Saros (astronomy) - Saros Series

Saros Series

The saros is based on the recognition that 223 synodic months approximately equal to 242 draconic months and 239 anomalistic months. However, as this relationship is not perfect, the geometry of two eclipses separated by one saros will differ slightly. In particular, the place where the Sun and Moon come in conjunction shifts westward by about 0.5° with respect to the Moon's nodes every saros, and this gives rise to a series of eclipses, called a saros series, that slowly change in appearance.

Each saros series starts with a partial eclipse (Sun first enters the end of the node), and each successive saros the path of the Moon is shifted either northward (when near the descending node) or southward (when near the ascending node). At some point, eclipses are no longer possible and the series terminates (Sun leaves the beginning of the node). Arbitrary dates were established by compilers of eclipse statistics. These extreme dates are 2000 BCE and 3000 CE. Saros series, of course, went on before and will continue after these dates. Since the first eclipse of 2000 BCE was not the first in its saros, it is necessary to extend the saros series numbers backwards beyond 0 to negative numbers to accommodate eclipses occurring in the years following 2000 BCE. The saros -13 is the first saros to appear in these data. For solar eclipses the statistics for the complete saros series within the era between 2000 BCE and 3000 CE are given in this article's references. It takes between 1226 and 1550 years for the members of a saros series to traverse the Earth's surface from north to south (or vice-versa). These extremes allow from 69 to 87 eclipses in each series (most series have 71 or 72 eclipses). From 39 to 59 (mostly about 43) eclipses in a given series will be central (that is, total, annular, or hybrid annular-total). At any given time, approximately 40 different saros series will be in progress.

Saros series are numbered according to the type of eclipse (solar or lunar) and whether they occur at the Moon's ascending or descending node. Odd numbers are used for solar eclipses occurring near the ascending node, whereas even numbers are given to descending node solar eclipses. For lunar eclipses, this numbering scheme is somewhat random. The ordering of these series is determined by the time at which each series peaks, which corresponds to when an eclipse is closest to one of the lunar nodes. For solar eclipses, (in 2003) the 39 series numbered between 117 and 155 are active, whereas for lunar eclipses, there are now 41 active saros series.