Total solar eclipse
March 20, 2015 in Faroe Islands, Svalbard, North Atlantic, North Pole
A total Solar Eclipse takes place on March 20, 2015. 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. A total lunar eclipse will follow on April 4, 2015, visible over Australia, and the Pacific coast of Asia and North America. A partial solar eclipse can be seen from Greenland, Europe, Central Asia, and Western Russia.
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, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of kilometres wide.
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, ending the winter polar night.
The 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, 16 seconds on August 12, 1654. (With material from: Wikipedia)
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