|
The 2026 August 12 Eclipse Belongs to Saros Cycle 126
(Member No. 48 Out of 72 Eclipses)
T
he Saros (named coined by Edmund Halley) is a period of approximately 6585.32 days (exactly 223 synodic months or about 18.03 years) over which a particular sequence of eclipses occurs in same order with nearly the same geometry and nearly identical eclipses.
The Saros Cycle has been known since ancient times and proved useful for predicting eclipses.
Saros Cycles begin and end with many partial eclipses producing dozens of central eclipses in-between with increasing and decreasing durations.
The Saros Cycle is useful for arranging eclipses into families with each series typically lasts 12 to 13 centuries and containing 70 or more eclipses.
Because of the +1/3 fraction of days in a saros, visibility of each eclipse differs at a given locale. So, the Earth rotates about eight hours or 120 degrees westward for successive eclipse paths in the same saros. After three saroses (about 54 years 34 days), the eclipse path returns to about the same region.
Saros 126 Has The Following Characteristics
|
Saros 126 is interesting having few total eclipses (only 10) with no long durations of totality (longest 2m36s). Total eclipses occurred only started in 1882 and last only until 2044, the next total eclipse in this series after the 2026 August 12 eclipse! See below for more details and the Saros cycle animation on the right.
- First Eclipse: 1179 March 10 (partial)
- First Total Eclipse: 1882 May 17 (1m50s)
- Last Total Eclipse: 2044 August 23 (2m04s)
- Last Eclipse: 2459 May 3 (partial)
- Saros Duration: 1,280.14 Years
- All Eclipses: 72 (100%)
- Partial : 31 (43.1%)
- Annular: 28 (38.9%)
- Total: 10 (13.9%)
- Hybrid: 3 (4.2%)
(Annular/Total)
- Longest Total: 02m36s (1972 July 10)*
- Shortest Total: 01m50s (1882 May 17)
- Previous Total: 02m27s (2008 August 1 after 2026 Aug. 12)
- This Total: 02m18s (2026 August 12)
- Next Total: 02m04s (2044 August 23 after 2026 Aug. 12)
*Longest duration of totality for the ten millennia from 3999 BCE to 6000 CE is 7m29s (2186 July 16),
three seconds less than the longest predicted possible duration (7m32s)!
|
Saros Cycle 126. Animation of eclipse paths from first to last eclipse.
Series begins with partial eclipses at large southern latitudes (72°S) ending with partial eclipses at large northern latitudes (abt. 72°N).
Animation briefly pauses for total eclipse of 2026 August 12, 48th member of this series of 72 eclipses and the next to last total eclipse in this series. (Click to enlarge animation.)
|
|
|
|
