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 127 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 0991 Oct 10. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 2452 Mar 21. The total duration of Saros series 127 is 1460.44 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0991 Oct 10 14:31:21 TD
Last Eclipse = 2452 Mar 21 17:01:31 TD
Duration of Saros 127 = 1460.44 Years
Saros 127 is composed of 82 solar eclipses as follows:
| Solar Eclipses of Saros 127 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 82 | 100.0% |
| Partial | P | 40 | 48.8% |
| Annular | A | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | T | 42 | 51.2% |
| 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 127 appears in the following table.
| Umbral Eclipses of Saros 127 | ||
| 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 82 eclipses in Saros 127: 20P 42T 20P
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 127 as well as other eclipse extrema are listed below.
Longest Total Solar Eclipse: 1532 Aug 30 Duration = 05m40s
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse: 2091 Aug 15 Duration = 01m38s
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse: 1334 May 04 Magnitude = 0.9830
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse: 2452 Mar 21 Magnitude = 0.0262
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[4] for every eclipse of Saros 127 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 127 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 -45 0991 Oct 10 14:31:21 1637 -12470 Pb 1.5370 0.0321 71.5N 28.5E 0 242
02 -44 1009 Oct 20 22:36:10 1539 -12247 P 1.5123 0.0753 70.9N 106.6W 0 228
03 -43 1027 Nov 01 06:48:58 1450 -12024 P 1.4930 0.1088 70.1N 116.9E 0 215
04 -42 1045 Nov 11 15:09:04 1360 -11801 P 1.4792 0.1328 69.1N 20.8W 0 203
05 -41 1063 Nov 22 23:33:39 1270 -11578 P 1.4681 0.1517 68.1N 159.0W 0 191
06 -40 1081 Dec 03 08:03:27 1181 -11355 P 1.4607 0.1642 67.0N 62.1E 0 179
07 -39 1099 Dec 14 16:35:04 1091 -11132 P 1.4537 0.1757 65.9N 76.8W 0 169
08 -38 1117 Dec 25 01:07:37 1019 -10909 P 1.4469 0.1867 64.9N 144.7E 0 158
09 -37 1136 Jan 05 09:38:55 947 -10686 P 1.4383 0.2010 63.9N 6.9E 0 148
10 -36 1154 Jan 15 18:08:17 880 -10463 P 1.4274 0.2192 63.1N 130.1W 0 138
11 -35 1172 Jan 27 02:33:05 826 -10240 P 1.4121 0.2453 62.4N 94.4E 0 129
12 -34 1190 Feb 06 10:53:04 772 -10017 P 1.3921 0.2801 61.8N 39.8W 0 119
13 -33 1208 Feb 17 19:06:58 718 -9794 P 1.3664 0.3257 61.3N 172.3W 0 110
14 -32 1226 Feb 28 03:15:05 665 -9571 P 1.3351 0.3818 61.0N 56.8E 0 101
15 -31 1244 Mar 10 11:14:43 611 -9348 P 1.2963 0.4525 60.9N 72.0W 0 92
16 -30 1262 Mar 21 19:08:33 562 -9125 P 1.2522 0.5339 61.0N 160.7E 0 83
