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.