Saros 120

Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120

Fred Espenak

Introduction

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

The periodicity and recurrence of solar 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 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 eclipses before ending with a group of partial eclipses near the opposite pole. For more information, see Periodicity of Solar Eclipses.

Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120

The table below lists the concise characteristics of every solar eclipse belonging to Saros 120 . 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 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 Solar Eclipses.

Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120
Seq Num Rel Num Calendar Date TD of Greatest Eclipse ΔT

s
ΔT Sigma
s
Luna Num Ecl Type QLE Gamma Ecl Mag Lat

°
Long

°
Sun Alt
°
Path Width km Central Dur
1-33 0933-May-2704:10:35 1961 63 -13192 Pb t- -1.5259 0.0629 68S 132E 0 - -
2-32 0951-Jun-0710:33:30 1843 60 -12969 P t- -1.4415 0.2072 67S 25E 0 - -
3-31 0969-Jun-1716:54:20 1736 58 -12746 P t- -1.3547 0.3557 66S 81W 0 - -
4-30 0987-Jun-2823:17:25 1628 55 -12523 P t- -1.2690 0.5023 65S 173E 0 - -
5-29 1005-Jul-0905:42:12 1525 53 -12300 P t- -1.1838 0.6480 64S 66E 0 - -
6-28 1023-Jul-2012:11:24 1434 51 -12077 P t- -1.1016 0.7882 63S 41W 0 - -
7-27 1041-Jul-3018:45:38 1343 48 -11854 P t- -1.0227 0.9221 62S 149W 0 - -
8-26 1059-Aug-1101:27:25 1257 46 -11631 A t- -0.9494 0.9337 50S 126E 18 77606m10s
9-25 1077-Aug-2108:17:06 1177 44 -11408 A t- -0.8818 0.9344 44S 27E 28 50206m21s
10-24 1095-Sep-0115:14:34 1096 42 -11185 A p- -0.8198 0.9343 41S 76W 35 41406m24s
11-23 1113-Sep-1122:22:37 1025 40 -10962 A p- -0.7659 0.9336 41S 178E 40 37306m24s
12-22 1131-Sep-2305:39:50 957 38 -10739 A p- -0.7189 0.9328 41S 69E 44 35106m24s
13-21 1149-Oct-0313:08:07 889 36 -10516 A p- -0.6803 0.9320 43S 43W 47 33906m24s
14-20 1167-Oct-1420:44:38 832 34 -10293 A p- -0.6478 0.9313 45S 156W 49 33206m24s
15-19 1185-Oct-2504:31:53 775 32 -10070 A p- -0.6234 0.9308 48S 88E 51 32806m24s
16-18 1203-Nov-0512:25:50 719 30 -9847 A p- -0.6038 0.9307 51S 28W 53 32306m23s
17-17 1221-Nov-1520:27:24 669 29 -9624 A p- -0.5901 0.9310 54S 145W 54 31906m20s
18-16 1239-Nov-2704:33:32 619 27 -9401 A p- -0.5795 0.9318 56S 98E 54 31306m16s
19-15 1257-Dec-0712:44:33 574 25 -9178 A p- -0.5726 0.9332 58S 19W 55 30506m09s
20-14 1275-Dec-1820:56:30 534 24 -8955 A p- -0.5657 0.9352 58S 135W 55 29406m00s
21-13 1293-Dec-2905:09:08 495 22 -8732 A p- -0.5589 0.9379 57S 108E 56 27905m48s
22-12 1312-Jan-0913:20:00 461 21 -8509 A p- -0.5500 0.9413 54S 10W 56 26105m33s
23-11 1330-Jan-1921:28:45 429 20 -8286 A p- -0.5392 0.9452 51S 129W 57 24005m16s
24-10 1348-Jan-3105:31:32 397 20 -8063 A p- -0.5226 0.9499 46S 112E 58 21604m55s
25 -9 1366-Feb-1013:29:52 368 20 -7840 A p- -0.5017 0.9549 41S 7W 60 18904m32s
26 -8 1384-Feb-2121:20:42 339 20 -7617 A p- -0.4738 0.9606 35S 126W 62 16204m05s
27 -7 1402-Mar-0405:06:36 312 20 -7394 A p- -0.4410 0.9665 28S 116E 64 13403m34s
28 -6 1420-Mar-1412:42:55 289 20 -7171 A p- -0.3995 0.9727 21S 0W 66 10602m59s
29 -5 1438-Mar-2520:14:21 265 20 -6948 A p- -0.3529 0.9790 14S 115W 69 8002m21s
30 -4 1456-Apr-0503:37:12 244 20 -6725 A p- -0.2980 0.9853 7S 131E 73 5401m40s
31 -3 1474-Apr-1610:55:46 224 20 -6502 A n- -0.2387 0.9916 0S 20E 76 3000m58s
32 -2 1492-Apr-2618:07:08 205 20 -6279 A nn -0.1723 0.9976 7N 90W 80 800m16s
33 -1 1510-May-0801:16:14 186 20 -6056 H nn -0.1030 1.0033 14N 161E 84 1200m22s
34 0 1528-May-1808:21:04 168 20 -5833 H nn -0.0290 1.0085 20N 55E 88 2900m56s
35 1 1546-May-2915:24:38 151 20 -5610 H nn 0.0470 1.0133 26N 51W 87 4601m24s
36 2 1564-Jun-0822:26:47 139 20 -5387 H2 nn 0.1252 1.0174 31N 155W 83 6001m44s
37 3 1582-Jun-2005:30:26 128 20 -5164 T nn 0.2031 1.0210 35N 101E 78 7301m59s
38 4 1600-Jul-1012:35:57 117 20 -4941 T -n 0.2803 1.0238 38N 3W 74 8402m08s
39 5 1618-Jul-2119:44:29 91 17 -4718 T -n 0.3558 1.0260 40N 106W 69 9402m13s
40 6 1636-Aug-0102:58:15 65 15 -4495 T -p 0.4279 1.0275 41N 149E 64 10302m15s
Catalog of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120
Seq Num Rel Num Calendar Date TD of Greatest Eclipse ΔT

