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 164 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2098 Oct 24. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 3523 Mar 10. The total duration of Saros series 164 is 1424.38 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2098 Oct 24 10:36:11 TD Last Eclipse = 3523 Mar 10 17:29:59 TD Duration of Saros 164 = 1424.38 Years
Saros 164 is composed of 80 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 164 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 80 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 37 | 46.2% |
| Annular | A | 3 | 3.8% |
| Total | T | 36 | 45.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 4 | 5.0% |
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 164 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 164 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 43 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 97.7% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.3% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 80 eclipses in Saros 164: 20P 36T 4H 3A 17P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 164 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 164 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 3216 Sep 04 | 01m21s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 3180 Aug 13 | 00m23s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 2549 Jul 25 | 06m30s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 3090 Jun 20 | 01m22s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 3108 Jul 01 | 01m05s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 3162 Aug 03 | 00m02s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2441 May 21 | - | 0.87947 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2098 Oct 24 | - | 0.00562 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 164. 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 164.
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
09730 -46 2098 Oct 24 10:36:11 200 1222 Pb -1.5407 0.0056 61.8S 95.5W 0
09771 -45 2116 Nov 04 18:50:09 243 1445 P -1.5103 0.0613 62.3S 132.3E 0
09812 -44 2134 Nov 16 03:12:08 288 1668 P -1.4857 0.1060 63.0S 2.1W 0
09854 -43 2152 Nov 26 11:41:08 334 1891 P -1.4665 0.1409 63.8S 138.4W 0
09896 -42 2170 Dec 07 20:17:08 373 2114 P -1.4530 0.1653 64.7S 83.1E 0
09940 -41 2188 Dec 18 04:56:59 415 2337 P -1.4420 0.1850 65.7S 56.6W 0
09985 -40 2206 Dec 30 13:40:30 458 2560 P -1.4337 0.1997 66.8S 162.3E 0
10028 -39 2225 Jan 09 22:25:24 504 2783 P -1.4263 0.2125 67.8S 20.4E 0
10072 -38 2243 Jan 21 07:11:45 552 3006 P -1.4198 0.2238 68.9S 122.5W 0
10117 -37 2261 Jan 31 15:55:00 601 3229 P -1.4107 0.2397 69.9S 94.8E 0
10162 -36 2279 Feb 12 00:37:06 653 3452 P -1.4003 0.2581 70.7S 48.3W 0
