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	64.4°N 6.6°W / 64.4; -6.6
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 will occur on Friday March 20, 2015. Template:Total solar eclipse summary

It will have a magnitude of 1.045. The longest duration of totality will be 2 minutes 47 seconds off the coast of the Faroe Islands. It is the last total solar eclipse visible in Europe until the eclipse of August 12, 2026.

At the end of its path, the shadow of the Moon rises from the Earth's surface to space at the north pole. As March 20 is the Northward equinox, the eclipse occurs as the Sun rises at the north pole for the first time in six months.

Images

Closeup animation of shadow in 30 second frames:

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses

A total lunar eclipse will follow on April 4, 2015, visible over Australia, and the Pacific coast of Asia and North America.

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.

Solar eclipse series sets from 2015 to 2018

Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Map	Gamma		Saros	Map	Gamma
120 Longyearbyen, Svalbard	2015 March 20 Total	0.94536		125 Solar Dynamics Observatory	2015 September 13 Partial (south)	−1.10039
130 Balikpapan, Indonesia	2016 March 9 Total	0.26092		135 L'Étang-Salé, Réunion	2016 September 1 Annular	−0.33301
140 Partial from Buenos Aires	2017 February 26 Annular	−0.45780		145 Casper, Wyoming	2017 August 21 Total	0.43671
150 Partial from Olivos, Buenos Aires	2018 February 15 Partial (south)	−1.21163		155 Partial from Huittinen, Finland	2018 August 11 Partial (north)	1.14758

Partial solar eclipses on July 13, 2018, and January 6, 2019, occur during the next semester series.

Saros series

This eclipse is a part of Saros cycle 120, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 27, 933 AD, and reached an annular eclipse on August 11, 1059. It was a hybrid event for 3 dates: May 8, 1510, through May 29, 1546, and total eclipses from June 8, 1564, through March 30, 2033. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 7, 2195. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.

Series members 55–65 occur between 1901 and 2100
55	56	57
January 14, 1907	January 24, 1925	February 4, 1943
58	59	60
February 15, 1961	February 26, 1979	March 9, 1997
61	62	63
March 20, 2015	March 30, 2033	April 11, 2051
64	65
April 21, 2069	May 2, 2087

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.

21 eclipse events between June 1, 2011 and June 1, 2087
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	166
June 1, 2087			October 24, 2098

References

• NASA graphics
  • Google interactive map of the eclipse from NASA
  • NASA Besselian Elements - Partial Solar Eclipse of 2007 September 11
• http://www.solareclipse2015.org.uk