s
ΔT Sigma
s
Luna Num Ecl Type QLE Gamma Ecl Mag Lat

°
Long

°
Sun Alt
°
Path Width km Central Dur
41 7 1654-Aug-1210:17:43 42 12 -4272 T -p 0.4962 1.0285 42N 42E 60 11002m16s
42 8 1672-Aug-2217:44:06 22 9 -4049 T -p 0.5593 1.0288 41N 66W 56 11702m15s
43 9 1690-Sep-0301:17:46 9 6 -3826 T -p 0.6173 1.0287 40N 177W 52 12202m13s
44 10 1708-Sep-1409:00:22 9 5 -3603 T -p 0.6685 1.0281 39N 68E 48 12602m10s
45 11 1726-Sep-2516:51:44 10 4 -3380 T -p 0.7133 1.0273 38N 49W 44 12902m07s
46 12 1744-Oct-0600:51:23 12 3 -3157 T -p 0.7521 1.0263 37N 169W 41 13202m04s
47 13 1762-Oct-1709:00:34 15 2 -2934 T -p 0.7836 1.0253 36N 68E 38 13502m02s
48 14 1780-Oct-2717:18:27 16 2 -2711 T -p 0.8083 1.0244 36N 59W 36 13802m00s
49 15 1798-Nov-0801:44:38 14 1 -2488 T -p 0.8270 1.0237 35N 172E 34 14101m59s
50 16 1816-Nov-1910:17:22 12 1 -2265 T -p 0.8407 1.0233 35N 41E 33 14402m00s
51 17 1834-Nov-3018:56:35 6 1 -2042 T -p 0.8497 1.0233 35N 92W 32 15002m02s
52 18 1852-Dec-1103:40:44 7 1 -1819 T -p 0.8551 1.0237 35N 134E 31 15602m05s
53 19 1870-Dec-2212:27:33 0 0 -1596 T -p 0.8585 1.0248 36N 2W 31 16502m11s
54 20 1889-Jan-0121:16:50 -6 0 -1373 T -p 0.8603 1.0262 37N 138W 30 17502m17s
55 21 1907-Jan-1406:05:43 6 0 -1150 T -p 0.8628 1.0281 38N 86E 30 18902m25s
56 22 1925-Jan-2414:54:03 24 0 -927 T -p 0.8661 1.0304 40N 50W 30 20602m32s
57 23 1943-Feb-0423:38:10 26 0 -704 T -p 0.8734 1.0331 44N 175E 29 22902m39s
58 24 1961-Feb-1508:19:48 34 0 -481 T -p 0.8830 1.0360 47N 40E 28 25802m45s
59 25 1979-Feb-2616:55:06 50 0 -258 T -p 0.8981 1.0391 52N 94W 26 29802m49s
60 26 1997-Mar-0901:24:51 62 0 -35 T -p 0.9183 1.0420 58N 131E 23 35602m50s
61 27 2015-Mar-2009:46:47 68 0 188 T -t 0.9454 1.0446 64N 7W 18 46302m47s
62 28 2033-Mar-3018:02:36 74 3 411 T -t 0.9778 1.0462 71N 156W 11 78102m37s
63 29 2051-Apr-1102:10:39 83 9 634 P -t 1.0169 0.9849 72N 32E 0 - -
64 30 2069-Apr-2110:11:09 95 18 857 P -t 1.0624 0.8992 71N 101W 0 - -
65 31 2087-May-0218:04:42 109 29 1080 P -t 1.1140 0.8010 70N 127E 0 - -
66 32 2105-May-1401:52:06 126 41 1303 P -t 1.1708 0.6921 69N 2W 0 - -
67 33 2123-May-2509:33:27 145 55 1526 P -t 1.2325 0.5729 68N 129W 0 - -
68 34 2141-Jun-0417:09:59 167 70 1749 P -t 1.2981 0.4458 67N 106E 0 - -
69 35 2159-Jun-1600:42:43 191 87 1972 P -t 1.3668 0.3124 66N 18W 0 - -
70 36 2177-Jun-2608:13:27 218 104 2195 P -t 1.4371 0.1758 66N 140W 0 - -
71 37 2195-Jul-0715:41:21 248 123 2418 Pe -t 1.5095 0.0353 65N 98E 0 - -

Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 120

Solar eclipses of Saros 120 all 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 0933 May 27. The series will end with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 2195 Jul 07. The total duration of Saros series 120 is 1262.11 years.

Summary of Saros 120
First Eclipse 0933 May 27
Last Eclipse 2195 Jul 07
Series Duration 1262.11 Years
No. of Eclipses 71
Sequence 7P 25A 4H 26T 9P

Saros 120 is composed of 71 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 120
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 71100.0%
PartialP 16 22.5%
AnnularA 25 35.2%
TotalT 26 36.6%
HybridH 4 5.6%

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 120 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 120
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 55100.0%
Central (two limits) 55100.0%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The 71 eclipses in Saros 120 occur in the following order : 7P 25A 4H 26T 9P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 120 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses appear below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 120
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse 1113 Sep 1106m24s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse 1492 Apr 2600m16s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse 1997 Mar 0902m50s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse 1582 Jun 2001m59s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 1564 Jun 0801m44s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse 1510 May 0800m22s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse 2051 Apr 11 - 0.98490
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 2195 Jul 07 - 0.03535

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 Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Thousand Year Canon of Solar 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.