10208 -35 2297 Feb 22 09:13:31 707 3675 P -1.3851 0.2853 71.4S 169.4E 0
10253 -34 2315 Mar 06 17:46:20 763 3898 P -1.3668 0.3187 71.9S 27.6E 0
10298 -33 2333 Mar 17 02:10:53 821 4121 P -1.3417 0.3651 72.1S 112.5W 0
10344 -32 2351 Mar 28 10:30:57 881 4344 P -1.3126 0.4195 72.1S 108.5E 0
10389 -31 2369 Apr 07 18:42:11 943 4567 P -1.2763 0.4880 71.8S 28.1W 0
10433 -30 2387 Apr 19 02:47:06 1007 4790 P -1.2345 0.5677 71.3S 162.7W 0
10477 -29 2405 Apr 29 10:43:55 1074 5013 P -1.1858 0.6613 70.6S 65.3E 0
10520 -28 2423 May 10 18:35:17 1142 5236 P -1.1323 0.7647 69.7S 64.8W 0
10563 -27 2441 May 21 02:20:11 1213 5459 P -1.0733 0.8795 68.8S 167.3E 0
10606 -26 2459 Jun 01 09:59:50 1285 5682 T- -1.0097 1.0038 67.8S 41.3E 0
10648 -25 2477 Jun 11 17:35:29 1360 5905 T -0.9423 1.0647 47.8S 80.8W 19 642 04m53s
10690 -24 2495 Jun 23 01:08:06 1436 6128 T -0.8718 1.0696 37.2S 162.6E 29 464 05m39s
10732 -23 2513 Jul 04 08:38:16 1515 6351 T -0.7992 1.0729 29.6S 48.0E 37 392 06m09s
10772 -22 2531 Jul 15 16:07:33 1596 6574 T -0.7256 1.0750 23.8S 65.5W 43 351 06m25s
10812 -21 2549 Jul 25 23:37:26 1679 6797 T -0.6522 1.0761 19.5S 178.5W 49 322 06m30s
10852 -20 2567 Aug 06 07:09:09 1764 7020 T -0.5802 1.0762 16.5S 68.5E 54 299 06m26s
10892 -19 2585 Aug 16 14:42:33 1851 7243 T -0.5094 1.0753 14.7S 44.5W 59 281 06m16s
10933 -18 2603 Aug 28 22:20:26 1940 7466 T -0.4425 1.0737 13.9S 158.4W 64 264 06m02s
10974 -17 2621 Sep 08 06:02:19 2031 7689 T -0.3793 1.0713 14.1S 86.8E 68 249 05m45s
11015 -16 2639 Sep 19 13:50:24 2124 7912 T -0.3212 1.0683 15.0S 29.4W 71 234 05m28s
11055 -15 2657 Sep 29 21:43:07 2219 8135 T -0.2675 1.0647 16.4S 146.6W 74 219 05m11s
11096 -14 2675 Oct 11 05:43:47 2317 8358 T -0.2206 1.0608 18.3S 94.2E 77 204 04m54s
11138 -13 2693 Oct 21 13:50:36 2416 8581 T -0.1793 1.0566 20.3S 26.3W 80 189 04m37s
11180 -12 2711 Nov 02 22:05:02 2518 8804 T -0.1448 1.0523 22.3S 148.6W 82 175 04m21s
11222 -11 2729 Nov 13 06:26:10 2621 9027 T -0.1162 1.0480 24.1S 87.7E 83 161 04m05s
11265 -10 2747 Nov 24 14:54:29 2727 9250 T -0.0940 1.0438 25.7S 37.6W 84 147 03m49s
11310 -09 2765 Dec 04 23:28:46 2835 9473 T -0.0771 1.0398 26.7S 164.2W 85 134 03m33s
11354 -08 2783 Dec 16 08:07:08 2945 9696 T -0.0640 1.0362 27.0S 68.3E 86 122 03m18s
11399 -07 2801 Dec 26 16:50:37 3056 9919 T -0.0555 1.0328 26.6S 60.4W 87 111 03m04s
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
11444 -06 2820 Jan 07 01:36:11 3170 10142 Tm -0.0495 1.0300 25.4S 170.2E 87 102 02m51s
11489 -05 2838 Jan 17 10:23:36 3286 10365 T -0.0450 1.0277 23.3S 40.1E 87 94 02m39s
11535 -04 2856 Jan 28 19:09:09 3405 10588 T -0.0395 1.0258 20.4S 89.9W 88 88 02m30s
11582 -03 2874 Feb 08 03:54:12 3525 10811 T -0.0340 1.0244 16.9S 139.7E 88 83 02m23s
11629 -02 2892 Feb 19 12:34:51 3647 11034 T -0.0255 1.0234 12.6S 9.9E 88 80 02m18s
