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 131 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 1125 Aug 01. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2369 Sep 02. The total duration of Saros series 131 is 1244.08 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 1125 Aug 01 05:15:09 TD
Last Eclipse = 2369 Sep 02 03:25:56 TD
Duration of Saros 131 = 1244.08 Years
Saros 131 is composed of 70 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 131 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 70 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 29 | 41.4% |
| Annular | A | 30 | 42.9% |
| Total | T | 6 | 8.6% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 5 | 7.1% |
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 131 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 131 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 41 | 100.0% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 70 eclipses in Saros 131: 22P 6T 5H 30A 7P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 131 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1612 May 30 Duration = 00m58s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 1522 Mar 27 Duration = 00m26s
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse: 2009 Jan 26 Duration = 07m54s
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse: 1720 Aug 04 Duration = 00m27s
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1630 Jun 10 Duration = 00m55s
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse: 1702 Jul 24 Duration = 00m01s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1504 Mar 16 Magnitude = 0.9348
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2369 Sep 02 Magnitude = 0.1025
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 131 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 131 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 1125 Aug 01 05:15:09 989 -10815 Pb 1.4666 0.1198 69.9N 109.5W 0 326
02 -36 1143 Aug 12 12:57:36 917 -10592 P 1.4088 0.2324 70.7N 122.0E 0 314
03 -35 1161 Aug 22 20:46:37 857 -10369 P 1.3564 0.3340 71.3N 8.8W 0 301
04 -34 1179 Sep 03 04:42:14 803 -10146 P 1.3096 0.4241 71.7N 141.6W 0 287
05 -33 1197 Sep 13 12:45:54 749 -9923 P 1.2695 0.5009 71.9N 83.2E 0 273
06 -32 1215 Sep 24 20:55:57 696 -9700 P 1.2351 0.5664 71.9N 53.7W 0 260
07 -31 1233 Oct 05 05:14:34 642 -9477 P 1.2080 0.6174 71.6N 167.5E 0 246
08 -30 1251 Oct 16 13:39:20 589 -9254 P 1.1863 0.6578 71.0N 27.4E 0 232
09 -29 1269 Oct 26 22:11:15 542 -9031 P 1.1708 0.6862 70.3N 113.9W 0 219
10 -28 1287 Nov 07 06:48:15 496 -8808 P 1.1600 0.7059 69.4N 104.2E 0 206
11 -27 1305 Nov 17 15:30:56 454 -8585 P 1.1540 0.7163 68.4N 38.5W 0 194
12 -26 1323 Nov 29 00:16:10 422 -8362 P 1.1509 0.7215 67.3N 178.8E 0 183
13 -25 1341 Dec 09 09:03:29 390 -8139 P 1.1500 0.7229 66.3N 36.1E 0 172
14 -24 1359 Dec 20 17:50:58 359 -7916 P 1.1496 0.7231 65.2N 106.1W 0 161
15 -23 1377 Dec 31 02:38:10 331 -7693 P 1.1494 0.7234 64.3N 112.2E 0 151
16 -22 1396 Jan 11 11:21:14 302 -7470 P 1.1464 0.7287 63.4N 28.2W 0 141
17 -21 1414 Jan 21 20:00:46 277 -7247 P 1.1411 0.7384 62.6N 167.4W 0 131
18 -20 1432 Feb 02 04:33:42 252 -7024 P 1.1309 0.7571 62.0N 55.3E 0 122
19 -19 1450 Feb 12 13:01:23 227 -6801 P 1.1169 0.7829 61.5N 80.6W 0 113
20 -18 1468 Feb 23 21:18:55 209 -6578 P 1.0953 0.8228 61.2N 146.2E 0 103
21 -17 1486 Mar 06 05:30:00 191 -6355 P 1.0689 0.8714 61.0N 14.7E 0 94
22 -16 1504 Mar 16 13:30:09 174 -6132 P 1.0345 0.9348 61.0N 114.1W 0 86
23 -15 1522 Mar 27 21:22:59 160 -5909 T 0.9946 1.0076 62.0N 127.7E 4 84 347 00m26s
24 -14 1540 Apr 07 05:04:30 146 -5686 T 0.9462 1.0115 63.1N 34.7E 18 104 123 00m42s
25 -13 1558 Apr 18 12:39:27 133 -5463 T 0.8930 1.0132 64.1N 67.9W 26 114 100 00m50s
