Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015 | |
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![]() From Longyearbyen, Svalbard | |
Type of eclipse | |
Nature | Total |
Gamma | 0.9454 |
Magnitude | 1.0445 |
Maximum eclipse | |
Duration | 167 s (2 min 47 s) |
Coordinates | 64°24′N6°36′W / 64.4°N 6.6°W |
Max. width of band | 463 km (288 mi) |
Times (UTC) | |
Greatest eclipse | 9:46:47 |
References | |
Saros | 120 (61 of 71) |
Catalog # (SE5000) | 9541 |
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, March 20, 2015, with a magnitude of 1.0445. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with a partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. This total solar eclipse is notable in that the path of totality passed over the North Pole. Totality was visible in the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.
The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes and 47 seconds off the coast of the Faroe Islands. It was the last total solar eclipse visible in Europe until the eclipse of August 12, 2026. [1]
The track of totality passed across the North Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean.
The solar eclipse began at 08:30 GMT in northwest Europe, and moved towards the northeast, but was still in northern Europe. It was most visible from the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Faroe Islands, northern Norway and Murmansk Oblast. The shadow began its pass off the south coast of Greenland. It then moved to the northeast, passing between Iceland and the United Kingdom before moving over the Faroe Islands and the northernmost islands of Norway. The shadow of the eclipse was visible in varying degrees all over Europe. [2] For example, London experienced an 86.8% partial solar eclipse while points north of the Faroe Islands in the Norwegian Sea saw a complete solar eclipse. [3] Three chartered airliners flew above the clouds, giving passengers a slightly prolonged view. [4]
The eclipse was observed at radio frequencies at the Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Finland, where a partial eclipse was seen. [5] The eclipse was also observed by meteorological satellite Meteosat-10. [6] [7]
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(May 2017) |
The European Union has a solar power output of about 90 gigawatts and production could have been temporarily decreased by up to 34 GW of that dependent on the clarity of the sky. In actuality the dip was less than expected, with a 13 GW drop in Germany happening due to overcast skies. [8] [9] This was the first time that an eclipse had a significant impact on the power system, and the electricity sector took measures to mitigate the impact. The power gradient (change in power) may be −400 MW/minute and +700 MW/minute. Places in Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark were 80-85% obscured. [10] [11] [12] The temperature drops varied greatly across Europe, with most areas having an insignificant drop in temperature due to the overcast weather, while others, like Scotland, Wales, and Iceland received a drop of 2-4°C. These areas were not obscured by cloud cover during the eclipse which may have led to the drop in temperature. Wind speed in the UK dropped by ~9%. [13]
In addition to the eclipse, 20 March 2015 was also the day of the March equinox (also known as the spring or vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere). In addition, six supermoons were expected for 2015. The supermoon on 20 March 2015 was the third of the year; however, it was a new moon (near side facing away from the sun), and only its shadow was visible. [14]
At greatest eclipse, the Sun was at its zenith less than 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of the Equator. Greatest eclipse occurred at 09:45:39 UTC of Friday, March 20, 2015 while March Equinox occurred at 22:45:09 UTC, just under 13 hours after the greatest eclipse (Greatest eclipse occurred in winter, 13 hours before spring).
Proponents of the Blood Moon Prophecy, such as Bob O'Dell [15] also pointed out that 20 March 2015 was also a significant day on the Jewish and Biblical calendar. That evening was the onset of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month in the Biblical calendar year. Furthermore, the path of the total eclipse over the North Pole [16] was a highly symbolic location infusing the day with both great natural significance and profound religious meaning according to O'Dell. Due to the significance of the eclipse, a global prayer event in Jerusalem was organized that day. [17]
The event was visible as a partial eclipse all across Europe including: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, [18] Ireland, [19] Portugal, France, [20] Germany, [21] Poland, [22] Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Montenegro, Finland, Western Russia, and Ukraine.
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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. [23]
The partial solar eclipse on July 13, 2018 occurs in the next lunar year eclipse set.
