Ciencia
What are the Saros series and cycle?
Eclipses occur in patterns. The Saros series is a cycle of 223 lunar months that has been used to predict eclipses for thousands of years. In a Saros series, exactly nine years and 5.5 days after any lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse will occur, and vice versa. Approximately 6,585.3211 days, or 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours, after an eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon return to the same relative positions, and an almost identical eclipse occurs. These identical eclipses are part of the same Saros cycle, and the time between the two eclipses is called a Saros.
For eclipses belonging to the same Saros cycle, the Moon will be at the same node and at the same distance from the Earth. Because an eclipse in a Saros cycle occurs just 11 days later in the year than the previous one, the Earth will be at almost the same distance from the Sun and tilted relative to it in almost the same orientation (in the same season) as it was during the previous eclipse in that cycle. Each path of totality for a solar eclipse looks similar to the previous one, but is shifted 120 degrees to the west.
For eclipses belonging to the same Saros cycle, the Moon will be at the same node and at the same distance from the Earth. Because an eclipse in a Saros cycle occurs just 11 days later in the year than the previous one, the Earth will be at almost the same distance from the Sun and tilted relative to it in almost the same orientation (in the same season) as it was during the previous eclipse in that cycle. Each path of totality for a solar eclipse looks similar to the previous one, but is shifted 120 degrees to the west.