The periodicity and recurrence of solar (and lunar) 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.
Solar eclipses of Saros 3 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on -2814 Apr 24. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on -1534 Jun 01. The total duration of Saros series 3 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -2814 Apr 24 23:14:58 TD
Last Eclipse = -1534 Jun 01 00:38:21 TD
Duration of Saros 3 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 3 is composed of 72 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 3 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 15 | 20.8% |
| Annular | A | 50 | 69.4% |
| Total | T | 5 | 6.9% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 2 | 2.8% |
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 3 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 3 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 57 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 56 | 98.2% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.8% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 72 eclipses in Saros 3: 8P 5T 2H 50A 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 3 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: -2670 Jul 20 Duration = 01m42s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: -2598 Sep 01 Duration = 00m56s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: -1967 Sep 14 Duration = 09m27s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: -2544 Oct 03 Duration = 00m08s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -2580 Sep 12 Duration = 00m36s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: -2562 Sep 23 Duration = 00m14s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: -2688 Jul 09 Magnitude = 0.9835
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: -1534 Jun 01 Magnitude = 0.0279
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 3 are presented in the following catalog. The sequence number in the first column links to a global map showing regions of eclipse visibility. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series.
For an animation showing how the eclipse path changes with each member of the series, see Saros 003 Animation.
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat. Long. Alt Azm Width Dur.
s ° ° ° ° km
01 -37 -2814 Apr 24 23:14:58 66246 -59538 Pb 1.4794 0.0951 60.7N 10.5E 0 82
02 -36 -2796 May 05 06:35:13 65731 -59315 P 1.4091 0.2316 60.9N 110.5W 0 73
03 -35 -2778 May 16 13:54:01 65219 -59092 P 1.3379 0.3696 61.2N 128.7E 0 65
04 -34 -2760 May 26 21:13:27 64708 -58869 P 1.2679 0.5049 61.7N 7.8E 0 56
05 -33 -2742 Jun 07 04:34:31 64199 -58646 P 1.1994 0.6363 62.3N 113.7W 0 47
06 -32 -2724 Jun 17 11:57:44 63693 -58423 P 1.1333 0.7622 63.0N 124.0E 0 38
07 -31 -2706 Jun 28 19:25:41 63188 -58200 P 1.0717 0.8780 63.8N 0.4E 0 28
08 -30 -2688 Jul 09 02:58:29 62685 -57977 P 1.0150 0.9835 64.8N 124.7W 0 19
