Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015
Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015
	From Longyearbyen, Svalbard
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.9454
Magnitude	1.0445
Maximum eclipse
Duration	167 s (2 min 47 s)
Coordinates	64°24′N 6°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 on March 20, 2015. 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.

It had a magnitude of 1.045. 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 only populated places from which the totality could be seen were the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.^[2]

Event

The solar eclipse began at 08:30GMT in North West Europe and moved towards the northeast but 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.^[3] For example, London experienced an 85% partial solar eclipse while points north of the Faroe Islands in the Norwegian Sea saw a complete solar eclipse.^[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]

Impact

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] 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 may be 80% obscured.^[9]^[10] Temperature may decrease by 3 °C, and wind power may decrease as winds are reduced by 0.7 m/s.^[11]

Coincidence of events

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 are 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.^[12]

Religious Significance

Proponents of the Blood Moon Prophecy, such as Bob O'Dell ^[13] 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 ^[14] was a highly symbolic location infusing the day with both great natural significance and profound religious meaning according to O'Dell. Due to the supposed significance of the eclipse, Blood Moon enthusiasts organized a global prayer event in Jerusalem that day.^[15]

Eclipse visibility

The event was visible as a partial eclipse all across Europe including: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom,^[16] Ireland,^[17] Portugal, France,^[18] Germany,^[19] Poland,^[20] Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Montenegro, Finland, Western Russia, and Ukraine.

Lisbon, Portugal, from 8:15 through 10:00 (local time, GMT)[21]

Lisbon, Portugal, from 8:15 through 10:00 (local time, GMT)^[21]
Sheffield, United Kingdom. All time local time (GMT)
Lorient, France, 10:20 local time (9:20 GMT)
Berlin, Germany, 10:29 local time (9:29 UTC) – unconfirmed source
Markt Schwaben, Germany
Dublin, Ireland, 9:30 GMT
Chester-le-Street, United Kingdom, 9:36 GMT
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, End of totality, 9:43 local time (GMT)
Wrocław, Poland, 10:44 local time (9:44 UTC)
Hjartdal, Norway, 10:47 local time (9:47 UTC)
Prague, Czech Republic, 10:49 local time (9:49 UTC)
Kłodzko, Poland, 10:54 local time (9:54 UTC)
Warsaw, Poland, 10:56 local time (9:56 UTC)
Budapest, Hungary, 11:00 local time (10:00 UTC)
Bregenz, Austria, 11:06 local time (10:06 UTC)
Milan, Italy, 11:08 (10:08 UTC) – unconfirmed source
Kiev, Ukraine, 12:28 local time (10:28 UTC)
Ulcinj, Montenegro, 11:34 local time (10:34 UTC)
Moscow, Russia, 13:35 local time (10:35 UTC)

Simulation

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses

A total lunar eclipse followed on April 4, 2015, visible over Australia, and the Pacific coast of Asia and North America.^[22]

Solar eclipses 2015–2018

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

Saros series

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

Metonic series

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