The Birth of a Saros – This Weekend’s Hidden Eclipse







Starry Night


In said period, three lunar cycles very nearly line up;




Note that:

239 Anomalistic months = 239×27.555= 6585.645 days.

242 Draconic months = 242×27.212=6585.304 days.

223 Synodic months = 223×29.531=6585.413 days.














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9 Replies to “The Birth of a Saros – This Weekend’s Hidden Eclipse”

  1. I am not a astrophysics space scientist. Just a relative novice. ‘Universe Today’ is not your high end technical astrophysics site like others I have seen. However, it is my speed and I enjoy it in my short stay here. The other ‘extreme high end’ science technical sites have incredible language, symbolism’s, and mathematics. They all leave me in the dust with no respirator for my brain to breathe. My one true educational hobby is learning all I can about the cosmos we live in. Of all the articles I have seen to date, I actually know what the Saros Cycle is. I feel so important now, like I belong. lol.

    1. Universe Today is the best of the email newsletters covering as it does at acorrect level a wide range of relevant topics. The illustrations are excellent and very often there is a link to the original Press Release or Paper for those wishing “high end science”. Long may it continue.
      Roseland Observatory.

      1. As I said above. Universe Today is NOT your high end like others I have seen. I enjoy Universe Today. What part did you NOT understand I did NOT enjoy?
        The Average Person Perspective..

      2. What part of Brian’s response offended you? He simply offered his opinion of Universe Today, which I, as a 5 year visitor to the site, agree with wholeheartedly.

      3. My fault. I had 3 screens up answering 3 different posts. I was in a hurry. I am batting 1 for 3. Not good for a very simple task. Glad my 32 year old daughter was not here to see this. I always told her to never rush or hurry. Mistakes are made. OOPS…lol

  2. I have a request for Universe Today’s Phases’s of the Moon indicator & app: Please show the “altitude” of the moon with respect to the ecliptic (how far above or below the moon is relative to the path of the sun). Not only will this differentiate your indicator, it provides useful info. In my case, if I want to avoid being woken by the light of the moon, I need to set window blinds before sleeping for the night. This is only required a few times per month, and in order to know when I need to know not only the phase of the moon but also where the moon is with respect to the path of the sun.

  3. Thank you for a very interesting article. I suppose despite being a complete non-event from Earth it represents for a ‘person’ standing right on that edge of the Moon the point where the Sun and Earth just touch limbs for the first time in the new Saros.

    And being so long lasting a new Saros is always worth marking.

    1. That is correct; as seen from the southern limb of the Moon, the Earth would complete a very shallow partial eclipse.

      1. The more I think about it the more I reckon it would actually be worth the trip just to see this from the other end! The Earth being ‘new’ would be a dark circle with the atmosphere a fiery red circle backlit by the adjacent Sun.

        Would you see any city lights from the Moon? Not with the naked eye I suppose.

        (This is absolutely infuriating, it won’t let me log in as the same account as the post above, but I am one and the same person! Who knows how this works?)

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