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 166 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 2228 Oct 29. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 3599 Feb 08. The total duration of Saros series 166 is 1370.29 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2228 Oct 29 00:15:43 TD Last Eclipse = 3599 Feb 08 19:54:09 TD Duration of Saros 166 = 1370.29 Years
Saros 166 is composed of 77 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 166 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 77 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 35 | 45.5% |
| Annular | A | 21 | 27.3% |
| Total | T | 16 | 20.8% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 6.5% |
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 166 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 166 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 42 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 77 eclipses in Saros 166: 19P 21A 5H 16T 16P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 166 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 166 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 2571 May 25 | 04m21s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 2931 Dec 30 | 00m00s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 3202 Jun 12 | 04m23s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 3040 Mar 05 | 01m56s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 3022 Feb 23 | 01m32s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 2950 Jan 09 | 00m13s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 3328 Aug 27 | - | 0.93386 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 3599 Feb 08 | - | 0.01529 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 166. 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 166.
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
10038 -32 2228 Oct 29 00:15:43 514 2830 Pb -1.5410 0.0477 61.9S 57.7E 0
10082 -31 2246 Nov 09 07:47:03 562 3053 P -1.5082 0.1036 62.5S 63.8W 0
10127 -30 2264 Nov 19 15:28:13 612 3276 P -1.4830 0.1464 63.2S 172.0E 0
10172 -29 2282 Nov 30 23:15:23 664 3499 P -1.4625 0.1812 64.1S 46.1E 0
10217 -28 2300 Dec 12 07:09:43 719 3722 P -1.4473 0.2067 65.0S 81.9W 0
10262 -27 2318 Dec 23 15:07:26 775 3945 P -1.4346 0.2279 66.1S 148.9E 0
10307 -26 2337 Jan 02 23:09:44 833 4168 P -1.4252 0.2434 67.2S 18.0E 0
10353 -25 2355 Jan 14 07:12:20 894 4391 P -1.4158 0.2588 68.2S 113.4W 0
10398 -24 2373 Jan 24 15:14:59 957 4614 P -1.4062 0.2742 69.3S 114.5E 0
10441 -23 2391 Feb 04 23:15:06 1021 4837 P -1.3944 0.2933 70.3S 17.6W 0
10485 -22 2409 Feb 15 07:12:30 1088 5060 P -1.3802 0.3163 71.1S 149.6W 0
10528 -21 2427 Feb 26 15:03:45 1157 5283 P -1.3607 0.3484 71.7S 79.3E 0
10571 -20 2445 Mar 08 22:49:34 1228 5506 P -1.3361 0.3891 72.1S 50.9W 0
10614 -19 2463 Mar 20 06:27:54 1301 5729 P -1.3051 0.4410 72.3S 179.5W 0
10656 -18 2481 Mar 30 14:00:07 1376 5952 P -1.2685 0.5027 72.1S 53.5E 0
10698 -17 2499 Apr 10 21:22:39 1453 6175 P -1.2233 0.5797 71.8S 70.8W 0
10740 -16 2517 Apr 22 04:39:28 1532 6398 P -1.1726 0.6669 71.2S 166.8E 0
10781 -15 2535 May 03 11:47:37 1613 6621 P -1.1138 0.7691 70.4S 47.1E 0
10821 -14 2553 May 13 18:51:21 1696 6844 P -1.0504 0.8800 69.5S 70.8W 0
10861 -13 2571 May 25 01:47:00 1782 7067 A -0.9794 0.9520 57.9S 169.4E 11 926 04m21s
10901 -12 2589 Jun 04 08:40:23 1869 7290 A -0.9054 0.9600 42.8S 58.6E 25 345 04m10s
10942 -11 2607 Jun 16 15:28:35 1959 7513 A -0.8258 0.9664 32.6S 47.0W 34 216 03m47s
10983 -10 2625 Jun 26 22:15:44 2050 7736 A -0.7444 0.9720 24.6S 150.9W 42 150 03m17s
11023 -09 2643 Jul 08 05:00:57 2144 7959 A -0.6602 0.9768 18.2S 106.7E 49 109 02m44s
11063 -08 2661 Jul 18 11:48:08 2240 8182 A -0.5766 0.9811 13.2S 4.5E 55 81 02m12s
11104 -07 2679 Jul 29 18:37:06 2338 8405 A -0.4933 0.9846 9.5S 97.5W 60 62 01m44s
11146 -06 2697 Aug 09 01:29:22 2437 8628 A -0.4116 0.9877 6.9S 160.1E 66 47 01m20s
11188 -05 2715 Aug 21 08:26:53 2539 8851 A -0.3333 0.9900 5.4S 56.7E 70 37 01m03s
