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 168 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 2250 Aug 28. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 3494 Sep 22. The total duration of Saros series 168 is 1244.08 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 2250 Aug 28 13:51:18 TD Last Eclipse = 3494 Sep 22 03:15:40 TD Duration of Saros 168 = 1244.08 Years
Saros 168 is composed of 70 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 168 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 70 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 30 | 42.9% |
| Annular | A | 40 | 57.1% |
| Total | T | 0 | 0.0% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 0 | 0.0% |
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 168 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 168 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 40 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 39 | 97.5% |
| Central (one limit) | 1 | 2.5% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 70 eclipses in Saros 168: 23P 40A 7P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 168 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 168 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 3080 Jan 14 | 12m09s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 2665 May 07 | 02m35s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2647 Apr 27 | - | 0.89800 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2250 Aug 28 | - | 0.01205 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 168. 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 168.
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
10091 -36 2250 Aug 28 13:51:18 572 3100 Pb -1.5278 0.0120 61.7S 96.6W 0
10136 -35 2268 Sep 07 21:27:52 623 3323 P -1.4722 0.1194 61.4S 140.6E 0
10182 -34 2286 Sep 19 05:10:04 676 3546 P -1.4214 0.2166 61.2S 16.5E 0
10227 -33 2304 Sep 30 12:58:17 730 3769 P -1.3760 0.3030 61.2S 109.0W 0
10272 -32 2322 Oct 11 20:53:38 787 3992 P -1.3371 0.3763 61.4S 123.6E 0
10317 -31 2340 Oct 22 04:55:28 846 4215 P -1.3037 0.4387 61.7S 5.3W 0
10363 -30 2358 Nov 02 13:04:00 907 4438 P -1.2765 0.4889 62.2S 136.1W 0
10407 -29 2376 Nov 12 21:19:06 970 4661 P -1.2551 0.5279 62.8S 91.4E 0
10451 -28 2394 Nov 24 05:40:36 1035 4884 P -1.2398 0.5555 63.6S 43.0W 0
10494 -27 2412 Dec 04 14:06:31 1102 5107 P -1.2288 0.5751 64.5S 178.7W 0
10537 -26 2430 Dec 15 22:37:29 1172 5330 P -1.2227 0.5857 65.5S 44.0E 0
10580 -25 2448 Dec 26 07:10:41 1243 5553 P -1.2190 0.5918 66.5S 94.2W 0
10623 -24 2467 Jan 06 15:46:09 1316 5776 P -1.2180 0.5934 67.6S 126.4E 0
10665 -23 2485 Jan 17 00:19:53 1392 5999 P -1.2162 0.5962 68.6S 13.0W 0
10707 -22 2503 Jan 29 08:53:33 1469 6222 P -1.2151 0.5979 69.6S 153.0W 0
10748 -21 2521 Feb 08 17:22:54 1549 6445 P -1.2116 0.6039 70.5S 67.4E 0
10789 -20 2539 Feb 20 01:48:05 1631 6668 P -1.2050 0.6153 71.3S 71.7W 0
10829 -19 2557 Mar 02 10:05:49 1714 6891 P -1.1932 0.6361 71.8S 150.5E 0
10869 -18 2575 Mar 13 18:17:20 1800 7114 P -1.1771 0.6646 72.1S 13.8E 0
10909 -17 2593 Mar 24 02:19:51 1888 7337 P -1.1544 0.7045 72.1S 120.7W 0
10951 -16 2611 Apr 05 10:13:05 1978 7560 P -1.1251 0.7564 71.9S 107.3E 0
10992 -15 2629 Apr 15 17:56:38 2070 7783 P -1.0887 0.8209 71.5S 22.1W 0
11032 -14 2647 Apr 27 01:30:49 2164 8006 P -1.0450 0.8980 70.8S 148.5W 0
11072 -13 2665 May 07 08:55:09 2260 8229 As -0.9943 0.9668 66.3S 82.4E 4 - 02m35s
11113 -12 2683 May 18 16:10:08 2358 8452 A -0.9366 0.9706 49.7S 42.7W 20 305 02m44s
11155 -11 2701 May 29 23:16:46 2459 8675 A -0.8726 0.9720 39.4S 155.4W 29 206 02m54s
11197 -10 2719 Jun 10 06:16:10 2561 8898 A -0.8032 0.9726 30.8S 96.0E 36 165 03m04s