11676 -01 2910 Mar 02 21:10:45 3771 11257 T -0.0136 1.0228 7.9S 119.0W 89 78 02m15s
11721 00 2928 Mar 13 05:39:54 3898 11480 T 0.0034 1.0225 2.6S 113.3E 90 77 02m13s
11765 01 2946 Mar 24 14:02:24 4026 11703 T 0.0255 1.0224 3.0N 12.9W 89 76 02m13s
11809 02 2964 Apr 03 22:16:19 4157 11926 T 0.0540 1.0224 8.9N 137.0W 87 76 02m13s
11853 03 2982 Apr 15 06:21:40 4289 12149 T 0.0890 1.0223 14.9N 101.1E 85 76 02m12s
11897 04 3000 Apr 26 14:18:06 4424 12372 T 0.1310 1.0222 21.1N 18.4W 82 76 02m11s
----- 05 3018 May 07 22:06:17 4561 12595 T 0.1791 1.0218 27.2N 135.3W 80 75 02m06s
----- 06 3036 May 18 05:44:37 4700 12818 T 0.2350 1.0211 33.3N 110.9E 76 74 02m00s
----- 07 3054 May 29 13:15:59 4840 13041 T 0.2960 1.0199 39.0N 0.2W 73 71 01m50s
----- 08 3072 Jun 08 20:38:54 4983 13264 T 0.3636 1.0183 44.4N 108.0W 68 67 01m37s
----- 09 3090 Jun 20 03:56:54 5128 13487 T 0.4343 1.0161 49.1N 146.9E 64 61 01m22s
----- 10 3108 Jul 01 11:07:05 5276 13710 H 0.5108 1.0132 53.2N 45.4E 59 53 01m05s
----- 11 3126 Jul 12 18:14:52 5425 13933 H 0.5885 1.0097 56.3N 53.9W 54 41 00m45s
----- 12 3144 Jul 23 01:17:26 5576 14156 H 0.6698 1.0054 58.5N 150.3W 48 25 00m24s
----- 13 3162 Aug 03 08:19:34 5729 14379 H 0.7502 1.0004 59.8N 114.4E 41 2 00m02s
----- 14 3180 Aug 13 15:19:01 5885 14602 A 0.8318 0.9946 60.7N 21.0E 33 34 00m23s
----- 15 3198 Aug 24 22:21:10 6042 14825 A 0.9101 0.9878 61.5N 70.9W 24 103 00m50s
----- 16 3216 Sep 04 05:23:49 6202 15048 A 0.9868 0.9786 62.3N 150.2W 8 513 01m21s
----- 17 3234 Sep 15 12:30:20 6363 15271 P 1.0594 0.8754 61.1N 112.6E 0
----- 18 3252 Sep 25 19:40:20 6527 15494 P 1.1278 0.7523 61.1N 2.8W 0
----- 19 3270 Oct 07 02:56:27 6693 15717 P 1.1901 0.6414 61.3N 119.8W 0
----- 20 3288 Oct 17 10:18:17 6861 15940 P 1.2470 0.5412 61.6N 121.7E 0
----- 21 3306 Oct 29 17:46:27 7030 16163 P 1.2977 0.4527 62.0N 1.6E 0
----- 22 3324 Nov 09 01:21:55 7202 16386 P 1.3417 0.3768 62.6N 120.4W 0
----- 23 3342 Nov 20 09:04:29 7376 16609 P 1.3791 0.3131 63.4N 115.5E 0
----- 24 3360 Nov 30 16:53:43 7553 16832 P 1.4103 0.2606 64.2N 10.4W 0
----- 25 3378 Dec 12 00:49:28 7731 17055 P 1.4355 0.2188 65.2N 138.2W 0
----- 26 3396 Dec 22 08:50:22 7911 17278 P 1.4560 0.1852 66.2N 92.3E 0
----- 27 3415 Jan 03 16:55:57 8093 17501 P 1.4720 0.1592 67.3N 38.9W 0
----- 28 3433 Jan 14 01:03:03 8278 17724 P 1.4861 0.1364 68.4N 170.9W 0
----- 29 3451 Jan 25 09:12:47 8464 17947 P 1.4973 0.1183 69.4N 55.8E 0
----- 30 3469 Feb 04 17:21:26 8653 18170 P 1.5084 0.1004 70.4N 77.9W 0
----- 31 3487 Feb 16 01:28:50 8843 18393 P 1.5202 0.0810 71.2N 148.0E 0
----- 32 3505 Feb 27 09:31:19 9036 18616 P 1.5352 0.0559 71.8N 14.6E 0
----- 33 3523 Mar 10 17:29:59 9231 18839 Pe 1.5527 0.0265 72.2N 118.4W 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)"