17 -29 1280 Apr 01 02:54:21 515 -8902 P 1.2008 0.6298 61.2N 35.3E 0 74
18 -28 1298 Apr 12 10:35:28 469 -8679 P 1.1445 0.7357 61.5N 88.9W 0 66
19 -27 1316 Apr 22 18:08:42 435 -8456 P 1.0812 0.8560 62.0N 148.7E 0 57
20 -26 1334 May 04 01:39:14 403 -8233 P 1.0149 0.9830 62.6N 26.9E 0 48
21 -25 1352 May 14 09:04:24 372 -8010 T 0.9437 1.0427 73.6N 48.5W 19 81 441 02m18s
22 -24 1370 May 25 16:28:30 343 -7787 T 0.8708 1.0497 76.2N 124.1W 29 117 338 02m51s
23 -23 1388 Jun 04 23:49:27 314 -7564 T 0.7944 1.0552 74.2N 156.5E 37 148 302 03m20s
24 -22 1406 Jun 16 07:12:01 287 -7341 T 0.7188 1.0596 69.4N 64.3E 44 168 283 03m48s
25 -21 1424 Jun 26 14:34:25 262 -7118 T 0.6425 1.0629 63.1N 36.7W 50 180 270 04m14s
26 -20 1442 Jul 07 21:59:40 237 -6895 T 0.5679 1.0654 56.2N 143.4W 55 187 261 04m39s
27 -19 1460 Jul 18 05:27:53 216 -6672 T 0.4954 1.0669 48.9N 106.3E 60 191 252 05m00s
28 -18 1478 Jul 29 13:01:17 198 -6449 T 0.4269 1.0676 41.4N 6.9W 65 194 244 05m18s
29 -17 1496 Aug 08 20:40:14 181 -6226 T 0.3626 1.0675 33.9N 122.5W 69 196 236 05m30s
30 -16 1514 Aug 20 04:25:15 166 -6003 T 0.3032 1.0667 26.5N 119.8E 72 197 228 05m38s
31 -15 1532 Aug 30 12:17:45 152 -5780 T 0.2500 1.0654 19.3N 0.1W 75 198 221 05m40s
32 -14 1550 Sep 10 20:17:38 137 -5557 T 0.2029 1.0636 12.4N 121.9W 78 198 212 05m37s
33 -13 1568 Sep 21 04:25:02 127 -5334 T 0.1619 1.0615 5.8N 114.5E 81 198 204 05m32s
34 -12 1586 Oct 12 12:40:32 116 -5111 T 0.1278 1.0591 0.3S 10.9W 83 197 196 05m23s
35 -11 1604 Oct 22 21:03:48 104 -4888 T 0.1000 1.0567 5.9S 137.9W 84 195 188 05m12s
36 -10 1622 Nov 03 05:34:48 90 -4665 T 0.0789 1.0544 10.7S 93.7E 86 193 180 05m01s
37 -09 1640 Nov 13 14:11:19 59 -4442 T 0.0623 1.0522 14.8S 35.8W 87 189 173 04m50s
38 -08 1658 Nov 24 22:54:42 37 -4219 T 0.0513 1.0502 18.0S 166.3W 87 186 167 04m40s
39 -07 1676 Dec 05 07:42:08 18 -3996 T 0.0435 1.0486 20.2S 62.5E 88 181 162 04m30s
40 -06 1694 Dec 16 16:33:11 8 -3773 T 0.0388 1.0475 21.3S 69.2W 88 176 158 04m22s
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 -05 1712 Dec 28 01:24:54 9 -3550 T 0.0346 1.0466 21.5S 159.0E 88 171 155 04m15s
42 -04 1731 Jan 08 10:17:44 11 -3327 Tm 0.0313 1.0464 20.7S 27.0E 88 166 155 04m10s
43 -03 1749 Jan 18 19:08:56 12 -3104 T 0.0264 1.0465 19.1S 104.9W 89 161 155 04m07s
44 -02 1767 Jan 30 03:56:55 16 -2881 T 0.0190 1.0471 16.8S 123.9E 89 157 157 04m06s
45 -01 1785 Feb 09 12:40:41 17 -2658 T 0.0080 1.0480 14.1S 6.6W 90 150 159 04m07s
46 00 1803 Feb 21 21:18:46 13 -2435 T -0.0075 1.0492 11.1S 135.9W 90 337 163 04m09s
47 01 1821 Mar 04 05:50:13 11 -2212 T -0.0284 1.0506 8.0S 96.3E 88 333 168 04m14s
48 02 1839 Mar 15 14:13:42 5 -1989 T -0.0558 1.0520 5.1S 29.5W 87 331 172 04m20s
