Saros 20

Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 20

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 20

The table below lists the concise characteristics of every lunar eclipse belonging to Saros 20 . 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 20
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 -1948-Apr-0503:36:43 45165 3515 -48828 Nb t- 1.5198 0.1058-0.9665100.6 - -
2-33 -1930-Apr-1609:59:59 44734 3442 -48605 N t- 1.4404 0.2506-0.8198152.7 - -
3-32 -1912-Apr-2616:18:41 44304 3369 -48382 N t- 1.3568 0.4033-0.6656190.9 - -
4-31 -1894-May-0722:35:03 43877 3297 -48159 N t- 1.2706 0.5607-0.5069221.7 - -
5-30 -1876-May-1804:50:17 43452 3226 -47936 N t- 1.1827 0.7217-0.3451247.4 - -
6-29 -1858-May-2911:07:15 43029 3155 -47713 N t- 1.0953 0.8817-0.1848268.8 - -
7-28 -1840-Jun-0817:25:30 42607 3086 -47490 Nx t- 1.0081 1.0419-0.0246287.1 - -
8-27 -1822-Jun-1923:49:27 42188 3016 -47267 P t- 0.9245 1.1953 0.1285302.1 86.8 -
9-26 -1804-Jun-3006:18:34 41771 2948 -47044 P t- 0.8440 1.3435 0.2759314.7124.3 -
10-25 -1786-Jul-1112:56:25 41357 2880 -46821 P t- 0.7698 1.4801 0.4116324.8148.5 -
11-24 -1768-Jul-2119:41:28 40944 2813 -46598 P t- 0.7005 1.6078 0.5381333.0166.1 -
12-23 -1750-Aug-0202:37:34 40533 2747 -46375 P t- 0.6392 1.7209 0.6499339.3178.9 -
13-22 -1732-Aug-1209:42:51 40124 2681 -46152 P t- 0.5844 1.8222 0.7498344.2188.6 -
14-21 -1714-Aug-2316:59:12 39718 2616 -45929 P t- 0.5380 1.9081 0.8344347.8195.6 -
15-20 -1696-Sep-0300:25:47 39313 2552 -45706 P t- 0.4990 1.9802 0.9052350.4200.7 -
16-19 -1678-Sep-1408:03:30 38910 2488 -45483 P t- 0.4686 2.0364 0.9605352.0204.2 -
17-18 -1660-Sep-2415:51:13 38510 2425 -45260 T t- 0.4455 2.0792 1.0027352.8206.5 8.4
18-17 -1642-Oct-0523:46:53 38112 2363 -45037 T h- 0.4281 2.1112 1.0346353.2207.9 29.8
19-16 -1624-Oct-1607:51:17 37715 2301 -44814 T a- 0.4171 2.1311 1.0549352.9208.6 37.3
20-15 -1606-Oct-2716:01:26 37321 2241 -44591 T a- 0.4105 2.1427 1.0676352.3208.9 41.1
21-14 -1588-Nov-0700:16:45 36929 2181 -44368 T a- 0.4070 2.1482 1.0749351.4208.8 43.1
22-13 -1570-Nov-1808:33:43 36539 2121 -44145 T a- 0.4043 2.1519 1.0811350.4208.6 44.6
23-12 -1552-Nov-2816:52:50 36151 2062 -43922 T a- 0.4025 2.1536 1.0861349.2208.3 45.8
24-11 -1534-Dec-1001:10:38 35765 2005 -43699 T a- 0.3988 2.1582 1.0947348.0208.3 47.8
25-10 -1516-Dec-2009:26:01 35381 1947 -43476 T a- 0.3925 2.1675 1.1087346.8208.5 50.9
26 -9 -1498-Dec-3117:37:02 34999 1891 -43253 T a- 0.3818 2.1845 1.1310345.8209.1 55.3
27 -8 -1479-Jan-1101:43:14 34619 1835 -43030 T a- 0.3663 2.2100 1.1622345.0210.1 60.8
28 -7 -1461-Jan-2209:42:22 34242 1780 -42807 T a- 0.3442 2.2474 1.2059344.4211.6 67.4
29 -6 -1443-Feb-0117:34:32 33866 1726 -42584 T p- 0.3155 2.2968 1.2618344.0213.4 74.4
30 -5 -1425-Feb-1301:19:15 33493 1672 -42361 T p- 0.2798 2.3589 1.3306343.7215.4 81.5
31 -4 -1407-Feb-2308:57:14 33121 1619 -42138 T+ p- 0.2379 2.4323 1.4107343.4217.4 87.9
32 -3 -1389-Mar-0616:26:22 32752 1567 -41915 T+ p- 0.1876 2.5213 1.5064343.1219.3 93.8
33 -2 -1371-Mar-1623:50:05 32384 1515 -41692 T+ pp 0.1320 2.6201 1.6117342.5220.7 98.3
34 -1 -1353-Mar-2807:06:43 32019 1464 -41469 T+ pp 0.0694 2.7318 1.7296341.5221.5101.3
35 0 -1335-Apr-0714:20:22 31656 1414 -41246 T+ pp 0.0035 2.8497 1.8533340.1221.4102.4
