Saros cycle

A Saros cycle is 223 synodic months (period from one new moon to the next), or approximately 242 draconic months (the time it takes the Moon to cross the plane of Earth's orbit). It is also close to 239 anomalistic months (period of perigee of the moon). Thus an eclipse (which happens when the conjunction of the moon coincides with its node, that is, crossing the plane of the orbit) is similar to the eclipse that happens one Saros later, except that it happens 8 hours east of later one.