Solar eclipse series sets from 2015 to 2018 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Descending node | Ascending node | |||||
Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma | |
120![]() Totality in Longyearbyen, Svalbard | March 20, 2015 ![]() Total | 0.94536 | 125![]() Solar Dynamics Observatory | September 13, 2015 ![]() Partial | −1.10039 | |
130 Balikpapan, Indonesia | March 9, 2016 ![]() Total | 0.26092 | 135![]() Annularity in L'Étang-Salé, Réunion | September 1, 2016 ![]() Annular | −0.33301 | |
140![]() Partial from Buenos Aires, Argentina | February 26, 2017 ![]() Annular | −0.45780 | 145![]() Totality in Madras, OR, USA | August 21, 2017 ![]() Total | 0.43671 | |
150![]() Partial in Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina | February 15, 2018 ![]() Partial | −1.21163 | 155![]() Partial in Huittinen, Finland | August 11, 2018 ![]() Partial | 1.14758 |
This eclipse is a part of Saros series 120, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 71 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on May 27, 933 AD. It contains annular eclipses from August 11, 1059 through April 26, 1492; hybrid eclipses from May 8, 1510 through June 8, 1564; and total eclipses from June 20, 1582 through March 30, 2033. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 7, 2195. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of annularity was produced by member 11 at 6 minutes, 24 seconds on September 11, 1113, and the longest duration of totality was produced by member 60 at 2 minutes, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit. [24]
Series members 50–71 occur between 1801 and 2195: | ||
---|---|---|
50 | 51 | 52 |
![]() November 19, 1816 | ![]() November 30, 1834 | ![]() December 11, 1852 |
53 | 54 | 55 |
![]() December 22, 1870 | ![]() January 1, 1889 | ![]() January 14, 1907 |
56 | 57 | 58 |
![]() January 24, 1925 | ![]() February 4, 1943 | ![]() February 15, 1961 |
59 | 60 | 61 |
![]() February 26, 1979 | ![]() March 9, 1997 | ![]() March 20, 2015 |
62 | 63 | 64 |
![]() March 30, 2033 | ![]() April 11, 2051 | ![]() April 21, 2069 |
65 | 66 | 67 |
![]() May 2, 2087 | ![]() May 14, 2105 | ![]() May 25, 2123 |
68 | 69 | 70 |
![]() June 4, 2141 | ![]() June 16, 2159 | ![]() June 26, 2177 |
71 | ||
![]() July 7, 2195 |
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). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.
22 eclipse events between June 1, 2011 and October 24, 2098 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
May 31–June 1 | March 19–20 | January 5–6 | October 24–25 | August 12–13 |
118 | 120 | 122 | 124 | 126 |
![]() June 1, 2011 | ![]() March 20, 2015 | ![]() January 6, 2019 | ![]() October 25, 2022 | ![]() August 12, 2026 |
128 | 130 | 132 | 134 | 136 |
![]() June 1, 2030 | ![]() March 20, 2034 | ![]() January 5, 2038 | ![]() October 25, 2041 | ![]() August 12, 2045 |
138 | 140 | 142 | 144 | 146 |
![]() May 31, 2049 | ![]() March 20, 2053 | ![]() January 5, 2057 | ![]() October 24, 2060 | ![]() August 12, 2064 |
148 | 150 | 152 | 154 | 156 |
![]() May 31, 2068 | ![]() March 19, 2072 | ![]() January 6, 2076 | ![]() October 24, 2079 | ![]() August 13, 2083 |
158 | 160 | 162 | 164 | |
![]() June 1, 2087 | ![]() October 24, 2098 |
This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
The partial solar eclipses on March 27, 1884 (part of Saros 108) and December 24, 1916 (part of Saros 111) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.
Series members between 1971 and 2200 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() July 22, 1971 (Saros 116) | ![]() June 21, 1982 (Saros 117) | ![]() May 21, 1993 (Saros 118) | ![]() April 19, 2004 (Saros 119) | ![]() March 20, 2015 (Saros 120) |
![]() February 17, 2026 (Saros 121) | ![]() January 16, 2037 (Saros 122) | ![]() December 16, 2047 (Saros 123) | ![]() November 16, 2058 (Saros 124) | ![]() October 15, 2069 (Saros 125) |
![]() September 13, 2080 (Saros 126) | ![]() August 15, 2091 (Saros 127) | ![]() July 15, 2102 (Saros 128) | ![]() June 13, 2113 (Saros 129) | ![]() May 14, 2124 (Saros 130) |
![]() April 13, 2135 (Saros 131) | ![]() March 12, 2146 (Saros 132) | ![]() February 9, 2157 (Saros 133) | ![]() January 10, 2168 (Saros 134) | ![]() December 9, 2178 (Saros 135) |
![]() November 8, 2189 (Saros 136) | ![]() October 9, 2200 (Saros 137) |
This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
Series members between 1801 and 2200 | ||
---|---|---|
![]() August 7, 1812 (Saros 113) | ![]() July 18, 1841 (Saros 114) | ![]() June 28, 1870 (Saros 115) |
![]() June 8, 1899 (Saros 116) | ![]() May 19, 1928 (Saros 117) | ![]() April 30, 1957 (Saros 118) |
![]() April 9, 1986 (Saros 119) | ![]() March 20, 2015 (Saros 120) | ![]() February 28, 2044 (Saros 121) |
![]() February 7, 2073 (Saros 122) | ![]() January 19, 2102 (Saros 123) | ![]() December 30, 2130 (Saros 124) |
![]() December 9, 2159 (Saros 125) | ![]() November 18, 2188 (Saros 126) |
