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 120 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 0933 May 27. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2195 Jul 07. The total duration of Saros series 120 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0933 May 27 04:10:41 TD Last Eclipse = 2195 Jul 07 15:41:21 TD Duration of Saros 120 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 120 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 120 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 22.5% |
| Annular | A | 25 | 35.2% |
| Total | T | 26 | 36.6% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.6% |
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 120 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 120 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 55 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 55 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 71 eclipses in Saros 120: 7P 25A 4H 26T 9P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 120 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1113 Sep 11 | 06m24s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1492 Apr 26 | 00m16s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 1997 Mar 09 | 02m50s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 1582 Jun 20 | 01m59s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1564 Jun 08 | 01m44s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 1510 May 08 | 00m22s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2051 Apr 11 | - | 0.98490 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2195 Jul 07 | - | 0.03534 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 120. 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 120.
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
06972 -33 0933 May 27 04:10:41 1962 -13192 Pb -1.5258 0.0630 67.7S 132.3E 0
07013 -32 0951 Jun 07 10:33:36 1848 -12969 P -1.4414 0.2073 66.7S 25.1E 0
07054 -31 0969 Jun 17 16:54:26 1738 -12746 P -1.3547 0.3558 65.7S 81.0W 0
07094 -30 0987 Jun 28 23:17:31 1633 -12523 P -1.2690 0.5024 64.8S 172.8E 0
07136 -29 1005 Jul 09 05:42:18 1532 -12300 P -1.1837 0.6481 63.9S 66.5E 0
07178 -28 1023 Jul 20 12:11:29 1436 -12077 P -1.1015 0.7883 63.0S 40.6W 0
07220 -27 1041 Jul 30 18:45:44 1345 -11854 P -1.0226 0.9223 62.3S 148.7W 0
07263 -26 1059 Aug 11 01:27:30 1258 -11631 A -0.9493 0.9337 49.9S 125.8E 18 775 06m10s
07307 -25 1077 Aug 21 08:17:11 1175 -11408 A -0.8817 0.9344 43.9S 27.0E 28 502 06m21s
07351 -24 1095 Sep 01 15:14:39 1097 -11185 A -0.8197 0.9343 41.2S 76.0W 35 414 06m24s
07397 -23 1113 Sep 11 22:22:41 1024 -10962 A -0.7658 0.9336 40.5S 177.7E 40 373 06m24s
07442 -22 1131 Sep 23 05:39:54 955 -10739 A -0.7188 0.9328 41.2S 68.9E 44 351 06m24s
07487 -21 1149 Oct 03 13:08:11 890 -10516 A -0.6802 0.9320 43.0S 42.7W 47 339 06m24s
07532 -20 1167 Oct 14 20:44:41 829 -10293 A -0.6477 0.9313 45.4S 156.0W 49 332 06m24s
07578 -19 1185 Oct 25 04:31:56 771 -10070 A -0.6233 0.9308 48.4S 88.5E 51 328 06m24s
07623 -18 1203 Nov 05 12:25:54 718 -9847 A -0.6037 0.9307 51.4S 27.9W 53 323 06m23s
07669 -17 1221 Nov 15 20:27:28 668 -9624 A -0.5900 0.9310 54.2S 145.0W 54 319 06m20s
07715 -16 1239 Nov 27 04:33:35 621 -9401 A -0.5795 0.9318 56.5S 98.1E 54 313 06m16s
07760 -15 1257 Dec 07 12:44:36 577 -9178 A -0.5725 0.9332 57.9S 18.9W 55 305 06m09s
07804 -14 1275 Dec 18 20:56:34 537 -8955 A -0.5657 0.9352 58.0S 135.5W 55 294 06m00s
07847 -13 1293 Dec 29 05:09:12 499 -8732 A -0.5588 0.9379 56.8S 107.6E 56 279 05m48s
07889 -12 1312 Jan 09 13:20:03 463 -8509 A -0.5500 0.9413 54.3S 10.2W 56 261 05m33s
07930 -11 1330 Jan 19 21:28:48 429 -8286 A -0.5391 0.9452 50.6S 129.0W 57 240 05m16s
07971 -10 1348 Jan 31 05:31:34 398 -8063 A -0.5226 0.9499 46.0S 111.9E 58 216 04m55s
