Saros cycle

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The Saros is an eclipse cycle of approximately 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours. After this interval, the Sun, Earth, and Moon return to nearly the same relative geometry, producing a similar solar or lunar eclipse.

The cycle corresponds closely to 223 synodic months, 242 draconic months, and 239 anomalistic months. This alignment repeats the lunar phase, the Moon's position near a node, and its distance from Earth.

Because the Saros includes an additional eight hours beyond a whole number of days, the Earth rotates about one third of a turn between successive eclipses. The next event in a series is therefore visible roughly 120 degrees farther west.

A Saros series lasts many centuries. Its eclipses begin as partial events near one polar region, develop through central eclipses, and eventually end as partial eclipses near the opposite pole.

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• Source / publisher: Wikipedia
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Wikipedia
• URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saros_cycle