11239 -09 2737 Jun 20 13:08:00 2666 9121 A -0.7282 0.9726 23.4S 9.4W 43 143 03m14s
11282 -08 2755 Jul 01 19:55:36 2772 9344 A -0.6502 0.9719 17.2S 112.6W 49 132 03m24s
11327 -07 2773 Jul 12 02:38:32 2881 9567 A -0.5687 0.9707 12.0S 146.0E 55 127 03m35s
11373 -06 2791 Jul 23 09:20:33 2992 9790 A -0.4869 0.9689 8.0S 45.6E 61 127 03m46s
11418 -05 2809 Aug 02 15:59:43 3104 10013 A -0.4032 0.9665 4.9S 53.6W 66 131 03m58s
11463 -04 2827 Aug 13 22:41:10 3219 10236 A -0.3219 0.9637 3.0S 152.9W 71 138 04m12s
11509 -03 2845 Aug 24 05:23:05 3336 10459 A -0.2411 0.9603 1.8S 107.9E 76 148 04m30s
11555 -02 2863 Sep 04 12:09:14 3455 10682 A -0.1646 0.9567 1.6S 7.7E 81 159 04m50s
11601 -01 2881 Sep 14 18:58:55 3576 10905 Am -0.0914 0.9527 1.9S 93.3W 85 174 05m15s
11648 00 2899 Sep 26 01:55:26 3699 11128 A -0.0243 0.9486 2.7S 163.9E 89 189 05m44s
11694 01 2917 Oct 07 08:58:15 3824 11351 A 0.0371 0.9443 3.8S 59.5E 88 206 06m19s
11739 02 2935 Oct 18 16:07:51 3952 11574 A 0.0925 0.9401 5.0S 46.7W 85 223 06m59s
11783 03 2953 Oct 28 23:25:40 4081 11797 A 0.1405 0.9359 6.1S 155.1W 82 241 07m44s
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
11827 04 2971 Nov 09 06:51:08 4212 12020 A 0.1815 0.9320 7.1S 94.6E 80 258 08m32s
11871 05 2989 Nov 19 14:25:04 4346 12243 A 0.2155 0.9283 7.8S 18.0W 78 275 09m23s
----- 06 3007 Dec 01 22:05:03 4481 12466 A 0.2441 0.9251 8.0S 132.1W 76 291 10m13s
----- 07 3025 Dec 12 05:53:04 4619 12689 A 0.2659 0.9223 7.8S 111.6E 75 304 10m59s
----- 08 3043 Dec 23 13:45:49 4759 12912 A 0.2835 0.9201 6.9S 5.9W 74 316 11m35s
----- 09 3062 Jan 02 21:43:43 4900 13135 A 0.2965 0.9184 5.5S 124.8W 73 324 11m59s
----- 10 3080 Jan 14 05:43:42 5044 13358 A 0.3078 0.9174 3.4S 115.5E 72 330 12m09s
----- 11 3098 Jan 24 13:45:55 5190 13581 A 0.3172 0.9170 0.7S 4.9W 72 332 12m05s
----- 12 3116 Feb 05 21:46:51 5338 13804 A 0.3276 0.9173 2.7N 125.2W 71 332 11m48s
----- 13 3134 Feb 16 05:46:01 5488 14027 A 0.3394 0.9182 6.8N 114.6E 70 329 11m21s
----- 14 3152 Feb 27 13:41:04 5640 14250 A 0.3544 0.9197 11.5N 4.7W 69 324 10m48s
----- 15 3170 Mar 09 21:32:05 5795 14473 A 0.3726 0.9216 16.6N 123.2W 68 318 10m10s
----- 16 3188 Mar 20 05:15:10 5951 14696 A 0.3975 0.9241 22.4N 120.2E 66 310 09m28s
----- 17 3206 Mar 31 12:52:07 6109 14919 A 0.4275 0.9269 28.5N 5.1E 65 302 08m44s
----- 18 3224 Apr 10 20:20:10 6270 15142 A 0.4650 0.9300 35.1N 107.7W 62 295 07m58s
----- 19 3242 Apr 22 03:41:59 6432 15365 A 0.5075 0.9332 41.9N 141.5E 59 289 07m12s
----- 20 3260 May 02 10:53:09 6597 15588 A 0.5591 0.9365 49.0N 33.8E 56 285 06m26s
----- 21 3278 May 13 17:58:55 6763 15811 A 0.6152 0.9397 56.3N 71.4W 52 284 05m43s
----- 22 3296 May 24 00:55:40 6932 16034 A 0.6794 0.9428 63.7N 172.5W 47 290 05m02s
----- 23 3314 Jun 05 07:48:13 7103 16257 A 0.7470 0.9455 71.1N 91.6E 41 304 04m26s
----- 24 3332 Jun 15 14:32:53 7276 16480 A 0.8215 0.9477 78.3N 8.8E 34 341 03m56s
----- 25 3350 Jun 26 21:16:06 7450 16703 A 0.8975 0.9491 82.0N 37.4W 26 430 03m30s
----- 26 3368 Jul 07 03:54:56 7627 16926 A 0.9777 0.9486 73.8N 74.9W 11 965 03m09s
----- 27 3386 Jul 18 10:33:27 7806 17149 P 1.0583 0.8684 63.7N 164.0W 0
----- 28 3404 Jul 29 17:11:11 7988 17372 P 1.1399 0.7273 63.0N 88.1E 0
----- 29 3422 Aug 09 23:51:38 8171 17595 P 1.2196 0.5888 62.4N 20.3W 0
----- 30 3440 Aug 20 06:35:03 8356 17818 P 1.2972 0.4533 61.9N 129.3W 0
----- 31 3458 Aug 31 13:22:16 8543 18041 P 1.3720 0.3223 61.6N 120.9E 0
----- 32 3476 Sep 10 20:15:39 8733 18264 P 1.4423 0.1990 61.4N 9.6E 0
----- 33 3494 Sep 22 03:15:40 8924 18487 Pe 1.5077 0.0840 61.3N 103.3W 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)"
