Introduction

The Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses is organized into a series of sixty 100-year web pages, each one covering a century of lunar eclipses. The 100-year table below covers the period -1599 to -1500 (1600 BCE to 1501 BCE) [1]. The date and time of each eclipse is given for the instant of Greatest Eclipse [2]. Each eclipse 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 Catalog of Lunar Eclipses.

For an explanation of how eclipses are classified, see Lunar Eclipse Basics. The frequency of each eclipse type, the extremes in eclipse magnitude and duration, and other data for the century are presented in the Eclipse Statistics tables following the Catalog of Lunar Eclipses. To select a different century, visit the Index to Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses.

Statistics for Lunar Eclipses: -1599 to -1500 (1600 BCE to 1501 BCE)

During the 16th century BCE [1], Earth experienced 226 lunar eclipses. The following table shows the number of eclipses of each type over this period.

Lunar Eclipses: -1599 - -1500
Eclipse Type	Symbol	Number	Percent
All Eclipses	-	226	100.0%
Penumbral	N	85	37.6%
Partial	P	54	23.9%
Total	T	87	38.5%

Total eclipses can be further classified as either central or non-central:

• Central - Some portion of the Moon passes directly through the center of Earth’s umbral shadow.
  These are the deepest and longest type of lunar eclipse.
• Non-Central - The Moon passes completely within Earth’s umbral shadow but misses the center of the umbra.

The statistical distribution of these classes during the 16th century BCE appears in the following table.

Total Eclipses
Classification	Number	Percent
All	87	100.0%
Central	25	28.7%
Non-Central	62	71.3%

There are two to five lunar eclipses in every calendar year. Statistics for the number of eclipses each year during the century are listed below.

Number of Eclipses Per Year
Number of Eclipses Per Year	Number of Years
2	79
3	16
4	5
5	0

The lunar eclipses with the longest and shortest durations, and with the largest and smallest magnitudes appear in the following two tables.

Extreme Durations of Lunar Eclipses
Extrema Type	Date	Duration
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse	-1505 May 27	01h46m28s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse	-1573 Jan 31	00h03m01s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse	-1502 Sep 18	03h28m12s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse	-1514 Oct 30	00h32m20s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse	-1517 Jan 12	04h51m22s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse	-1591 Dec 10	00h19m30s

Extreme Magnitudes of Lunar Eclipses
Extrema Type	Date	Umbral Magnitude	Penumbral Magnitude
Largest Total Lunar Eclipse	-1552 Jun 05	1.83409	-
Smallest Total Lunar Eclipse	-1573 Jan 31	1.00041	-
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse	-1549 Apr 04	0.96908	-
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse	-1514 Oct 30	0.02212	-
Largest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse	-1517 Jan 12	-	1.08606
Smallest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse	-1591 Dec 10	-	0.00457

When four consecutive lunar eclipses are all total eclipses, the series is known as a tetrad. The following table lists the dates of all total eclipses in the 8 tetrads occurring during this century.

Lunar Eclipse Tetrad Series
Series Number	First Eclipse	Second Eclipse	Third Eclipse	Fourth Eclipse
1	-1596 Apr 13	-1596 Oct 06	-1595 Apr 02	-1595 Sep 26
2	-1585 Mar 13	-1585 Sep 07	-1584 Mar 01	-1584 Aug 26
3	-1578 Apr 24	-1578 Oct 18	-1577 Apr 14	-1577 Oct 07
4	-1574 Feb 10	-1574 Aug 06	-1573 Jan 31	-1573 Jul 26
5	-1567 Mar 24	-1567 Sep 17	-1566 Mar 13	-1566 Sep 06
6	-1556 Feb 21	-1556 Aug 16	-1555 Feb 10	-1555 Aug 05
7	-1538 Mar 04	-1538 Aug 28	-1537 Feb 21	-1537 Aug 17
8	-1520 Mar 14	-1520 Sep 07	-1519 Mar 04	-1519 Aug 27

During the century, 1 Saros series begin and 1 Saros series end. The table below gives the Saros series, number of eclipses in the series, the calendar date and whether it is the first or last eclipse in the series.

First or Last Eclipse in Saros Series
Saros Series	Number of Eclipses	Date	Pernumbral Magnitude	First/Last
-5	73	-1554 Jun 26	0.0470	Last
36	73	-1521 Apr 24	0.0298	First

Footnotes

[1] The terms BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions)

[2] Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when the center of the Moon passes closest to the axis of Earth's shadows.

Index to Six Millennium Catolog of Lunar Eclipses

The links in the following table each open a web page containing a 100-year Catalog of Lunar Eclipses. Each line in a 100-year catalog lists the primary characteristics for a single eclipse; the eclipse date itself links to a web page containing further details, an eclipse diagram and map showing the geographic region of eclipse visibility.

Index to Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses
Centuries
	-2999 to -2900	-2899 to -2800	-2799 to -2700	-2699 to -2600	-2599 to -2500
	-2499 to -2400	-2399 to -2300	-2299 to -2200	-2199 to -2100	-2099 to -2000
	-1999 to -1900	-1899 to -1800	-1799 to -1700	-1699 to -1600	-1599 to -1500
	-1499 to -1400	-1399 to -1300	-1299 to -1200	-1199 to -1100	-1099 to -1000
	-0999 to -0900	-0899 to -0800	-0799 to -0700	-0699 to -0600	-0599 to -0500
	-0499 to -0400	-0399 to -0300	-0299 to -0200	-0199 to -0100	-0099 to 0000
	0001 to 0100	0101 to 0200	0201 to 0300	0301 to 0400	0401 to 0500
	0501 to 0600	0601 to 0700	0701 to 0800	0801 to 0900	0901 to 1000
	1001 to 1100	1101 to 1200	1201 to 1300	1301 to 1400	1401 to 1500
	1501 to 1600	1601 to 1700	1701 to 1800	1801 to 1900	1901 to 2000
	2001 to 2100	2101 to 2200	2201 to 2300	2301 to 2400	2401 to 2500
	2501 to 2600	2601 to 2700	2701 to 2800	2801 to 2900	2901 to 3000

These web pages are part of the Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -2999 to +3000

Links to Additional Lunar Eclipse Information

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

• Lunar Eclipses - primary page for lunar eclipse predictions
• Lunar Eclipse Links - detailed directory of links

• Six Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses - covers the years -2999 to +3000 (3000 BCE to 3000 CE)
• Saros Catalog of Lunar Eclipses - covers Saros series -29 through 190
• Javascript Lunar Eclipse Explorer - calculate all lunar eclipses visible from a city

• Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500 - link to the publication

• MrEclipse.com - eclipse resources and tips on photography
• Lunar Eclipses for Beginners - a primer on lunar eclipse basics
• How to Photograph a Lunar Eclipse - instructions for imaging an eclipse of the Moon
• MrEclipse Photo Index - an index of lunar eclipse photographs

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 book 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.