Saros 78

Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78

Fred Espenak

Introduction

A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes through Earth's shadow. At least two lunar eclipses and as many as five occur every year.

The periodicity and recurrence of 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 with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and the same time of year due to a harmonic in three cycles of the Moon's orbit. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 15 centuries and contains about 70 to 80 eclipses. Every saros series begins with a number of penumbral lunar eclipses. The series will then produce several dozen partial eclipses, followed by several dozen total eclipses. The later portion of the series produces another set of partial eclipses before ending with a final group of penumbral eclipses.

Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78

The table below lists the concise characteristics of every lunar eclipse belonging to Saros 78 . The date and time of each eclipse is given for the instant of Greatest Eclipse. For eclipses between the years -1999 to 3000, the calendar date links to a web page containing additional details along with a diagram of the eclipse geometry and a map showing the geographic region of eclipse visibility for that eclipse. A description of each parameter in the catalog table can be found in Key to Saros Catalog of Lunar Eclipses.

Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78
Seq Num Rel Num Calendar Date TD of Greatest Eclipse ΔT

s
ΔT Sigma
s
Luna Num Ecl Type QSE Gamma Pen Mag Um Mag Pen Dur
m
Par Dur
m
Tot Dur
m
1-34 -0125-Apr-1015:04:25 11844 303 -26280 Nb t- 1.5507 0.0506-1.0243 69.9 - -
2-33 -0107-Apr-2021:38:00 11644 297 -26057 N t- 1.4756 0.1867-0.8851132.4 - -
3-32 -0089-May-0204:07:21 11447 291 -25834 N t- 1.3964 0.3306-0.7384173.7 - -
4-31 -0071-May-1210:32:13 11254 286 -25611 N t- 1.3127 0.4830-0.5835206.6 - -
5-30 -0053-May-2316:56:22 11064 281 -25388 N t- 1.2275 0.6382-0.4262233.6 - -
6-29 -0035-Jun-0223:17:53 10876 275 -25165 N t- 1.1392 0.7992-0.2634256.8 - -
7-28 -0017-Jun-1405:42:44 10691 270 -24942 N t- 1.0526 0.9575-0.1037276.0 - -
8-27 0001-Jun-2412:08:30 10508 265 -24719 P t- 0.9655 1.1168 0.0565292.6 57.9 -
9-26 0019-Jul-0518:40:16 10328 259 -24496 P t- 0.8824 1.2691 0.2093306.1108.7 -
10-25 0037-Jul-1601:15:46 10149 254 -24273 P t- 0.8013 1.4177 0.3582317.4138.8 -
11-24 0055-Jul-2708:00:57 9972 249 -24050 P t- 0.7269 1.5543 0.4947326.4159.4 -
12-23 0073-Aug-0614:53:01 9797 244 -23827 P t- 0.6570 1.6827 0.6227333.7174.7 -
13-22 0091-Aug-1721:55:13 9623 239 -23604 P t- 0.5943 1.7980 0.7375339.2186.1 -
14-21 0109-Aug-2805:06:50 9450 234 -23381 P t- 0.5385 1.9008 0.8396343.5194.5 -
15-20 0127-Sep-0812:30:04 9278 229 -23158 P t- 0.4914 1.9876 0.9258346.4200.6 -
16-19 0145-Sep-1820:03:14 9106 224 -22935 P t- 0.4513 2.0615 0.9991348.5205.0 -
17-18 0163-Sep-3003:46:27 8935 219 -22712 T h- 0.4185 2.1217 1.0589349.8208.1 38.5
18-17 0181-Oct-1011:39:30 8765 215 -22489 T a- 0.3930 2.1685 1.1056350.4210.2 50.6
19-16 0199-Oct-2119:41:48 8594 210 -22266 T a- 0.3745 2.2024 1.1397350.5211.4 57.4
20-15 0217-Nov-0103:51:03 8423 205 -22043 T a- 0.3610 2.2267 1.1648350.2212.0 61.7
21-14 0235-Nov-1212:07:05 8252 201 -21820 T a- 0.3526 2.2416 1.1810349.5212.2 64.1
22-13 0253-Nov-2220:27:28 8080 196 -21597 T p- 0.3469 2.2511 1.1924348.6212.2 65.7
23-12 0271-Dec-0404:51:32 7908 192 -21374 T p- 0.3436 2.2558 1.1998347.5212.0 66.6
24-11 0289-Dec-1413:15:19 7734 187 -21151 T p- 0.3394 2.2619 1.2091346.3211.8 67.8
25-10 0307-Dec-2521:40:09 7561 183 -20928 T p- 0.3353 2.2673 1.2185345.1211.7 68.9
26 -9 0326-Jan-0506:01:51 7386 179 -20705 T p- 0.3284 2.2778 1.2335343.9211.8 70.8
27 -8 0344-Jan-1614:20:34 7210 174 -20482 T p- 0.3179 2.2944 1.2553342.8212.1 73.3
28 -7 0362-Jan-2622:33:10 7034 170 -20259 T p- 0.3016 2.3216 1.2880341.9212.8 76.8
29 -6 0380-Feb-0706:41:15 6857 166 -20036 T p- 0.2808 2.3567 1.3292341.1213.8 80.8
30 -5 0398-Feb-1714:42:21 6679 162 -19813 T+ p- 0.2534 2.4037 1.3824340.4215.0 85.2
31 -4 0416-Feb-2822:36:00 6501 158 -19590 T+ p- 0.2191 2.4635 1.4486339.8216.3 89.8
32 -3 0434-Mar-1106:22:47 6323 154 -19367 T+ p- 0.1782 2.5353 1.5267339.2217.7 94.1
33 -2 0452-Mar-2114:02:32 6145 150 -19144 T+ p- 0.1305 2.6196 1.6175338.5218.8 97.7
34 -1 0470-Apr-0121:36:02 5967 146 -18921 T+ pp 0.0769 2.7149 1.7189337.6219.5100.4
35 0 0488-Apr-1205:03:02 5791 142 -18698 T+ pp 0.0171 2.8217 1.8315336.3219.5101.6
36 1 0506-Apr-2312:25:42 5614 138 -18475 T- pp -0.0473 2.7634 1.7787334.5218.8101.1
37 2 0524-May-0319:44:07 5438 134 -18252 T- pp -0.1161 2.6347 1.6550332.2217.1 98.4
38 3 0542-May-1502:59:28 5262 131 -18029 T- pp -0.1883 2.4999 1.5247329.2214.2 93.1
39 4 0560-May-2510:13:29 5088 127 -17806 T- -p -0.2624 2.3621 1.3908325.5210.1 84.5
40 5 0578-Jun-0517:27:25 4915 123 -17583 T -p -0.3375 2.2226 1.2547321.1204.7 71.4
Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78
Seq Num Rel Num Calendar Date TD of Greatest Eclipse ΔT