36 1 -1317-Apr-1821:27:55 31295 1365 -41023 T- pp -0.0684 2.7279 1.7368338.1220.3101.2
37 2 -1299-Apr-2904:35:32 30936 1317 -40800 T- pp -0.1413 2.5917 1.6055335.3218.1 97.4
38 3 -1281-May-1011:40:24 30579 1269 -40577 T- pp -0.2178 2.4493 1.4673331.8214.5 90.5
39 4 -1263-May-2018:47:12 30224 1222 -40354 T -p -0.2935 2.3086 1.3303327.6209.7 79.9
40 5 -1245-Jun-0101:53:56 29871 1175 -40131 T -p -0.3701 2.1664 1.1911322.7203.5 63.5
Catalog of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 20
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 -1227-Jun-1109:05:24 29520 1130 -39908 T -a -0.4438 2.0301 1.0572317.1196.1 36.1
42 7 -1209-Jun-2216:20:13 29172 1085 -39685 P -a -0.5155 1.8975 0.9263311.0187.4 -
43 8 -1191-Jul-0223:40:52 28825 1041 -39462 P -a -0.5834 1.7725 0.8025304.5177.7 -
44 9 -1173-Jul-1407:07:39 28481 998 -39239 P -a -0.6467 1.6558 0.6865297.8167.1 -
45 10 -1155-Jul-2414:42:33 28138 955 -39016 P -a -0.7042 1.5503 0.5811291.1155.9 -
46 11 -1137-Aug-0422:25:29 27798 913 -38793 P -a -0.7556 1.4562 0.4867284.6144.4 -
47 12 -1119-Aug-1506:16:46 27459 872 -38570 P -a -0.8006 1.3739 0.4038278.5132.9 -
48 13 -1101-Aug-2614:17:19 27123 832 -38347 P -a -0.8388 1.3043 0.3333273.0121.7 -
49 14 -1083-Sep-0522:26:58 26789 792 -38124 P -a -0.8701 1.2473 0.2753268.2111.3 -
50 15 -1065-Sep-1706:45:07 26457 754 -37901 P -a -0.8950 1.2023 0.2291264.2102.1 -
51 16 -1047-Sep-2715:12:00 26127 716 -37678 P -a -0.9133 1.1693 0.1951261.1 94.5 -
52 17 -1029-Oct-0823:46:34 25799 679 -37455 P -a -0.9258 1.1468 0.1717258.9 88.8 -
53 18 -1011-Oct-1908:28:24 25473 642 -37232 P -a -0.9329 1.1339 0.1583257.4 85.3 -
54 19 -0993-Oct-3017:14:26 25149 619 -37009 P -a -0.9374 1.1259 0.1500256.4 83.0 -
55 20 -0975-Nov-1002:05:26 24827 612 -36786 P -a -0.9381 1.1244 0.1487256.0 82.6 -
56 21 -0957-Nov-2110:58:17 24507 605 -36563 P -a -0.9376 1.1251 0.1500255.8 82.8 -
57 22 -0939-Dec-0119:52:05 24190 598 -36340 P -a -0.9369 1.1258 0.1518255.5 83.2 -
58 23 -0921-Dec-1304:43:49 23874 592 -36117 P -a -0.9381 1.1228 0.1502255.0 82.7 -
59 24 -0903-Dec-2313:33:32 23561 585 -35894 P -a -0.9413 1.1161 0.1455254.2 81.4 -
60 25 -0884-Jan-0322:18:52 23249 578 -35671 P -a -0.9482 1.1022 0.1338252.7 78.2 -
61 26 -0866-Jan-1406:58:11 22940 571 -35448 P -a -0.9601 1.0791 0.1133250.5 72.2 -
62 27 -0848-Jan-2515:30:58 22633 564 -35225 P -a -0.9775 1.0458 0.0828247.3 61.9 -
63 28 -0830-Feb-0423:56:14 22327 557 -35002 P -a -1.0011 1.0009 0.0408242.9 43.7 -
64 29 -0812-Feb-1608:13:37 22024 550 -34779 N -a -1.0313 0.9442-0.0131237.3 - -
65 30 -0794-Feb-2616:22:14 21723 544 -34556 N -a -1.0686 0.8743-0.0803229.9 - -
66 31 -0776-Mar-0900:23:22 21424 537 -34333 N -a -1.1121 0.7932-0.1588220.8 - -
67 32 -0758-Mar-2008:16:40 21127 530 -34110 N -a -1.1620 0.7006-0.2492209.6 - -
68 33 -0740-Mar-3016:01:47 20832 523 -33887 N -a -1.2186 0.5959-0.3522195.4 - -
69 34 -0722-Apr-1023:40:48 20540 516 -33664 N -a -1.2801 0.4824-0.4644177.9 - -
70 35 -0704-Apr-2107:13:44 20249 509 -33441 N -a -1.3465 0.3603-0.5858155.7 - -
71 36 -0686-May-0214:42:50 19960 502 -33218 N -a -1.4155 0.2336-0.7125127.0 - -
72 37 -0668-May-1222:06:40 19674 495 -32995 Ne -a -1.4884 0.1000-0.8466 84.3 - -