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Wednesday, March 29, 2006, with a magnitude of 1.0515. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It was visible from a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. This eclipse was part of Saros 139.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, August 11, 1999 with a magnitude of 1.0286. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between earth and the sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the sun for a viewer on earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon's apparent diameter is larger than the sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The path of the moon's shadow began in the Atlantic Ocean and, before noon, was traversing the southern United Kingdom, northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, southern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, and northern FR Yugoslavia (Vojvodina). The eclipse's maximum was at 11:03 UTC at 45.1°N 24.3°E in Romania ; and it continued across Bulgaria, the Black Sea, Turkey, the northeastern tip of Syria, northern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan and Srikakulam in India and ended in the Bay of Bengal.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Sunday, November 23, 2003, with a magnitude of 1.0379. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It was visible from a corridor in the Antarctic region. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including the southern tip of South America and most of Australia.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, December 4, 2002, with a magnitude of 1.0244. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. It was visible from a narrow corridor in southern Africa, the Indian Ocean and southern Australia. A partial eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including most of Africa and Australia. During the sunset after the eclipse many observers in Australia saw numerous and unusual forms of a green flash.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, June 21, 2001, with a magnitude of 1.0495. It was the first solar eclipse of the 21st century. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring 2.2 days before perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, July 11, 2010, with a magnitude of 1.058. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, August 1, 2008, with a magnitude of 1.0394. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The eclipse was visible from a narrow corridor through northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China. Visible north of the Arctic Circle, it belonged to the so-called midnight sun eclipses. The largest city in its path was Novosibirsk in Russia. The eclipse happened only 2+1⁄2 days after the perigee that occurred on July 29, 2008, and the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than average.
A total lunar eclipse took place on 4 April 2015. It is the former of two total lunar eclipses in 2015, and the third in a tetrad. Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of 15 April 2014, 8 October 2014, and 28 September 2015.
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, with a magnitude of 0.9868. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. The center of the Moon's shadow missed the Earth's South Pole, but the partial eclipse was visible from parts of Antarctica and Australia, and an annular eclipse was visible from a small part of Antarctica.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Tuesday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 9, 2016, with a magnitude of 1.045. If viewed from east of the International Date Line, the eclipse took place on March 8 (Tuesday) and elsewhere on March 9 (Wednesday). A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's and the apparent path of the Sun and Moon intersect, blocking all direct sunlight and turning daylight into darkness; the Sun appears to be black with a halo around it. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The eclipse of March 8–9, 2016 was visible across an area of Pacific Ocean, which started in the Indian Ocean, and ended in the northern Pacific Ocean.
A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, with a magnitude of 0.8576. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Thursday, May 9 and Friday, May 10, 2013, with a magnitude of 0.9544. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide.
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A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, September 11, 2007, with a magnitude of 0.7507. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, November 3, 2013, with a magnitude of 1.0159. It was a hybrid eclipse of the Sun with a small portion over the western Atlantic Ocean at sunrise as an annular eclipse and the rest of the path as a narrow total solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A hybrid solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's in sunrise and sunset, but at Greatest Eclipse the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's.
A partial solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 15, 2018, with a magnitude of 0.5991. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, February 26, 1998, with a magnitude of 1.0441. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Totality was visible in the Galápagos Islands, Panama, Colombia, the Paraguaná Peninsula in northwestern Venezuela, all of Aruba, most of Curaçao and the northwestern tip of Bonaire, all of Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Antigua and Barbuda.
An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 30, 1984, with a magnitude of 0.998. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring). An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Annularity was visible in Mexico, the United States, Azores Islands, Morocco and Algeria. It was the first annular solar eclipse visible in the US in 33 years. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 6.7 days after apogee and 7.8 days before perigee.
A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Thursday, April 9, 2043, with a magnitude of 1.0095. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.
A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Monday, May 1, 2079, with a magnitude of 1.0512. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The eclipse will be visible in Greenland, parts of eastern Canada and parts of the northeastern United States.