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

Abstract The total lunar eclipse on 2025 March 14 UT occurs nearly exactly 521 yr (one Hypersaros) after a similar eclipse on 1504 March 1 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 yr are the 521 yr Hypersaros and a 633 yr period of the Icosa-Inex-Triple-Saros. Notable cycles at longer periods occur at 1154, 1284, 1787, 1917, and 2308 yr.