Fred Espenak
Published: 2021-07-30
Total Pages:
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During the 5,000-year period from -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), Earth will experience 11,898 eclipses of the Sun. The eclipses are distributed as follows: 4200 partial eclipses, 3956 annular eclipses, 3173 total eclipses, and 569 hybrid eclipses.The "Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses" contains an individual global map for each eclipse delineating the geographic regions of visibility for both the partial and central (total, annular, or hybrid) phases. Modern political borders are plotted to assist in the determination of eclipse visibility. The uncertainty in Earth's rotational period expressed in delta T and its impact on the geographic visibility of eclipses in the past and future is discussed.The statistics of the solar eclipse distribution over 5,000 years are discussed in detail. This includes eclipse types by month and by century, eclipse frequency in the calendar year, extremes in eclipse magnitude for all eclipse types, maximum durations of total, annular, and hybrid eclipses, and eclipse duos (two eclipses within 30 days of each other).Finally, the periodicity of solar eclipses is investigated with particular attention to the Saros cycle. Tables list the start and end dates, number, and type of eclipses of every Saros series in progress during the 5,000-year period covered by the Five Millennium Canon.The "Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses" comprises two volumes. Volume 1 covers eclipses for the years -1999 to 0, while volume 2 covers eclipses for the years 1 to 3000.