These are the data files we used for our manuscript “The Frequency of Solar Eclipses for a Given Place: A New Approach to a Classic Question.”
There are 15 files in total. Each file covers a search period of 1000 years, except the first file, which covers a period of 999 years. The Gregorian calendar is used throughout; there is no switch to the Julian calendar at any time.
The names of the files are as follows. The search period for each file is given in brackets.
| File Name | Date Range |
|---|---|
| densitylatitudesN1LAT00.csv | 0001–0999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT01.csv | 1000–1999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT02.csv | 2000–2999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT03.csv | 3000–3999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT04.csv | 4000–4999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT05.csv | 5000–5999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT06.csv | 6000–6999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT07.csv | 7000–7999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT08.csv | 8000–8999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT09.csv | 9000–9999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT10.csv | 10000–10999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT11.csv | 11000–11999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT12.csv | 12000–12999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT13.csv | 13000–13999 CE |
| densitylatitudesN1LAT14.csv | 14000–14999 CE |
An explanation of the columns in the files is as follows. The columns are separated by a vertical bar “|”.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
name |
A label given to each line of data. |
mag |
The type of eclipse, using the following key:000: any type (partial, total, hybrid, annular)100: total or hybrid110: total, hybrid, or annular |
count |
The number of eclipses, of the given mag, occurring anywhere within the polygon. |
local |
The highest count, for a given mag, found for any polygon. |
global |
The number of eclipses worldwide within the given start and stop dates. |
area |
The size of the polygon as a fraction of the total surface area of the Earth, where the total surface area is normalised to 1. |
fill |
A shading colour given to each polygon. This field was not used in the timeanddate.com study, and every value is set to #2b9751. |
polygon |
A set of five points, given as longitude and latitude, used to construct each latitude band. The first and fifth points are the same: they are the beginning and end points of the outline of the latitude band. |
start |
The date of the first eclipse within the search period. |
stop |
The date of the last eclipse within the search period. |
period |
The time interval, in years, between the start and stop dates. |
frac |
The average number of eclipses, of the given mag, for a given place within the polygon. |
The data was compiled using the following resources: timeanddate.com algorithms; JPL’s planetary and lunar ephemeris DE431; the U.S. Naval Observatory’s source-code library NOVAS; the IAU’s SOFA software.
Contact: [email protected]
