Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020

Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020
Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020
	Totality as viewed from Gorbea, Chile
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	−0.2939
Magnitude	1.0254
Maximum eclipse
Duration	130 s (2 min 10 s)
Coordinates	40°18′S 67°54′W / 40.3°S 67.9°W
Max. width of band	90 km (56 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	16:14:39
References
Saros	142 (23 of 72)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9554

A total solar eclipse will occur on December 14, 2020. 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 Moon’s apparent diameter will be larger because the eclipse will occur only 1.8 days after perigee (on December 12, 2020).

The path is similar to the solar eclipse of February 26, 2017. It takes place just 17 months after the solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 and, like the 2019 eclipse, is also visible from Chile and Argentina. It is also a partial solar eclipse in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

This solar eclipse will occur one lunar year after the annular solar eclipse on December 26, 2019.

Visibility

Chile

Totality will be visible in portions of Araucanía Region, Los Ríos Region, and a very small part of Bío Bío Region. Cities in the path include Temuco, Villarrica, and Pucón. Totality will also be visible on Mocha Island.

Argentina

Totality will also be visible across the Northern Patagonia Region (specifically the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro), passing through cities including Piedra del Águila, Sierra Colorada, Ministro Ramos Mexía, Junín de los Andes, and partially in San Martín de los Andes and San Carlos de Bariloche.

Images

Animated path

Related eclipses

Followed: Solar eclipse of October 16, 2107

Solar eclipses of 2018–2021

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]

The partial solar eclipses on February 15, 2018 and August 11, 2018 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2018 to 2021
Ascending node			Descending node
Saros	Map	Gamma	Saros	Map	Gamma
117 Partial in Melbourne, Australia	July 13, 2018 Partial	−1.35423	122 Partial in Nakhodka, Russia	January 6, 2019 Partial	1.14174
127 Totality in La Serena, Chile	July 2, 2019 Total	−0.64656	132 Annularity in Jaffna, Sri Lanka	December 26, 2019 Annular	0.41351
137 Annularity in Beigang, Yunlin, Taiwan	June 21, 2020 Annular	0.12090	142 Totality in Gorbea, Chile	December 14, 2020 Total	−0.29394
147 Partial in Halifax, Canada	June 10, 2021 Annular	0.91516	152 From HMS Protector off South Georgia	December 4, 2021 Total	−0.95261

Saros 142

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 142, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 72 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on April 17, 1624. It contains a hybrid eclipse on July 14, 1768, and total eclipses from July 25, 1786 through October 29, 2543. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on June 5, 2904. 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 totality will be produced by member 38 at 6 minutes, 34 seconds on May 28, 2291. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.^[2]

Series members 11–32 occur between 1801 and 2200:
11	12	13
August 5, 1804	August 16, 1822	August 27, 1840
14	15	16
September 7, 1858	September 17, 1876	September 29, 1894
17	18	19
October 10, 1912	October 21, 1930	November 1, 1948
20	21	22
November 12, 1966	November 22, 1984	December 4, 2002
23	24	25
December 14, 2020	December 26, 2038	January 5, 2057
26	27	28
January 16, 2075	January 27, 2093	February 8, 2111
29	30	31
February 18, 2129	March 2, 2147	March 12, 2165
32
March 23, 2183

Metonic cycle

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.

21 eclipse events between July 22, 1971 and July 22, 2047
July 22	May 9–11	February 26–27	December 14–15	October 2–3
116	118	120	122	124
July 22, 1971	May 11, 1975	February 26, 1979	December 15, 1982	October 3, 1986
126	128	130	132	134
July 22, 1990	May 10, 1994	February 26, 1998	December 14, 2001	October 3, 2005
136	138	140	142	144
July 22, 2009	May 10, 2013	February 26, 2017	December 14, 2020	October 2, 2024
146	148	150	152	154
July 22, 2028	May 9, 2032	February 27, 2036	December 15, 2039	October 3, 2043
156
July 22, 2047