The periodicity and recurrence ofsolar 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 138all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 1472 Jun 06. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2716 Jul 11. The total duration of Saros series 138 is 1244.08 years.In summary:
First Eclipse = 1472 Jun 06 20:20:31 TD Last Eclipse = 2716 Jul 11 12:01:43 TD Duration of Saros 138 = 1244.08 Years
Saros 138 is composed of 70 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 138 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 70 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 16 | 22.9% |
| Annular | A | 50 | 71.4% |
| Total | T | 3 | 4.3% |
| Hybrid[3] | H | 1 | 1.4% |
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 138appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 138 | ||
| Classification | Number | Percent |
| All Umbral Eclipses | 54 | 100.0% |
| Central (two limits) | 53 | 98.1% |
| Central (one limit) | 0 | 0.0% |
| Non-Central (one limit) | 1 | 1.9% |
The following string illustrates the sequence of the 70 eclipses in Saros 138: 7P 50A 1H 3T 9P
The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 138 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses are listed in the below.
| Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 138 | |||
| Extrema Type | Date | Duration | Magnitude |
| Longest Annular Solar Eclipse | 1869 Feb 11 | 08m02s | - |
| Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse | 2482 Feb 18 | 00m09s | - |
| Longest Total Solar Eclipse | 2554 Apr 03 | 00m56s | - |
| Shortest Total Solar Eclipse | 2518 Mar 12 | 00m31s | - |
| Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 2500 Mar 01 | 00m12s | - |
| Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse | 2500 Mar 01 | 00m12s | - |
| Largest Partial Solar Eclipse | 2572 Apr 13 | - | 0.99022 |
| Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse | 1472 Jun 06 | - | 0.02090 |
The catalog below lists concise details and local circumstances at greatest eclipse[5] for every solar eclipse in Saros 138.A description or explanation of each parameter listed in the catalog can be found inKey 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, seeAnimation of Saros 138.
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 ° ° ° km08250 -33 1472 Jun 06 20:20:31 225 -6525 Pb-1.5448 0.0209 66.4S 132.2W 008290 -32 1490 Jun 18 02:55:30 206 -6302 P-1.4661 0.1592 65.4S 118.7E 008331 -31 1508 Jun 28 09:28:44 187 -6079 P-1.3860 0.2993 64.5S 10.4E 008373 -30 1526 Jul 09 16:02:42 170 -5856 P-1.3063 0.4379 63.6S 97.8W 008414 -29 1544 Jul 19 22:38:22 154 -5633 P-1.2281 0.5730 62.8S 153.9E 008455 -28 1562 Jul 31 05:16:46 140 -5410 P-1.1522 0.7034 62.2S 45.1E 008496 -27 1580 Aug 10 12:00:05 129 -5187 P-1.0802 0.8258 61.6S 64.7W 008537 -26 1598 Aug 31 18:48:48 119 -4964 A--1.0126 0.9398 61.2S 175.6W 008578 -251616 Sep 11 01:44:06 99 -4741 A-0.9505 0.9319 54.1S 102.3E 18 807 05m42s08622 -241634 Sep 22 08:47:04 72 -4518 A-0.8947 0.9300 51.5S 2.3E 26 572 06m03s08667 -231652 Oct 02 15:58:30 45 -4295 A-0.8458 0.9275 51.2S 102.7W 32 497 06m19s08713 -221670 Oct 13 23:19:00 23 -4072 A-0.8043 0.9247 52.4S 149.1E 36 467 06m34s08758 -211688 Oct 24 06:46:41 9 -3849 A-0.7686 0.9221 54.4S 39.2E 39 453 06m49s08803 -201706 Nov 05 14:23:57 9 -3626 A-0.7407 0.9195 57.0S 72.6W 42 449 07m02s08848 -191724 Nov 15 22:07:38 10 -3403 A-0.7183 0.9174 59.9S 175.0E 44 448 07m15s08894 -181742 Nov 27 05:58:59 12 -3180 A-0.7019 0.9156 62.6S 62.2E 45 450 07m26s08940 -171760 Dec 07 13:53:44 15 -2957 A-0.6881 0.9144 64.7S 49.4W 46 451 07m36s08986 -161778 Dec 18 21:53:54 17 -2734 A-0.6788 0.9137 65.8S 160.6W 47 450 07m44s09032 -151796 Dec 29 05:54:58 15 -2511 A-0.6703 0.9136 65.5S 88.6E 48 446 07m51s09077 -141815 Jan 10 13:57:06 12 -2288 A-0.6626 0.9143 63.7S 23.6W 48 438 07m55s09122 -131833 Jan 20 21:56:55 6 -2065 A-0.6530 0.9155 60.6S 137.4W 49 426 07m59s09166 -121851 Feb 01 05:54:27 7 -1842 A-0.6413 0.9175 56.4S 106.9E 50 409 08m01s09208 -111869 Feb 11 13:46:39 2 -1619 A-0.6251 0.9201 51.3S 9.7W 51 387 08m02s09250 -101887 Feb 22 21:33:04 -6 -1396 A-0.6040 0.9232 45.7S 126.5W 53 362 08m01s09292 -091905 Mar 0605:12:26 4 -1173 A-0.5768 