Introduction

The Six Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses is organized into a series of sixty 100-year web pages, each one covering a century of solar eclipses. The 100-year table below covers the period -0499 to -0400 (500 BCE to 401 BCE) [1]. The date and time of each eclipse is given for the instant of Greatest Eclipse. Each eclipse date links to a web page containing additional details and a map showing the geographic region of eclipse visibility for that eclipse. A description of each parameter in the catalog table can be found in Key to Catalog of Solar Eclipses.

For an explanation of how eclipses are classified, see Solar Eclipse Basics. The frequency of each eclipse type, the extremes in eclipse magnitude and duration, and other data for the century are presented in the Eclipse Statistics tables following the Catalog of Solar Eclipses. To select a different century, visit the Index to Six Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses.

Footnotes

[1] The terms BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions)

Statistics for Solar Eclipses: -0499 to -0400 (500 BCE to 401 BCE)

During the 5th century BCE [2], Earth experienced 241 solar eclipses. The following table lists the number of eclipses of each type over this period.

Solar Eclipses: -0499 to -0400
Eclipse Type	Symbol	Number	Percent
All Eclipses	-	241	100.0%
Partial	P	84	34.9%
Annular	A	78	32.4%
Total	T	62	25.7%
Hybrid	H	17	7.1%

Annular and total eclipses can be classified as either central or non-central as follows: 1) Central (two limits), 2) Central (one limit) or 3) Non-Central (one limit). The statistical distribution of these classes during the 5th century BCE appears in the following three tables (no Hybrids are included since all are central with two limits).

Annular and Total Eclipses
Classification	Number	Percent
All	140	100.0%
Central (two limits)	138	98.6%
Central (one limit)	0	0.0%
Non-Central (one limit)	2	1.4%

Annular Eclipses
Classification	Number	Percent
All Annular Eclipses	78	100.0%
Central (two limits)	76	97.4%
Central (one limit)	0	0.0%
Non-Central (one limit)	2	2.6%

Total Eclipses
Classification	Number	Percent
All Total Eclipses	62	100.0%
Central (two limits)	62	100.0%
Central (one limit)	0	0.0%
Non-Central (one limit)	0	0.0%

There are a minimum of two and a maximum of five solar eclipses in every calendar year. Statistics for the number of eclipses each year during the century are listed below.

Number of Eclipses Per Year: -0499 to -0400
Number of Eclipses Per Year	Number of Years
2	68
3	24
4	7
5	1

The years containing five solar eclipses are as follows: -438.

There are two solar eclipses in the same same calendar month as follows: -416 May.

The longest and shortest central eclipses of the century as well as largest and smallest partial eclipses appear in the following table.

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Eclipses: -0499 to -0400
Extrema Type	Date	Duration	Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse	-0494 Jan 26	10m24s	-
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse	-0466 Jul 13	00m05s	-
Longest Total Solar Eclipse	-0407 May 22	07m13s	-
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse	-0475 Jul 22	01m00s	-
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse	-0437 Dec 17	01m45s	-
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse	-0454 May 31	00m06s	-
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse	-0424 Apr 30	-	0.96614
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse	-0485 Jan 17	-	0.00688

During the century, 3 Saros series begin and 6 Saros series end. The table below gives the Saros series, number of eclipses in the series, the calendar date and whether it is the first or last eclipse in the series.

Begin and End of Saros Series: -0499 to -0400
Saros Series	Number of Eclipses	Date	First/Last
37	73	-0496 Aug 12	Last
31	74	-0489 Mar 31	Last
33	84	-0485 Jan 17	Last
77	71	-0474 Jul 11	First
78	72	-0463 Jun 09	First
32	84	-0460 Mar 10	Last
39	72	-0438 Jul 03	Last
79	71	-0434 May 21	First
38	73	-0431 Aug 14	Last

Footnotes

[2] The terms BCE and CE are abbreviations for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era," respectively. They are the secular equivalents to the BC and AD dating conventions. (See: Year Dating Conventions)

Index to Six Millennium Catolog of Solar Eclipses

The links in the following table each open a web page containing a 100-year Catalog of Solar Eclipses. Each line in a 100-year catalog lists the primary characteristics for a single eclipse; the eclipse date itself links to a web page containing further details and a map showing the geographic region of eclipse visibility.

Six Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses
Centuries
	-2999 to -2900	-2899 to -2800	-2799 to -2700	-2699 to -2600	-2599 to -2500
	-2499 to -2400	-2399 to -2300	-2299 to -2200	-2199 to -2100	-2099 to -2000
	-1999 to -1900	-1899 to -1800	-1799 to -1700	-1699 to -1600	-1599 to -1500
	-1499 to -1400	-1399 to -1300	-1299 to -1200	-1199 to -1100	-1099 to -1000
	-0999 to -0900	-0899 to -0800	-0799 to -0700	-0699 to -0600	-0599 to -0500
	-0499 to -0400	-0399 to -0300	-0299 to -0200	-0199 to -0100	-0099 to 0000
	0001 to 0100	0101 to 0200	0201 to 0300	0301 to 0400	0401 to 0500
	0501 to 0600	0601 to 0700	0701 to 0800	0801 to 0900	0901 to 1000
	1001 to 1100	1101 to 1200	1201 to 1300	1301 to 1400	1401 to 1500
	1501 to 1600	1601 to 1700	1701 to 1800	1801 to 1900	1901 to 2000
	2001 to 2100	2101 to 2200	2201 to 2300	2301 to 2400	2401 to 2500
	2501 to 2600	2601 to 2700	2701 to 2800	2801 to 2900	2901 to 3000

These web pages are part of the Six Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: -2999 to +3000

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Predictions

• Home - home page of EclipseWise with predictions for both solar and lunar eclipses


• Solar Eclipses - primary page for solar eclipse predictions
• Solar Eclipse Links - detailed directory of links


• Six Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses - covers the years -2999 to +3000 (3000 BCE to 3000 CE)
• Saros Catalog of Solar Eclipses - covers Saros series -33 through 190
• World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Maps - index page for world eclipse maps covering 5 millennia
• Javascript Solar Eclipse Explorer - calculate all solar eclipses visible from a city


• Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses 1501 to 2500 - link to the publication


• MrEclipse.com - eclipse resources and tips on photography
• Solar Eclipses for Beginners - a primer on solar eclipse basics
• How to Photograph a Solar Eclipse - instructions for imaging an eclipse of the Sun
• MrEclipse Photo Index - an index of solar eclipse photographs

Calendar

The Gregorian calendar (also called the Western calendar) is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. On this website, the Gregorian calendar is used for all calendar dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates.

The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..

Eclipse Predictions

The eclipse predictions presented here were generated using the JPL DE406 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates have been calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass.

The largest uncertainty in the eclipse predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is determined as follows:

1. pre-1950's: ΔT calculated from empirical fits to historical records derived by Morrison and Stephenson (2004)
2. 1955-present: ΔT obtained from published observations
3. future: ΔT is extrapolated from current values weighted by the long term trend from tidal effects

A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -2999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this web site is based on the book Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce eclipse data when accompanied by a link to this page and an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or covered.