09 -29 -2670 Jul 20 10:37:48 62184 -57754 T 0.9641 1.0329 80.1N 121.2E 15 21 439 01m42s
10 -28 -2652 Jul 30 18:23:30 61686 -57531 T 0.9191 1.0293 89.2N 74.0W 23 305 258 01m38s
11 -27 -2634 Aug 11 02:17:25 61189 -57308 T 0.8815 1.0246 82.3N 76.8E 28 218 180 01m28s
12 -26 -2616 Aug 21 10:18:30 60694 -57085 T 0.8508 1.0194 75.4N 48.7W 31 216 127 01m13s
13 -25 -2598 Sep 01 18:27:03 60202 -56862 T 0.8270 1.0140 69.1N 175.0W 34 215 86 00m56s
14 -24 -2580 Sep 12 02:42:55 59711 -56639 H 0.8099 1.0085 63.3N 56.9E 36 214 50 00m36s
15 -23 -2562 Sep 23 11:06:06 59222 -56416 H 0.7995 1.0033 57.9N 73.1W 37 213 19 00m14s
16 -22 -2544 Oct 03 19:34:44 58736 -56193 A 0.7945 0.9983 53.1N 155.3E 37 211 10 00m08s
17 -21 -2526 Oct 15 04:07:40 58251 -55970 A 0.7938 0.9937 48.7N 22.6E 37 208 36 00m31s
18 -20 -2508 Oct 25 12:43:30 57768 -55747 A 0.7965 0.9897 44.9N 111.1W 37 205 60 00m53s
19 -19 -2490 Nov 05 21:21:21 57288 -55524 A 0.8015 0.9861 41.6N 114.7E 36 202 82 01m15s
20 -18 -2472 Nov 16 05:57:32 56809 -55301 A 0.8060 0.9832 38.7N 19.4W 36 198 100 01m34s
21 -17 -2454 Nov 27 14:32:27 56333 -55078 A 0.8102 0.9808 36.3N 153.3W 36 194 116 01m52s
22 -16 -2436 Dec 07 23:02:15 55858 -54855 A 0.8108 0.9792 33.9N 74.0E 36 189 126 02m06s
23 -15 -2418 Dec 19 07:27:38 55385 -54632 A 0.8088 0.9780 31.9N 57.7W 36 184 133 02m17s
24 -14 -2400 Dec 29 15:43:49 54915 -54409 A 0.7998 0.9775 29.8N 173.1E 37 179 134 02m24s
25 -13 -2381 Jan 09 23:53:26 54446 -54186 A 0.7862 0.9774 27.8N 45.6E 38 174 131 02m27s
26 -12 -2363 Jan 20 07:52:07 53980 -53963 A 0.7641 0.9776 25.8N 78.7W 40 169 123 02m26s
27 -11 -2345 Jan 31 15:41:33 53515 -53740 A 0.7353 0.9781 23.9N 159.8E 42 165 114 02m23s
28 -10 -2327 Feb 10 23:18:58 53053 -53517 A 0.6973 0.9787 22.2N 41.8E 46 160 104 02m17s
29 -09 -2309 Feb 22 06:47:23 52592 -53294 A 0.6526 0.9792 20.9N 73.3W 49 157 96 02m12s
30 -08 -2291 Mar 04 14:04:27 52133 -53071 A 0.5992 0.9796 19.8N 174.9E 53 154 89 02m07s
31 -07 -2273 Mar 15 21:11:34 51677 -52848 A 0.5384 0.9798 19.2N 66.2E 57 151 84 02m03s
32 -06 -2255 Mar 26 04:09:07 51222 -52625 A 0.4706 0.9796 18.9N 39.7W 62 150 81 02m03s
33 -05 -2237 Apr 06 10:58:45 50770 -52402 A 0.3972 0.9790 18.8N 143.2W 66 149 80 02m05s
34 -04 -2219 Apr 16 17:41:09 50319 -52179 A 0.3187 0.9780 18.9N 115.6E 71 149 82 02m12s
35 -03 -2201 Apr 28 00:17:33 49871 -51956 A 0.2359 0.9763 18.9N 16.1E 76 150 87 02m24s
36 -02 -2183 May 08 06:50:02 49424 -51733 A 0.1509 0.9742 18.6N 82.2W 81 152 93 02m41s
37 -01 -2165 May 19 13:20:15 48980 -51510 Am 0.0650 0.9714 17.9N 179.9W 86 155 103 03m05s
38 00 -2147 May 29 19:48:35 48537 -51287 A -0.0216 0.9682 16.6N 82.8E 89 336 114 03m35s
39 01 -2129 Jun 10 02:18:25 48097 -51064 A -0.1062 0.9645 14.6N 15.0W 84 342 129 04m13s
40 02 -2111 Jun 20 08:49:48 47658 -50841 A -0.1886 0.9604 11.8N 113.7W 79 346 146 04m58s
TD of
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Ecl. Sun Sun Path Central
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num. Type Gamma Mag. Lat. Long. Alt Azm Width Dur.
