -8791 T 0.1475 1.0448 12.1N 148.9E 81 151 04m10s
07877 06 1307 Apr 03 09:59:42 472 -8568 T 0.1946 1.0501 18.9N 29.0E 79 169 04m33s
07919 07 1325 Apr 13 17:44:29 438 -8345 T 0.2487 1.0551 26.0N 88.8W 75 188 04m50s
07960 08 1343 Apr 25 01:24:16 406 -8122 T 0.3077 1.0597 33.1N 155.2E 72 206 05m02s
08002 09 1361 May 05 08:58:03 376 -7899 T 0.3722 1.0635 40.2N 41.4E 68 224 05m07s
08043 10 1379 May 16 16:28:59 348 -7676 T 0.4396 1.0668 47.0N 70.5W 64 243 05m07s
08084 11 1397 May 26 23:56:51 321 -7453 T 0.5101 1.0692 53.4N 179.9W 59 263 05m01s
08124 12 1415 Jun 07 07:22:41 296 -7230 T 0.5827 1.0708 59.2N 73.7E 54 284 04m51s
08164 13 1433 Jun 17 14:48:42 273 -7007 T 0.6558 1.0714 64.0N 29.5W 49 309 04m38s
08204 14 1451 Jun 28 22:15:28 250 -6784 T 0.7287 1.0711 67.5N 128.8W 43 339 04m23s
08243 15 1469 Jul 09 05:44:22 229 -6561 T 0.8000 1.0697 69.3N 134.7E 37 380 04m06s
08283 16 1487 Jul 20 13:15:36 209 -6338 T 0.8696 1.0673 69.3N 39.6E 29 446 03m47s
08324 17 1505 Jul 30 20:51:55 190 -6115 T 0.9352 1.0635 67.9N 55.6W 20 593 03m25s
08366 18 1523 Aug 11 04:33:16 173 -5892 Tn 0.9969 1.0558 62.7N 135.9W 2 - 02m44s
08407 19 1541 Aug 21 12:20:07 157 -5669 P 1.0541 0.9172 61.3N 102.0E 0
08448 20 1559 Sep 01 20:13:59 143 -5446 P 1.1056 0.8172 61.1N 25.3W 0
08489 21 1577 Sep 12 04:15:22 130 -5223 P 1.1507 0.7297 61.0N 154.4W 0
08530 22 1595 Oct 03 12:24:36 121 -5000 P 1.1896 0.6546 61.1N 74.6E 0
08571 23 1613 Oct 13 20:40:24 102 -4777 P 1.2232 0.5902 61.3N 58.2W 0
08615 24 1631 Oct 25 05:04:15 76 -4554 P 1.2502 0.5384 61.7N 167.0E 0
08660 25 1649 Nov 04 13:35:08 49 -4331 P 1.2716 0.4977 62.2N 30.2E 0
08706 26 1667 Nov 15 22:12:06 26 -4108 P 1.2880 0.4667 62.9N 108.2W 0
08751 27 1685 Nov 26 06:54:43 11 -3885 P 1.3000 0.4442 63.7N 111.8E 0
08796 28 1703 Dec 08 15:41:30 9 -3662 P 1.3086 0.4281 64.6N 29.5W 0
08841 29 1721 Dec 19 00:31:51 10 -3439 P 1.3144 0.4172 65.7N 172.0W 0
08887 30 1739 Dec 30 09:22:03 12 -3216 P 1.3203 0.4062 66.7N 45.1E 0
08933 31 1758 Jan 09 18:13:42 14 -2993 P 1.3251 0.3972 67.8N 98.7W 0
08978 32 1776 Jan 21 03:02:27 16 -2770 P 1.3318 0.3847 68.8N 117.6E 0
09024 33 1794 Jan 31 11:48:45 15 -2547 P 1.3407 0.3680 69.8N 26.0W 0
09069 34 1812 Feb 12 20:28:40 12 -2324 P 1.3545 0.3422 70.7N 168.8W 0
09114 35 1830 Feb 23 05:04:13 7 -2101 P 1.3716 0.3100 71.3N 49.0E 0
09158 36 1848 Mar 05 13:31:35 7 -1878 P 1.3950 0.2662 71.8N 91.7W 0
09201 37 1866 Mar 16 21:51:25 5 -1655 P 1.4241 0.2114 72.0N 129.2E 0
09243 38 1884 Mar 27 06:02:11 -6 -1432 P 1.4602 0.1436 72.0N 7.7W 0
09285 39 1902 Apr 08 14:05:06 0 -1209 Pe 1.5024 0.0643 71.7N 142.4W 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)"