s
ΔT Sigma
s
Luna Num Ecl Type QSE Gamma Pen Mag Um Mag Pen Dur
m
Par Dur
m
Tot Dur
m
41 6 0596-Jun-1600:43:03 4744 120 -17360 T -a -0.4118 2.0849 1.1196316.0198.0 51.0
42 7 0614-Jun-2708:00:16 4573 116 -17137 P -a -0.4857 1.9482 0.9850310.2189.9 -
43 8 0632-Jul-0715:22:13 4405 113 -16914 P -a -0.5564 1.8178 0.8561303.9180.7 -
44 9 0650-Jul-1822:48:08 4238 109 -16691 P -a -0.6246 1.6922 0.7312297.1170.1 -
45 10 0668-Jul-2906:20:39 4072 106 -16468 P -a -0.6878 1.5760 0.6154290.2158.7 -
46 11 0686-Aug-0913:58:56 3908 103 -16245 P -a -0.7469 1.4679 0.5070283.1146.2 -
47 12 0704-Aug-1921:45:52 3747 100 -16022 P -a -0.7994 1.3719 0.4104276.3133.2 -
48 13 0722-Aug-3105:40:25 3588 96 -15799 P -a -0.8461 1.2866 0.3241269.8119.6 -
49 14 0740-Sep-1013:43:04 3431 93 -15576 P -a -0.8866 1.2128 0.2491263.7105.8 -
50 15 0758-Sep-2121:54:37 3276 90 -15353 P -a -0.9202 1.1519 0.1868258.5 92.3 -
51 16 0776-Oct-0206:14:11 3125 87 -15130 P -a -0.9474 1.1029 0.1363254.0 79.3 -
52 17 0794-Oct-1314:42:19 2977 84 -14907 P -a -0.9682 1.0655 0.0973250.4 67.3 -
53 18 0812-Oct-2323:16:12 2832 81 -14684 P -a -0.9846 1.0360 0.0666247.5 55.8 -
54 19 0830-Nov-0407:57:52 2690 78 -14461 P -a -0.9950 1.0174 0.0469245.6 46.9 -
55 20 0848-Nov-1416:43:49 2552 75 -14238 P -a -1.0021 1.0048 0.0334244.3 39.7 -
56 21 0866-Nov-2601:34:35 2418 73 -14015 P -a -1.0058 0.9983 0.0266243.5 35.4 -
57 22 0884-Dec-0610:26:33 2288 70 -13792 P -a -1.0085 0.9932 0.0215242.9 31.8 -
58 23 0902-Dec-1719:20:28 2162 67 -13569 P -a -1.0103 0.9898 0.0185242.5 29.5 -
59 24 0920-Dec-2804:12:38 2041 65 -13346 P -a -1.0135 0.9835 0.0130241.8 24.7 -
60 25 0939-Jan-0813:02:46 1923 62 -13123 P -a -1.0187 0.9734 0.0042240.7 14.0 -
61 26 0957-Jan-1821:48:35 1810 60 -12900 N -a -1.0274 0.9565-0.0111239.0 - -
62 27 0975-Jan-3006:29:58 1702 57 -12677 N -a -1.0398 0.9328-0.0329236.5 - -
63 28 0993-Feb-0915:03:51 1598 55 -12454 N -a -1.0585 0.8975-0.0661232.8 - -
64 29 1011-Feb-2023:31:05 1499 52 -12231 N -a -1.0827 0.8519-0.1095227.9 - -
65 30 1029-Mar-0307:49:49 1404 50 -12008 N -a -1.1137 0.7939-0.1653221.4 - -
66 31 1047-Mar-1416:01:56 1315 48 -11785 N -a -1.1500 0.7262-0.2309213.3 - -
67 32 1065-Mar-2500:03:37 1229 46 -11562 N -a -1.1947 0.6432-0.3119202.5 - -
68 33 1083-Apr-0507:59:25 1148 43 -11339 N -a -1.2441 0.5518-0.4017189.5 - -
69 34 1101-Apr-1515:46:04 1072 41 -11116 N -a -1.3010 0.4468-0.5055172.4 - -
70 35 1119-Apr-2623:27:56 1000 39 -10893 N -a -1.3613 0.3358-0.6157151.2 - -
71 36 1137-May-0707:01:18 932 37 -10670 N -a -1.4282 0.2129-0.7383122.0 - -
72 37 1155-May-1814:31:56 868 35 -10447 Ne -a -1.4969 0.0870-0.8646 79.0 - -

