Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020
| Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020 | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Type of eclipse | |
| Nature | Total |
| Gamma | -0.2939 |
| Magnitude | 1.0254 |
| Maximum eclipse | |
| Duration | 130 sec (2 m 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.
Images
Animated path
Related eclipses
Solar eclipses of 2018-2021
Each member 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.
Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 15, 2018, and August 11, 2018, occur during the previous semester series.
| Ascending node | Descending node | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 117 | July 13, 2018 Partial |
122 | January 6, 2019 Partial | |
| 127 | July 2, 2019 Total |
132 | December 26, 2019 Annular | |
| 137 | June 21, 2020 Annular |
142 | December 14, 2020 Total | |
| 147 | June 10, 2021 Annular |
152 | December 4, 2021 Total | |
Saros 142
It is a part of Saros cycle 142, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on April 17, 1624. It contains one hybrid eclipse on July 14, 1768, and total eclipses from July 25, 1786 through October 29, 2543. The series ends at member 72 as a partial eclipse on June 5, 2904. The longest duration of totality will be 6 minutes, 34 seconds on May 28, 2291.[1]
Series members 17-27 occur between 1901 and 2100:
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).
| colspan="5" style="background:lightsteelblue;|This series has 21 eclipse events between July 22, 1971 and July 22, 2047 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 21-22 | 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 |
Notes
References
- Earth visibility chart and eclipse statistics Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar eclipse of 2020 December 14. |