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 took place on Monday, December 14, 2020, when the Moon passed between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Totality occurred in a narrow path across Earth's surface across parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean, when the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than the Sun's so all direct sunlight was blocked. The partial solar eclipse was visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide, including parts of the Pacific Ocean, South America, southwestern Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Moon's apparent diameter was larger than average because the eclipse occurred only 1.8 days after perigee (on December 12, 2020).

Visibility[edit]

Chile[edit]

Totality made landfall in Puerto Saavedra, before traversing through portions of Araucanía Region, Los Ríos Region, and a very small part of Bío Bío Region.^[6] Cities in the path included Temuco, Villarrica, and Pucón. Totality was also visible on Mocha Island. The eclipse's path was similar to the solar eclipse of February 26, 2017. It occurred just 17 months after the solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 and, like the 2019 eclipse, was also visible from Chile and Argentina. It was also a partial solar eclipse in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Argentina[edit]

Totality was visible across the Northern Patagonia (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.

Scientific observations[edit]

The ionospheric effects of the eclipse were expected to be monitored as part of the December 2020 Eclipse Festival of Frequency Measurement, a citizen science experiment organized through the Amateur Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI).^[7] Also, a prediction was made for a group of ionospheric stations in South America, using a numerical model (SUPIM-INPE), of the ionospheric response to this event.^[8]

Gallery[edit]

Partial from Rengo, Chile, 15:07 UTC
Partial from Santiago de Chile, 16:02 UTC
Partial from Puerto Varas, Chile, 16:09 UTC
Totality from Ministro Ramos Mexía, Argentina, 16:14 UTC
Partial from Manuel B. Gonnet, Argentina, 16:32 UTC
Partial from Guarulhos, Brazil, 17:01 UTC
Partial from Taubaté, Brazil, 17:13 UTC
Totality from Valcheta, Argentina

Related eclipses[edit]

This eclipse took place one lunar year after the Solar eclipse of December 26, 2019.

Followed: Solar eclipse of October 16, 2107

Solar eclipses of 2018–2021[edit]

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.^[9]

Note: Partial solar eclipses on February 15, 2018, and August 11, 2018, occurred during the previous semester series.

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

Saros 142[edit]

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. All eclipses in this series occurs at the Moon’s descending node.^[10]

Series members 17–41 occur between 1901 and 2359
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	33	34
March 23, 2183	April 4, 2201	April 15, 2219
35	36	37
April 25, 2237	May 7, 2255	May 17, 2273
38	39	40
May 28, 2291	June 9, 2309	June 20, 2327
41
June 30, 2345

Metonic cycle[edit]

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 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