0.9269 39.5S 117.4E 55 33407m58s09334 -081923 Mar 1712:44:58 23 -950 A-0.5438 0.9310 33.0S 2.4E 57 30507m51s09377 -071941 Mar 2720:08:08 25 -727 A-0.5025 0.9355 26.2S 110.9W 60 27607m41s09418 -061959 Apr 0803:24:08 33 -504 A-0.4546 0.9401 19.1S 137.6E 63 24707m26s09458 -051977 Apr 1810:31:30 48 -281 A-0.3990 0.9449 11.9S 28.3E 66 22007m04s09497 -041995 Apr 2917:33:21 61 -58 A-0.3382 0.9497 4.8S 79.4W 70 19606m37s09537 -032013 May 1000:26:20 68 165 A-0.2694 0.9544 2.2N 175.5E 74 17306m03s09577 -022031 May 2107:16:04 78 388 A-0.1970 0.9589 8.9N 71.7E 79 15205m26s09617 -012049 May 3113:59:59 92 611 A-0.1187 0.9631 15.3N 29.9W 83 13404m45s09658 002067 Jun 1120:42:26 129 834 A-0.0387 0.9670 21.0N 130.2W 88 11904m05s09699 012085 Jun 2203:21:16 169 1057 A 0.0452 0.9704 26.2N 131.3E 87 10603m29s09740 022103 Jul 04 10:01:48 211 1280 Am 0.1285 0.9734 30.3N 33.2E 82 96 02m57s09781 032121 Jul 14 16:42:39 255 1503 A 0.2125 0.9758 33.6N 64.3W 78 88 02m32s09822 042139 Jul 25 23:26:33 300 1726 A 0.2946 0.9778 35.8N 161.9W 73 83 02m13s09864 052157 Aug 05 06:14:19 344 1949 A 0.3743 0.9792 37.1N 99.6E 68 80 01m59s09907 062175 Aug 16 13:08:17 384 2172 A 0.4497 0.9802 37.6N 0.5W 63 78 01m50s
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 ° ° ° km09951 072193 Aug 26 20:09:20 426 2395 A 0.5200 0.9806 37.4N 102.9W 58 80 01m45s09996 082211 Sep 08 03:17:18 470 2618 A 0.5854 0.9808 36.9N 152.5E 54 83 01m43s10040 092229 Sep 18 10:34:51 516 2841 A 0.6439 0.9805 36.2N 44.8E 50 89 01m44s10084 102247 Sep 29 18:01:05 564 3064 A 0.6961 0.9801 35.6N 65.9W 46 96 01m47s10129 112265 Oct 10 01:37:34 615 3287 A 0.7404 0.9796 35.1N 179.8W 42 105 01m51s10174 122283 Oct 21 09:23:11 667 3510 A 0.7783 0.9790 34.9N 63.2E 39 116 01m56s10219 132301 Nov 01 17:19:33 721 3733 A 0.8080 0.9786 34.8N 57.2W 36 126 02m01s10264 142319 Nov 13 01:24:39 778 3956 A 0.8314 0.9784 35.0N 179.6E 34 136 02m04s10309 152337 Nov 23 09:37:55 836 4179 A 0.8488 0.9786 35.5N 53.8E 32 142 02m05s10355 162355 Dec 04 17:58:37 897 4402 A 0.8609 0.9792 36.0N 74.4W 30 145 02m02s10400 172373 Dec 15 02:25:55 960 4625 A 0.8678 0.9803 36.7N 155.4E 29 141 01m56s10444 182391 Dec 26 10:57:15 1024 4848 A 0.8723 0.9820 37.6N 24.0E 29 131 01m46s10488 192410 Jan 05 19:31:39 1091 5071 A 0.8749 0.9842 38.8N 108.2W 29 116 01m31s10531 202428 Jan 17 04:07:20 1160 5294 A 0.8770 0.9870 40.5N 119.1E 28 96 01m13s10574 212446 Jan 27 12:43:51 1231 5517 A 0.8789 0.9903 42.7N 13.9W 28 72 00m53s10617 222464 Feb 07 21:17:16 1304 5740 A 0.8840 0.9941 45.7N 146.4W 28 44 00m31s10659 232482 Feb 18 05:48:52 1379 5963 A 0.8912 0.9982 49.3N 81.2E 27 14 00m09s10701 242500 Mar 01 14:14:47 1457 6186 H 0.9038 1.0026 53.9N 50.7W 25 21 00m12s10742 252518 Mar 12 22:37:02 1536 6409 T 0.9200 1.0071 59.1N 176.7E 23 63 00m31s10783 262536 Mar 23 06:51:06 1617 6632 T 0.9435 1.0115 65.3N 42.0E 19 121 00m46s10823 272554 Apr 03 15:00:51 1701 6855 T 0.9713 1.0153 71.5N 102.2W 13 232 00m56s10863 28 2572 Apr 13 23:02:08 1786 7078 P 1.0068 0.9902 71.5N 81.8E 010903 29 2590 Apr 25 06:57:46 1874 7301 P 1.0476 0.9167 70.9N 50.1W 010944 30 2608 May 06 14:45:32 1963 7524 P 1.0954 0.8288 70.1N 179.4W 010985 31 2626 May 17 22:28:40 2055 7747 P 1.1476 0.7318 69.1N 53.1E 011025 32 2644 May 28 06:05:58 2149 7970 P 1.2051 0.6236 68.2N 72.3W 011065 33 2662 Jun 08 13:38:43 2245 8193 P 1.2666 0.5068 67.2N 163.9E 011106 34 2680 Jun 18 21:08:08 2342 8416 P 1.3315 0.3827 66.2N 41.5E 011148 35 2698 Jun 30 04:35:43 2442 8639 P 1.3983 0.2539 65.3N 80.1W 011190 36 2716 Jul 11 12:01:43 2545 8862 Pe 1.4666 0.1219 64.4N 159.1E 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, seeCalendar 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 inEarth's rotation due primarily to tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed asΔT and is determined as follows:
A series ofpolynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -1999 to +3000. Theuncertainty 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 inFive Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 andFive 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 inFive Millennium Canon byDan McGlaun. TheBesselian elements were provided byJean 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)"