Statistics for Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78

Lunar eclipses of Saros 78 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on -0125 Apr 10. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 1155 May 18. The total duration of Saros series 78 is 1280.14 years.

Summary of Saros 78
First Eclipse -0125 Apr 10
Last Eclipse 1155 May 18
Series Duration 1280.14 Years
No. of Eclipses 72
Sequence 7N 9P 25T 19P 12N

Saros 78 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:

Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PenumbralN 19 26.4%
PartialP 28 38.9%
TotalT 25 34.7%

The 72 lunar eclipses of Saros 78 occur in the order of 7N 9P 25T 19P 12N which corresponds to the following.

Sequence Order of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 78
Eclipse Type Symbol Number
Penumbral N 7
Partial P 9
Total T 25
Partial P 19
Penumbral N 12

The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 78 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses appear below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 78
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse 0488 Apr 1201h41m38s -
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse 0163 Sep 3000h38m29s -
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse 0145 Sep 1803h25m01s -
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse 0939 Jan 0800h14m02s -
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse -0017 Jun 1404h36m03s -
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse -0125 Apr 1001h09m53s -
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse 0145 Sep 18 - 0.99906
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse 0939 Jan 08 - 0.00417

Links to Additional Lunar Eclipse Predictions

  • Home - home page of EclipseWise with predictions for both Solar and lunar eclipses

Eclipse Publications

by Fred Espenak

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Calendar

The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar 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..

Eclipse Predictions

The eclipse predictions presented here were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates have been calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass.

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:

  1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
  2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
  3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -2999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this web site is based on the books Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce eclipse data when accompanied by a link to this page and an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or covered.