The Lunar Saros
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Authors
Rigge, William F., S.J.
Issue Date
1918-02
Type
Article
Language
en_US
Keywords
Rigge Papers , Moon
Alternative Title
Abstract
First Paragraph: | In speaking of the Saros, that period of 18 years 10 or 11 days (according as 5 or 4 leap years intervene) 7 hours and 42 minutes, after which eclipses repeat themselves in the same order and with very nearly the same circumstances, text-books of astronomy generally confine themselves to solar eclipses and call attention to the 7 hours and 42 minutes, which shift an eclipse track about 120 degrees of longitude farther west at each recurrence. Such a restriction can bring with it only a theoretical interest and consign its applications to the technical computers of solar eclipses. It can be of no practical utility to the ordinary student or non-professional, since only a very small percentage of solar eclipse tracks can fall during that period in a country even as large as the United States.
Description
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