s ° ° ° ° km
41 03 -2093 Jul 01 15:26:26 47222 -50618 A -0.2660 0.9559 8.4N 145.8E 75 350 167 05m48s
42 04 -2075 Jul 11 22:06:33 46788 -50395 A -0.3398 0.9511 4.2N 43.9E 70 355 190 06m41s
43 05 -2057 Jul 23 04:55:04 46355 -50172 A -0.4058 0.9462 0.4S 60.8W 66 359 217 07m31s
44 06 -2039 Aug 02 11:49:55 45925 -49949 A -0.4658 0.9412 5.5S 167.6W 62 3 246 08m14s
45 07 -2021 Aug 13 18:54:33 45496 -49726 A -0.5172 0.9364 10.9S 82.6E 59 7 276 08m46s
46 08 -2003 Aug 24 02:06:36 45070 -49503 A -0.5620 0.9316 16.4S 29.4W 56 11 308 09m09s
47 09 -1985 Sep 04 09:29:03 44645 -49280 A -0.5977 0.9272 21.9S 144.3W 53 15 338 09m22s
48 10 -1967 Sep 14 16:59:19 44223 -49057 A -0.6263 0.9232 27.4S 98.7E 51 18 368 09m27s
49 11 -1949 Sep 26 00:37:49 43802 -48834 A -0.6477 0.9197 32.8S 20.4W 49 21 394 09m25s
50 12 -1931 Oct 06 08:23:27 43384 -48611 A -0.6630 0.9167 38.0S 140.9W 48 23 418 09m19s
51 13 -1913 Oct 17 16:15:51 42968 -48388 A -0.6726 0.9145 43.1S 97.3E 47 25 436 09m09s
52 14 -1895 Oct 28 00:12:42 42553 -48165 A -0.6781 0.9130 48.0S 24.9W 47 25 449 08m57s
53 15 -1877 Nov 08 08:12:04 42141 -47942 A -0.6816 0.9122 52.8S 146.7W 47 25 457 08m43s
54 16 -1859 Nov 18 16:12:53 41730 -47719 A -0.6838 0.9121 57.3S 92.6E 47 23 460 08m27s
55 17 -1841 Nov 30 00:13:30 41322 -47496 A -0.6864 0.9127 61.4S 26.2W 46 18 459 08m08s
56 18 -1823 Dec 10 08:10:48 40916 -47273 A -0.6918 0.9140 65.0S 141.8W 46 12 456 07m48s
57 19 -1805 Dec 21 16:04:21 40511 -47050 A -0.7005 0.9159 67.8S 106.4E 45 2 451 07m26s
58 20 -1787 Dec 31 23:51:46 40109 -46827 A -0.7145 0.9183 69.5S 1.2W 44 350 446 07m03s
59 21 -1768 Jan 12 07:33:02 39709 -46604 A -0.7337 0.9212 69.8S 106.0W 43 336 441 06m38s
60 22 -1750 Jan 22 15:05:02 39310 -46381 A -0.7609 0.9243 69.1S 151.2E 40 323 440 06m12s
61 23 -1732 Feb 02 22:29:32 38914 -46158 A -0.7944 0.9278 67.6S 48.8E 37 312 446 05m46s
62 24 -1714 Feb 13 05:44:32 38520 -45935 A -0.8361 0.9311 65.8S 52.5W 33 302 468 05m21s
63 25 -1696 Feb 24 12:50:43 38127 -45712 A -0.8850 0.9344 64.1S 151.8W 27 294 522 04m57s
64 26 -1678 Mar 06 19:47:59 37737 -45489 A -0.9415 0.9369 63.1S 114.1E 19 283 696 04m34s
65 27 -1660 Mar 17 02:38:17 37349 -45266 A- -1.0038 0.9574 60.7S 42.7E 0 255 - -
66 28 -1642 Mar 28 09:22:04 36962 -45043 P -1.0719 0.8423 60.5S 68.6W 0 264
67 29 -1624 Apr 07 15:58:59 36578 -44820 P -1.1456 0.7162 60.5S 178.1W 0 272
68 30 -1606 Apr 18 22:32:52 36196 -44597 P -1.2220 0.5843 60.7S 73.1E 0 281
69 31 -1588 Apr 29 05:03:27 35816 -44374 P -1.3012 0.4465 61.0S 34.9W 0 290
70 32 -1570 May 10 11:34:14 35437 -44151 P -1.3807 0.3072 61.4S 143.0W 0 298
71 33 -1552 May 20 18:04:09 35061 -43928 P -1.4612 0.1652 62.0S 108.9E 0 307
72 34 -1534 Jun 01 00:38:21 34687 -43705 Pe -1.5387 0.0279 62.7S 0.4W 0 316
[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 the Earth's center. For total eclipses, the instant of greatest eclipse is virtually identical 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 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.
Special thanks to Dan McGlaun for extracting the individual eclipse maps from the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 for use in this catalog and for preparing the Saros series animations from these maps.
The Besselian elements used in the predictions were kindly provided by Jean Meeus. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Some of the information presented on this web site is based on data originally published in Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)"
