Saros 56

Panorama of Solar Eclipses of Saros 56

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.

Panorama of Solar Eclipses of Saros 56

A panorama of all solar eclipses belonging to Saros 56 is presented here. Each map depicts the geographic region of visibility for a single eclipse. For central eclipses, the total or annular path is plotted in either blue (total) or red (annular). The date and time is given for the instant of Greatest Eclipse. Every map serves as a hyperlink to the EclipseWise Prime page for that eclipse where a larger map and complete details for the eclipse can be found. Visit the Key to Solar Eclipse Maps for a detailed explanation of these maps. Near the bottom of the page are a series of hyperlinks for more on solar eclipses.

The exeligmos is a period of three Saros cycles and is equal to approximately 54 years 33 days. Because it is nearly an integral number of days in length, two eclipses separated by 1 exeligmos (= 3 Saroses) not only share all the characterists of a Saros, but also take place in approximately the same geographic location.

The Saros panorama below is arranged in horizontal rows of 3 eclipses. So one eclipse to the left or right is a difference of 1 Saros cycle, and one eclipse above or below is a difference of 1 exeligmos. By scanning a column of the table, it reveals how the geographic visibility of eclipses separated by an exeligmos slowly changes.

  • Click on any global map to go directly to the EclipseWise Prime Page for more information, tables, diagrams and maps. Key to Solar Eclipse Maps explains the features in these maps.
  • Beneath each global eclipse map is a link Google Eclipse Map, that takes you to an interactive Google Map with the eclipse path plotted.

For more information on this series see Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 56 .

Panorama of Solar Eclipses of Saros 56
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1172 Jul 17

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1154 Jul 29

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1136 Aug 08

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1118 Aug 19

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1100 Aug 29

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1082 Sep 10

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1064 Sep 20

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1046 Oct 01

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1028 Oct 12

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-1010 Oct 23

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0992 Nov 02

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0974 Nov 14

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0956 Nov 24

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0938 Dec 05

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0920 Dec 16

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0902 Dec 27

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0883 Jan 06

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0865 Jan 18

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0847 Jan 28

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0829 Feb 08

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0811 Feb 19

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0793 Mar 02

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0775 Mar 12

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0757 Mar 24

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0739 Apr 03

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0721 Apr 14

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0703 Apr 24

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0685 May 06

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0667 May 16

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0649 May 27

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0631 Jun 07

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0613 Jun 18

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0595 Jun 28

Google Eclipse Map
Annular Solar Eclipse
-0577 Jul 09

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0559 Jul 20

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0541 Jul 31

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0523 Aug 10

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0505 Aug 22

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0487 Sep 01

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0469 Sep 12

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0451 Sep 23

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0433 Oct 04

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0415 Oct 14

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0397 Oct 26

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0379 Nov 05

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0361 Nov 16

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0343 Nov 27

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0325 Dec 08

Google Eclipse Map
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
-0307 Dec 18

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0289 Dec 30

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0270 Jan 09

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0252 Jan 21

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0234 Jan 31

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0216 Feb 11

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0198 Feb 22

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0180 Mar 04

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0162 Mar 15

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0144 Mar 26

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0126 Apr 06

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0108 Apr 16

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0090 Apr 28

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0072 May 08

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0054 May 19

Google Eclipse Map
Total Solar Eclipse
-0036 May 29

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
-0018 Jun 10

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0000 Jun 20

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0018 Jul 01

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0036 Jul 12

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0054 Jul 23

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0072 Aug 02

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0090 Aug 14

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0108 Aug 24

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0126 Sep 04

Google Eclipse Map
Partial Solar Eclipse
0144 Sep 15

Google Eclipse Map

Statistics for Solar Eclipses of Saros 56

Solar eclipses of Saros 56 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 -1172 Jul 17. The series ended with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on 0144 Sep 15. The total duration of Saros series 56 is 1316.20 years.

Summary of Saros 56
First Eclipse -1172 Jul 17
Last Eclipse 0144 Sep 15
Series Duration 1316.20 Years
No. of Eclipses 74
Sequence 21P 13A 15H 15T 10P

Saros 56 is composed of 74 solar eclipses as follows:

Solar Eclipses of Saros 56
Eclipse Type Symbol Number Percent
All Eclipses - 74100.0%
PartialP 31 41.9%
AnnularA 13 17.6%
TotalT 15 20.3%
HybridH 15 20.3%

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 56 appears in the following table.

Umbral Eclipses of Saros 56
Classification Number Percent
All Umbral Eclipses 43100.0%
Central (two limits) 43100.0%
Central (one limit) 0 0.0%
Non-Central (one limit) 0 0.0%

The 74 eclipses in Saros 56 occur in the following order : 21P 13A 15H 15T 10P

The longest and shortest central eclipses of Saros 56 as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses appear below.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses of Saros 56
Extrema Type Date Duration Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse -0793 Mar 0204m06s -
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse -0577 Jul 0900m04s -
Longest Total Solar Eclipse -0126 Apr 0604m48s -
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse -0289 Dec 3002m04s -
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0307 Dec 1801m38s -
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse -0559 Jul 2000m04s -
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse -0018 Jun 10 - 0.99571
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse 0144 Sep 15 - 0.01797

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.