Solar Eclipse Prime Page

Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 (1170 May 17 BCE)

Fred Espenak

Introduction

The Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 (1170 May 17 BCE) is visible from the geographic regions shown on the map to the right. Click on the map to enlarge it. For an explanation of the features appearing in the map, see Key to Solar Eclipse Maps.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on -1169 May 17 at 07:58:21 TD (00:04:53 UT1). This is 0.7 days after the Moon reaches perigee. During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation Taurus. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of -38238.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 48 and is number 10 of 74 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node. The Moon moves northward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma increases.

This total eclipse is unsual in that it does NOT have a southern path limit. Instead, one edge of the umbral shadow falls off into space throughout the eclipse. Gamma has a value of -0.9954.

The total solar eclipse of -1169 May 17 is preceded two weeks earlier by a total lunar eclipse on -1169 May 02.

Another solar eclipse occurs one synodic month before the -1169 May 17 eclipse. It is the partial solar eclipse of -1169 Apr 18.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

The eclipse predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 28407.4 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 988.4 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 4.13°.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

Orthographic Map: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - global map of eclipse visibility
Google Map: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - interactive map of the eclipse path
Path Table: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - coordinates of the central line and path limits
Circumstances Table: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - eclipse times for hundreds of cities
Saros 48 Table - data for all eclipses in the Saros series

The tables below contain detailed predictions and additional information on the Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 .

Eclipse Data: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter	Value
Eclipse Magnitude	1.06012
Eclipse Obscuration	1.12386
Gamma	-0.99540

Conjunction Times
Event	Calendar Date and Time	Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse	-1169 May 17 at 07:58:20.8 TD (00:04:53.4 UT1)	1294216.503396
Ecliptic Conjunction	-1169 May 17 at 08:08:20.1 TD (00:14:52.7 UT1)	1294216.510333
Equatorial Conjunction	-1169 May 17 at 07:36:07.7 TD (23:42:40.3 UT1)	1294216.487967

Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
-1169 May 17 at 07:58:20.8 TD (00:04:53.4 UT1)
Coordinate	Sun	Moon
Right Ascension	02h43m52.0s	02h44m45.2s
Declination	+16°09'04.5"	+15°09'45.2"
Semi-Diameter	15'42.8"	16'39.1"
Eq. Hor. Parallax	08.6"	1°01'06.6"

Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle	Value
l	2.1°
b	1.4°
c	-19.0°

Prediction Paramaters
Paramater	Value
Ephemerides	JPL DE406
ΔT	28407.4 s
k (penumbra)	0.2725076
k (umbra)	0.2722810
Saros Series	48 (10/74)

Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables

Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17

Contacts of Penumbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event	Contact	Time TD	Time UT1	Latitude	Longitude
First External Contact	P1	05:58:40.6	22:05:13.2	50°07.1'S	136°50.9'E
Last External Contact	P4	09:58:13.1	02:04:45.7	27°18.1'S	131°54.6'W

Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Penumbra
Contact Event	Contact	Time TD	Time UT1	Latitude	Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1	N1	06:33:40.0	22:40:12.6	38°27.3'S	121°08.1'E
South Extreme Path Limit 1	S1	09:23:10.1	01:29:42.7	15°09.7'S	119°02.5'W

Explanation of Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17

Contacts of Umbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event	Contact	Time TD	Time UT1	Latitude	Longitude
First External Contact	U1	07:39:26.5	23:45:59.1	73°45.4'S	172°16.3'W
Last External Contact	U4	08:17:29.9	00:24:02.5	62°25.6'S	131°48.7'W

Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Umbra
Contact Event	Contact	Time TD	Time UT1	Latitude	Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1	N1	07:57:01.2	00:03:33.8	72°37.3'S	140°48.2'W
South Extreme Path Limit 1	S1	07:59:56.5	00:06:29.1	71°33.2'S	137°35.0'W

Explanation of Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Central Line Extremes and Duration: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17

Extreme Limits of the Central Line
Contact Event	Contact	Time TD	Time UT1	Latitude	Longitude
Extreme Central Line Limit 1	C1	07:52:33.3	23:59:05.9	71°36.1'S	152°25.5'W
Extreme Central Line Limit 2	C2	08:04:24.2	00:10:56.8	67°45.6'S	139°56.6'W

Explanation of Central Line Extremes Table

Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration
Event	Time TD	Time UT1	Latitude	Longitude	Sun Altitude	Sun Azimuth	Path Width	Central Duration
Greatest Eclipse	07:58:20.8	00:04:53.4	67°09.3'S	090°43.3'E	3.3°	328.7°	3319.3 km	03m45.41s
Greatest Duration	07:58:27.1	00:04:59.7	67°07.5'S	150°29.5'W	3.3°	328.5°	3324.7 km	03m45.41s

Explanation of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17

Polynomial Besselian Elements
-1169 May 17 at 08:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n	x	y	d	l1	l2	μ
0	0.22619	-0.96949	16.1539	0.53087	-0.01521	302.4261
1	0.56853	0.12303	0.0118	0.00004	0.00004	15.0032
2	0.00000	-0.00005	-0.0000	-0.00001	-0.00001	-0.0000
3	-0.00001	-0.00000	-	-	-	-

Tan ƒ1	0.0045931
Tan ƒ2	0.0045702

At time t1 (decimal hours), each besselian element is evaluated by:

x = x0 + x1*t + x2*t² + x3*t³ (or x = Σ [xn*tⁿ]; n = 0 to 3)

where: t = t1 - t0 (decimal hours) and t0 = 8.000

Explanation of Polynomial Besselian Elements

Links for the Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 (1170 May 17 BCE)

Orthographic Map: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - global map of eclipse visibility
Google Map: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - interactive map of the eclipse path
Path Table: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - coordinates of the central line and path limits
Circumstances Table: Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - eclipse times for hundreds of cities
Saros 48 Table - data for all eclipses in the Saros series
Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 - Google search for links to this eclipse

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Information

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

Solar Eclipses - primary page for solar eclipse predictions
Solar Eclipse Links - detailed directory of links

Six Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses - covers the years -2999 to +3000 (3000 BCE to 3000 CE)
Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses - covers Saros series -30 through 190
World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Maps - index page
Solar Eclipse Search Engine - search for solar eclipses from -1999 to +3000
Javascript Solar Eclipse Explorer - calculate all solar eclipses visible from a city

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

MrEclipse.com - eclipse resources and tips on photography
Solar Eclipses for Beginners - a primer on solar eclipse basics
MrEclipse Photo Index - an index of solar 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

Predictions for the Total Solar Eclipse of -1169 May 17 were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. The predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 28407.4 seconds for this eclipse. The uncertainty in ΔT is 988.4 seconds corresponding to a standard error in longitude of the eclipse path of ± 4.13°.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this website is based on the book 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.