This tool allows you to search the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE) for all eclipses over a specified date range and that possess certain characteristics. Enter a date range, choose the eclipse type(s) and select any of the optional parameters.
The solar eclipse predictions were made using the VSOP87/ELP2000-82 solar and lunar ephemerides. The resulting Besselian elements from these ephemerides were originally generated for the NASA technical publication Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.
The accuracy of the northern and southern edges of the eclipse path are limited to approximately 1-2 kilometers due to the lunar limb profile. For eclipses five centuries or more centuries in the past or future, the largest uncertainty in the predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to the tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is is based on the work of Morrison and Stephenson .
The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used (see Calendar Dates).
Special thanks to National Space Club summer intern Sumit Dutta for his assistance in preparing the solar eclipse search engine (July 2007). The mySQL database software was designed by Xavier Jubier and the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses web tool.
Eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. The information presented here is based on the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE).
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC"
For more information, see: NASA Copyright Information