26 -12 1576 Apr 28 20:04:44 122 -5240 T 0.8328 1.0140 64.8N 168.1W 33 124 86 00m55s
27 -11 1594 May 20 03:23:17 112 -5017 T 0.7678 1.0141 64.9N 94.0E 40 136 76 00m58s
28 -10 1612 May 30 10:34:29 98 -4794 T 0.6976 1.0135 63.6N 2.0W 45 149 65 00m58s
29 -09 1630 Jun 10 17:41:07 82 -4571 H 0.6244 1.0122 60.9N 98.3W 51 161 54 00m55s
30 -08 1648 Jun 21 00:43:22 49 -4348 H 0.5483 1.0102 56.7N 164.0E 56 171 42 00m49s
31 -07 1666 Jul 02 07:42:30 29 -4125 H 0.4704 1.0075 51.4N 64.4E 62 178 29 00m39s
32 -06 1684 Jul 12 14:40:35 11 -3902 H 0.3926 1.0041 45.2N 37.1W 67 184 16 00m23s
33 -05 1702 Jul 24 21:38:51 8 -3679 H 0.3160 1.0001 38.4N 140.4W 71 188 1 00m01s
34 -04 1720 Aug 04 04:38:15 10 -3456 A 0.2409 0.9957 31.1N 114.8E 76 192 16 00m27s
35 -03 1738 Aug 15 11:40:12 11 -3233 A 0.1688 0.9907 23.7N 8.4E 80 194 33 01m00s
36 -02 1756 Aug 25 18:46:17 14 -3010 Am 0.1009 0.9853 16.1N 99.5W 84 196 52 01m38s
37 -01 1774 Sep 06 01:57:40 17 -2787 A 0.0385 0.9797 8.7N 150.9E 88 197 72 02m20s
38 00 1792 Sep 16 09:13:52 16 -2564 A -0.0191 0.9739 1.3N 39.9E 89 18 93 03m02s
39 01 1810 Sep 28 16:37:25 12 -2341 A -0.0696 0.9681 5.8S 72.8W 86 18 115 03m45s
40 02 1828 Oct 09 00:07:47 8 -2118 A -0.1139 0.9623 12.5S 173.0E 83 17 137 04m26s
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 1846 Oct 20 07:46:12 6 -1895 A -0.1506 0.9567 18.7S 57.3E 81 16 159 05m05s
42 04 1864 Oct 30 15:30:31 6 -1672 A -0.1816 0.9514 24.3S 59.3W 79 14 181 05m41s
43 05 1882 Nov 10 23:22:21 -5 -1449 A -0.2056 0.9465 29.2S 177.0W 78 11 201 06m14s
44 06 1900 Nov 22 07:19:43 -2 -1226 A -0.2245 0.9421 33.1S 64.8E 77 7 220 06m42s
45 07 1918 Dec 03 15:22:02 21 -1003 A -0.2387 0.9383 36.1S 53.7W 76 3 236 07m06s
46 08 1936 Dec 13 23:28:12 24 -780 A -0.2493 0.9349 37.8S 172.6W 75 357 251 07m25s
47 09 1954 Dec 25 07:36:42 31 -557 A -0.2576 0.9323 38.4S 68.2E 75 352 262 07m39s
48 10 1973 Jan 04 15:46:21 43 -334 A -0.2644 0.9303 37.9S 51.2W 74 346 271 07m49s
49 11 1991 Jan 15 23:53:51 58 -111 A -0.2727 0.9290 36.4S 170.4W 74 341 277 07m53s
50 12 2009 Jan 26 07:59:45 66 112 A -0.2820 0.9282 34.1S 70.2E 73 337 280 07m54s
51 13 2027 Feb 06 16:00:48 75 335 A -0.2952 0.9281 31.3S 48.5W 73 334 282 07m51s
52 14 2045 Feb 16 23:56:07 88 558 A -0.3125 0.9285 28.3S 166.2W 72 331 281 07m47s
53 15 2063 Feb 28 07:43:30 121 781 A -0.3360 0.9293 25.2S 77.7E 70 329 280 07m41s
54 16 2081 Mar 10 15:23:31 160 1004 A -0.3653 0.9304 22.4S 36.7W 68 329 277 07m36s
55 17 2099 Mar 21 22:54:32 201 1227 A -0.4016 0.9318 20.0S 149.0W 66 329 275 07m32s
56 18 2117 Apr 02 06:15:20 244 1450 A -0.4459 0.9333 18.4S 101.1E 63 330 274 07m30s
57 19 2135 Apr 13 13:27:05 290 1673 A -0.4973 0.9349 17.6S 6.5W 60 332 274 07m30s
58 20 2153 Apr 23 20:29:24 335 1896 A -0.5557 0.9364 17.9S 111.8W 56 334 279 07m31s
59 21 2171 May 05 03:23:15 374 2119 A -0.6209 0.9378 19.4S 144.8E 51 337 289 07m32s
60 22 2189 May 15 10:08:34 416 2342 A -0.6928 0.9387 22.6S 43.3E 46 340 309 07m31s
61 23 2207 May 27 16:47:47 459 2565 A -0.7692 0.9393 27.5S 57.0W 40 343 347 07m25s
62 24 2225 Jun 06 23:21:31 505 2788 A -0.8496 0.9392 34.6S 156.5W 32 347 425 07m10s
63 25 2243 Jun 18 05:49:56 553 3011 A -0.9342 0.9380 45.6S 104.7E 20 351 652 06m41s
64 26 2261 Jun 28 12:16:28 603 3234 P -1.0198 0.9282 66.6S 6.0E 0 354
65 27 2279 Jul 09 18:41:13 654 3457 P -1.1065 0.7802 67.7S 100.7W 0 4
66 28 2297 Jul 20 01:07:47 708 3680 P -1.1915 0.6346 68.7S 151.6E 0 15
67 29 2315 Aug 01 07:34:32 764 3903 P -1.2761 0.4898 69.6S 43.3E 0 27
68 30 2333 Aug 11 14:06:48 822 4126 P -1.3558 0.3534 70.5S 66.9W 0 38
69 31 2351 Aug 22 20:42:47 882 4349 P -1.4322 0.2228 71.2S 178.6W 0 51
70 32 2369 Sep 02 03:25:56 945 4572 Pe -1.5027 0.1025 71.7S 67.4E 0 64
[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)"
