A Search for Eclipse Cycles Similar to the Hypersaros: Columbus and the Lunar Eclipse of March 14, 2025

TL;DR

This paper investigates eclipse cycles similar to the Hypersaros, focusing on the lunar eclipse of March 14, 2025, and identifies notable periodicities in eclipse occurrences over five millennia.

Contribution

It identifies and analyzes eclipse cycles, including the Hypersaros and IITS, that recur over centuries, enhancing understanding of eclipse patterns related to historical events.

Findings

The 521-year Hypersaros cycle links eclipses with similar characteristics.

The 633-year IITS cycle is a common interval between eclipses.

Longer cycles at 1154, 1284, 1787, 1917, and 2308 years are also identified.

Abstract

The total lunar eclipse on March 14, 2025 UT occurs nearly exactly 521 years (one Hypersaros) after a similar eclipse on March 1, 1504 UT that is renowned for its importance to the voyage of Columbus to Jamaica. Eclipses separated by a Hypersaros have similar depths, appear very close to the same location in the sky, and occur at nearly the same time of year. This paper summarizes the results from a search for analogous cycles within the Five Millennium Catalogs of Lunar and Solar Eclipses. Under the two simple constraints of similar eclipse dates relative to the vernal equinox and similar paths of the Moon through the Earth's shadow, the most common time intervals between lunar eclipses separated by less than 1000 years are the 521-year Hypersaros and a 633-yr period of the Icosa-Inex-Triple-Saros (IITS). Notable cycles at longer periods occur at 1154, 1284, 1787, 1917, and 2308 years.