08012 -09 1366 Feb 10 13:29:55 369 -7840 A -0.5016 0.9549 40.6S 7.4W 60 190 04m32s
08053 -08 1384 Feb 21 21:20:45 341 -7617 A -0.4738 0.9605 34.6S 126.0W 62 162 04m05s
08094 -07 1402 Mar 04 05:06:39 315 -7394 A -0.4410 0.9665 28.2S 115.9E 64 134 03m34s
08134 -06 1420 Mar 14 12:42:57 290 -7171 A -0.3994 0.9727 21.4S 0.3W 66 106 02m59s
08174 -05 1438 Mar 25 20:14:23 266 -6948 A -0.3529 0.9790 14.5S 115.5W 69 80 02m21s
08214 -04 1456 Apr 05 03:37:14 244 -6725 A -0.2980 0.9853 7.3S 131.5E 73 54 01m40s
08254 -03 1474 Apr 16 10:55:48 223 -6502 A -0.2387 0.9916 0.2S 19.7E 76 30 00m58s
08294 -02 1492 Apr 26 18:07:10 204 -6279 A -0.1723 0.9976 6.8N 90.0W 80 8 00m16s
08335 -01 1510 May 08 01:16:15 185 -6056 H -0.1030 1.0033 13.5N 161.4E 84 12 00m22s
08377 00 1528 May 18 08:21:05 168 -5833 H -0.0290 1.0085 19.9N 54.6E 88 29 00m56s
08418 01 1546 May 29 15:24:40 153 -5610 H 0.0470 1.0133 25.7N 51.0W 87 46 01m24s
08459 02 1564 Jun 08 22:26:49 139 -5387 H2 0.1253 1.0174 30.8N 155.4W 83 60 01m44s
08500 03 1582 Jun 20 05:30:27 128 -5164 T 0.2032 1.0210 35.0N 100.8E 78 73 01m59s
08541 04 1600 Jul 10 12:35:58 118 -4941 T 0.2804 1.0238 38.2N 2.7W 74 84 02m08s
08583 05 1618 Jul 21 19:44:30 96 -4718 T 0.3558 1.0260 40.4N 106.3W 69 94 02m13s
08627 06 1636 Aug 01 02:58:15 69 -4495 T 0.4279 1.0275 41.5N 148.9E 64 103 02m15s
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
08673 07 1654 Aug 12 10:17:43 42 -4272 T 0.4962 1.0285 41.7N 42.5E 60 110 02m16s
08719 08 1672 Aug 22 17:44:06 21 -4049 T 0.5594 1.0288 41.2N 66.2W 56 117 02m15s
08764 09 1690 Sep 03 01:17:47 9 -3826 T 0.6173 1.0287 40.3N 177.4W 52 122 02m13s
08809 10 1708 Sep 14 09:00:22 9 -3603 T 0.6685 1.0281 39.2N 68.3E 48 126 02m10s
08854 11 1726 Sep 25 16:51:45 10 -3380 T 0.7134 1.0273 38.0N 49.0W 44 129 02m07s
08900 12 1744 Oct 06 00:51:24 12 -3157 T 0.7521 1.0263 37.0N 169.1W 41 132 02m04s
08945 13 1762 Oct 17 09:00:34 15 -2934 T 0.7836 1.0253 36.2N 67.6E 38 135 02m02s
08991 14 1780 Oct 27 17:18:27 17 -2711 T 0.8083 1.0244 35.6N 58.6W 36 138 02m00s
09036 15 1798 Nov 08 01:44:39 14 -2488 T 0.8270 1.0237 35.1N 172.5E 34 141 01m59s
09081 16 1816 Nov 19 10:17:23 12 -2265 T 0.8408 1.0233 35.0N 41.5E 33 145 02m00s
09126 17 1834 Nov 30 18:56:35 6 -2042 T 0.8498 1.0233 34.9N 91.6W 32 150 02m02s
09170 18 1852 Dec 11 03:40:44 7 -1819 T 0.8551 1.0237 35.2N 133.9E 31 156 02m05s
09213 19 1870 Dec 22 12:27:33 -0 -1596 T 0.8585 1.0248 35.7N 1.5W 31 165 02m11s
09255 20 1889 Jan 01 21:16:50 -6 -1373 T 0.8603 1.0262 36.7N 137.6W 30 175 02m17s
09297 21 1907 Jan 14 06:05:43 6 -1150 T 0.8628 1.0281 38.3N 86.4E 30 189 02m25s
09339 22 1925 Jan 24 14:54:03 24 -927 T 0.8661 1.0304 40.5N 49.6W 30 206 02m32s
09382 23 1943 Feb 04 23:38:10 26 -704 T 0.8734 1.0331 43.6N 175.1E 29 229 02m39s
09422 24 1961 Feb 15 08:19:48 34 -481 T 0.8830 1.0360 47.4N 40.0E 28 258 02m45s
09462 25 1979 Feb 26 16:55:06 50 -258 T 0.8981 1.0391 52.1N 94.5W 26 298 02m49s
09501 26 1997 Mar 09 01:24:51 62 -35 T 0.9183 1.0420 57.8N 130.7E 23 356 02m50s
09541 27 2015 Mar 20 09:46:47 69 188 T 0.9454 1.0445 64.4N 6.6W 18 463 02m47s
09581 28 2033 Mar 30 18:02:36 80 411 T 0.9778 1.0462 71.3N 155.8W 11 781 02m37s
09621 29 2051 Apr 11 02:10:39 95 634 P 1.0169 0.9849 71.6N 32.2E 0
09662 30 2069 Apr 21 10:11:09 133 857 P 1.0624 0.8992 71.0N 101.3W 0
09703 31 2087 May 02 18:04:42 173 1080 P 1.1139 0.8011 70.3N 127.6E 0
09744 32 2105 May 14 01:52:06 215 1303 P 1.1708 0.6921 69.4N 1.4W 0
09785 33 2123 May 25 09:33:27 259 1526 P 1.2325 0.5729 68.5N 128.2W 0
09826 34 2141 Jun 04 17:09:59 305 1749 P 1.2981 0.4458 67.5N 106.7E 0
09868 35 2159 Jun 16 00:42:44 348 1972 P 1.3668 0.3124 66.5N 17.0W 0
09911 36 2177 Jun 26 08:13:28 388 2195 P 1.4371 0.1758 65.5N 139.8W 0
09955 37 2195 Jul 07 15:41:21 430 2418 Pe 1.5095 0.0353 64.6N 98.5E 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)"
