Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985

• A total lunar eclipse on May 4.
• A partial solar eclipse on May 19.
• A total lunar eclipse on October 28.
• A total solar eclipse on November 12.

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[1]

Note: Partial solar eclipses on January 25, 1982 and July 20, 1982 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 1982–1985
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Map	Gamma		Saros	Map	Gamma
117	1982 June 21 Partial	-1.21017		122	1982 December 15 Partial	1.12928
127	1983 June 11 Total	-0.49475		132	1983 December 4 Annular	0.40150
137	1984 May 30 Annular	0.27552		142 Partial from Gisborne, NZ	1984 November 22 Total	-0.31318
147	1985 May 19 Partial	1.07197		152	1985 November 12 Total	-0.97948

Solar saros 152, repeating every about 18 years and 11 days, contains 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 26, 1805. It has total eclipses from November 2, 1967, to September 14, 2490; hybrid eclipses from September 26, 2508, to October 17, 2544; and annular eclipses from October 29, 2562, to June 16, 2941. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 20, 3049. The longest total eclipse will occur on June 9, 2328, at 5 minutes and 15 seconds; the longest annular eclipse will occur on February 16, 2743, at 5 minutes and 20 seconds.[2]

Series members 7–17 occur between 1901 and 2100:
7	8	9
September 30, 1913	October 11, 1931	October 21, 1949
10	11	12
November 2, 1967	November 12, 1985	November 23, 2003
13	14	15
December 4, 2021	December 15, 2039	December 26, 2057
16	17
January 6, 2076	January 16, 2094

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days).

22 eclipse events, progressing from north to south between April 8, 1902 and August 31, 1989:
April 7–8	January 24–25	November 12	August 31-September 1	June 19–20
108			114	116
April 8, 1902			August 31, 1913	June 19, 1917
118	120	122	124	126
April 8, 1921	January 24, 1925	November 12, 1928	August 31, 1932	June 19, 1936
128	130	132	134	136
April 7, 1940	January 25, 1944	November 12, 1947	September 1, 1951	June 20, 1955
138	140	142	144	146
April 8, 1959	January 25, 1963	November 12, 1966	August 31, 1970	June 20, 1974
148	150	152	154
April 7, 1978	January 25, 1982	November 12, 1985	August 31, 1989