Statistics for Lunar Eclipses of Saros 20

Lunar eclipses of Saros 20 all occur at the Moon’s ascending node and the Moon moves southward with each eclipse. The series will begin with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on -1948 Apr 05. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -0668 May 12. The total duration of Saros series 20 is 1280.14 years.

Summary of Saros 20
First Eclipse -1948 Apr 05
Last Eclipse -0668 May 12
Series Duration 1280.14 Years
No. of Eclipses 72
Sequence 7N 9P 25T 22P 9N

Saros 20 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:

Lunar Eclipses of Saros 20
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 72100.0%
PenumbralN 16 22.2%
PartialP 31 43.1%
TotalT 25 34.7%

The 72 lunar eclipses of Saros 20 occur in the order of 7N 9P 25T 22P 9N which corresponds to the following.

Sequence Order of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 20
Eclipse Type Symbol Number
Penumbral N 7
Partial P 9
Total T 25
Partial P 22
Penumbral N 9

The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 20 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses appear below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Lunar Eclipses of Saros 20
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse -1335 Apr 0701h42m22s -
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse -1660 Sep 2400h08m25s -
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse -1678 Sep 1403h24m10s -
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse -0830 Feb 0400h43m44s -
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse -1840 Jun 0804h47m05s -
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse -0668 May 1201h24m17s -
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse -1678 Sep 14 - 0.96053
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse -0830 Feb 04 - 0.04083

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.