49 03 1857 Mar 25 22:29:38 8 -1766 T -0.0892 1.0534 2.4S 153.4W 85 331 177 04m28s
50 04 1875 Apr 06 06:37:26 -3 -1543 T -0.1292 1.0547 0.2S 84.8E 83 332 182 04m37s
51 05 1893 Apr 16 14:36:11 -7 -1320 T -0.1764 1.0556 1.3N 34.6W 80 334 186 04m47s
52 06 1911 Apr 28 22:27:22 12 -1097 T -0.2294 1.0562 1.9N 151.9W 77 336 190 04m57s
53 07 1929 May 09 06:10:34 24 -874 T -0.2887 1.0562 1.6N 92.7E 73 339 193 05m07s
54 08 1947 May 20 13:47:47 28 -651 T -0.3528 1.0557 0.2N 21.4W 69 343 196 05m13s
55 09 1965 May 30 21:17:31 36 -428 T -0.4225 1.0544 2.5S 133.8W 65 347 198 05m15s
56 10 1983 Jun 11 04:43:33 53 -205 T -0.4947 1.0524 6.2S 114.2E 60 351 199 05m11s
57 11 2001 Jun 21 12:04:46 64 18 T -0.5701 1.0495 11.3S 2.7E 55 355 200 04m57s
58 12 2019 Jul 02 19:24:07 70 241 T -0.6466 1.0459 17.4S 109.0W 50 359 201 04m33s
59 13 2037 Jul 13 02:40:36 82 464 T -0.7246 1.0413 24.8S 139.1E 43 3 201 03m58s
60 14 2055 Jul 24 09:57:50 105 687 T -0.8012 1.0359 33.3S 25.8E 37 8 202 03m17s
61 15 2073 Aug 03 17:15:23 143 910 T -0.8763 1.0294 43.2S 89.4W 28 14 206 02m29s
62 16 2091 Aug 15 00:34:43 184 1133 T -0.9490 1.0216 55.6S 150.5E 18 23 236 01m38s
63 17 2109 Aug 26 07:57:26 226 1356 P -1.0178 0.9670 71.4S 5.1E 0 56
64 18 2127 Sep 06 15:24:17 270 1579 P -1.0822 0.8458 71.9S 120.1W 0 69
65 19 2145 Sep 16 22:57:10 317 1802 P -1.1406 0.7368 72.1S 112.8E 0 83
66 20 2163 Sep 28 06:34:34 358 2025 P -1.1943 0.6377 72.1S 15.6W 0 96
67 21 2181 Oct 08 14:19:36 398 2248 P -1.2408 0.5529 71.9S 145.8W 0 110
68 22 2199 Oct 19 22:10:26 441 2471 P -1.2817 0.4790 71.4S 82.9E 0 124
69 23 2217 Oct 31 06:08:54 486 2694 P -1.3157 0.4185 70.7S 49.8W 0 137
70 24 2235 Nov 11 14:13:08 532 2917 P -1.3444 0.3682 69.9S 176.6E 0 150
71 25 2253 Nov 21 22:24:38 581 3140 P -1.3666 0.3297 68.9S 41.9E 0 162
72 26 2271 Dec 03 06:40:47 632 3363 P -1.3843 0.2996 67.8S 93.4W 0 174
73 27 2289 Dec 13 15:01:18 685 3586 P -1.3979 0.2767 66.8S 130.8E 0 185
74 28 2307 Dec 25 23:24:23 740 3809 P -1.4089 0.2585 65.7S 5.1W 0 195
75 29 2326 Jan 05 07:49:43 798 4032 P -1.4177 0.2440 64.7S 141.2W 0 206
76 30 2344 Jan 16 16:13:41 857 4255 P -1.4270 0.2288 63.8S 83.5E 0 216
77 31 2362 Jan 27 00:36:00 918 4478 P -1.4368 0.2125 62.9S 51.1W 0 225
78 32 2380 Feb 07 08:54:01 982 4701 P -1.4496 0.1909 62.2S 175.7E 0 235
79 33 2398 Feb 17 17:08:14 1047 4924 P -1.4648 0.1650 61.7S 43.5E 0 244
80 34 2416 Feb 29 01:13:31 1115 5147 P -1.4865 0.1279 61.3S 86.2W 0 253
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
81 35 2434 Mar 11 09:12:47 1184 5370 P -1.5121 0.0837 61.1S 145.6E 0 263
82 36 2452 Mar 21 17:01:31 1256 5593 Pe -1.5455 0.0262 61.1S 20.1E 0 272
[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)"