11231 -04 2733 Aug 31 15:30:17 2643 9074 A -0.2587 0.9920 4.9S 48.1W 75 29 00m49s
11274 -03 2751 Sep 11 22:41:05 2750 9297 A -0.1895 0.9934 5.2S 154.6W 79 24 00m40s
11319 -02 2769 Sep 22 05:59:23 2858 9520 A -0.1254 0.9944 6.1S 96.9E 83 20 00m33s
11364 -01 2787 Oct 03 13:27:29 2968 9743 A -0.0685 0.9950 7.5S 14.0W 86 18 00m29s
11409 00 2805 Oct 13 21:04:29 3080 9966 A -0.0181 0.9954 9.1S 127.2W 89 16 00m27s
11454 01 2823 Oct 25 04:50:58 3195 10189 A 0.0252 0.9957 10.8S 117.2E 89 15 00m26s
11499 02 2841 Nov 04 12:47:01 3311 10412 A 0.0615 0.9959 12.4S 0.7W 87 14 00m25s
11545 03 2859 Nov 15 20:52:40 3430 10635 A 0.0901 0.9962 13.8S 121.1W 85 13 00m23s
11591 04 2877 Nov 26 05:06:29 3550 10858 A 0.1130 0.9967 14.8S 116.6E 84 12 00m21s
11638 05 2895 Dec 07 13:27:23 3673 11081 A 0.1306 0.9974 15.3S 7.4W 83 9 00m17s
11685 06 2913 Dec 18 21:55:06 3798 11304 Am 0.1430 0.9985 15.2S 133.1W 82 5 00m10s
11730 07 2931 Dec 30 06:28:24 3925 11527 A 0.1511 1.0000 14.5S 99.7E 81 0 00m00s
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
11774 08 2950 Jan 09 15:04:40 4053 11750 H 0.1574 1.0020 13.0S 28.4W 81 7 00m13s
11818 09 2968 Jan 20 23:43:38 4184 11973 H 0.1618 1.0044 10.8S 157.3W 81 16 00m29s
11862 10 2986 Jan 31 08:22:37 4317 12196 H 0.1669 1.0075 7.8S 73.5E 80 26 00m48s
----- 11 3004 Feb 12 17:01:39 4453 12419 H 0.1724 1.0110 4.2S 56.1W 80 38 01m09s
----- 12 3022 Feb 23 01:36:38 4590 12642 H 0.1817 1.0150 0.0N 175.1E 80 52 01m32s
----- 13 3040 Mar 05 10:09:38 4729 12865 T 0.1933 1.0194 4.8N 46.6E 79 68 01m56s
----- 14 3058 Mar 16 18:36:24 4870 13088 T 0.2107 1.0242 10.1N 80.6W 78 84 02m21s
----- 15 3076 Mar 27 02:58:45 5014 13311 T 0.2323 1.0292 15.7N 153.2E 76 102 02m46s
----- 16 3094 Apr 07 11:13:06 5159 13534 T 0.2614 1.0344 21.6N 29.1E 75 120 03m10s
----- 17 3112 Apr 18 19:22:29 5307 13757 T 0.2951 1.0396 27.7N 93.6W 73 139 03m32s
----- 18 3130 Apr 30 03:24:00 5456 13980 T 0.3361 1.0448 33.9N 146.2E 70 158 03m50s
----- 19 3148 May 10 11:19:16 5608 14203 T 0.3828 1.0497 40.1N 28.1E 67 179 04m05s
----- 20 3166 May 21 19:07:42 5762 14426 T 0.4359 1.0542 46.1N 87.2W 64 199 04m15s
----- 21 3184 Jun 01 02:51:09 5918 14649 T 0.4937 1.0583 51.8N 160.2E 60 221 04m21s
----- 22 3202 Jun 12 10:29:30 6076 14872 T 0.5562 1.0617 57.1N 50.9E 56 245 04m23s
----- 23 3220 Jun 22 18:03:29 6236 15095 T 0.6226 1.0645 61.6N 54.8W 51 271 04m20s
----- 24 3238 Jul 04 01:34:36 6398 15318 T 0.6920 1.0664 65.0N 156.6W 46 301 04m15s
----- 25 3256 Jul 14 09:04:09 6562 15541 T 0.7631 1.0673 67.2N 104.9E 40 341 04m06s
----- 26 3274 Jul 25 16:32:20 6728 15764 T 0.8356 1.0672 68.0N 9.2E 33 400 03m55s
----- 27 3292 Aug 05 00:01:29 6896 15987 T 0.9075 1.0658 67.7N 84.4W 24 514 03m39s
----- 28 3310 Aug 17 07:32:01 7067 16210 T 0.9784 1.0619 65.7N 170.1W 11 1038 03m12s
----- 29 3328 Aug 27 15:06:31 7239 16433 P 1.0465 0.9339 61.6N 92.2E 0
----- 30 3346 Sep 07 22:43:18 7413 16656 P 1.1128 0.8052 61.4N 30.1W 0
----- 31 3364 Sep 18 06:26:13 7590 16879 P 1.1742 0.6861 61.3N 153.8W 0
----- 32 3382 Sep 29 14:13:38 7769 17102 P 1.2319 0.5743 61.3N 81.4E 0
----- 33 3400 Oct 10 22:08:39 7949 17325 P 1.2836 0.4746 61.5N 45.3W 0
----- 34 3418 Oct 22 06:09:00 8132 17548 P 1.3309 0.3839 61.8N 173.4W 0
----- 35 3436 Nov 01 14:18:00 8317 17771 P 1.3714 0.3068 62.3N 56.2E 0
----- 36 3454 Nov 12 22:33:20 8504 17994 P 1.4067 0.2400 63.0N 75.9W 0
----- 37 3472 Nov 23 06:56:18 8693 18217 P 1.4357 0.1855 63.7N 149.9E 0
----- 38 3490 Dec 04 15:25:29 8884 18440 P 1.4599 0.1407 64.6N 13.9E 0
----- 39 3508 Dec 16 00:01:28 9077 18663 P 1.4783 0.1069 65.6N 124.1W 0
----- 40 3526 Dec 27 08:42:20 9272 18886 P 1.4930 0.0801 66.6N 96.2E 0
----- 41 3545 Jan 06 17:26:53 9469 19109 P 1.5048 0.0588 67.6N 44.8W 0
----- 42 3563 Jan 18 02:14:51 9669 19332 P 1.5138 0.0427 68.7N 172.8E 0
----- 43 3581 Jan 28 11:04:38 9870 19555 P 1.5211 0.0295 69.7N 29.3E 0
----- 44 3599 Feb 08 19:54:09 10074 19778 Pe 1.5290 0.0153 70.6N 114.8W 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)"
