Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

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Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

Dublin, Ireland

Map

Type of eclipse
Nature

Total

Gamma
Magnitude
Duration
Coordinates
Max. width of band
Greatest eclipse
Saros
Catalog # (SE5000)

0.9454
1.0445
Maximum eclipse
2m 47s
64.4N 6.6W
463 km
Times (UTC)
9:46:47
References
120 (61 of 71)
9541

A total solar eclipse occurred on Friday 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 the 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 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.[1]
The only populated places reachable by public travel from which the totality could be seen were
the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.[2]

Contents

1 Viewing
o 1.1 Impact
o 1.2 Coincidence of events
o 1.3 Geographic progression

2 Gallery

3 Related eclipses
o 3.1 Lunar eclipses
o 3.2 Solar eclipses 20152018

o 3.3 Saros series

o 3.4 Metonic series

4 References

5 Bibliography

6 External links

Viewing
The solar eclipse began at 08:30GMT in the southwest and moved towards the northeast. It was
most visible from the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, 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 continental Europe.[3] For
example, London experienced an 85% partial solar eclipse compared to north of the Faroe
Islands in the Norwegian Sea which saw a complete solar eclipse.[4]
The eclipse was observed at radio frequencies at the Metshovi Radio Observatory, Finland,
where a near total eclipse was seen.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7][8] Temperature may decrease by 3C, and wind
power may decrease as winds are reduced by 0.7m/s.[9]

Coincidence of events
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.[10]

Geographic progression

Gallery

Lisbon, Portugal, from 8:15 through 10:00 [11]

Sheffield, UK. All time local time (GMT)


Chester-le-Street, England, 9:07 GMT

Lorient, France, 10:19 (9:19 GMT)

Huddersfield, England, 9:20 GMT

Berlin, Germany, 10:28 (9:28 UTC) unconfirmed source

Dublin, Ireland, 9:30 GMT


Kodzko, Poland, 10:54 local time (9:54 UTC)

Prague, Czech Republic, 10:55 (9:55 UTC) unconfirmed source

Milan, Italy, 11:07 (10:07 UTC) unconfirmed source

Ulcinj, Montenegro, 11:34 local time (10:34 UTC)

Kiev, Ukraine, 12:28 local time (10:28 UTC)

Moscow, Russia, 13:35 local time (10:35 UTC)


Hjartdal, Norway, 10:47 local time (GTM)

Budapest, Hungary, 10:59 local time (9:59 UTC)

Warsaw, Poland, 10:57 local time (9:57 UTC)

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.[12]

Solar eclipses 20152018

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.

120

Solar eclipse series sets from 20152018

Descending node
Ascending node
March 20, 2015
125
September 13, 2015

Total
March 9, 2016

130

Partial
September 1, 2016

135

Total
February 26, 2017

140

Annular
August 21, 2017

145

Annular
February 15, 2018

150

Total
August 11, 2018

155

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

Saros series

It 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.[13]
Series members 5565 occur between 1901 and 2100:
55

56

57

January 14, 1907

58

January 24, 1925

59

February 4, 1943
60

February 15, 1961

61

February 26, 1979

62

March 9, 1997
63

March 20, 2015

64

March 30, 2033

65

April 11, 2051

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).
This series has 21 eclipse events between June 1, 2011 and June 1, 2087.
May 31 June 1
118

March 20
119

January 56
121

October 2425
123

August 1213
125

June 1, 2011
128

March 20, 2015

129

January 6, 2019
131

October 25, 2022

133

August 12, 2026

135

June 1, 2030
138

March 20, 2034

139

January 5, 2038
141

October 25, 2041

143

August 12, 2045

145

May 31, 2049

148

March 20, 2053

149

January 5, 2057
151

October 24, 2060

153

August 12, 2064

155

May 31, 2068

157

March 19, 2072

January 6, 2076

October 24, 2079

August 13, 2083

June 1, 2087

References
1.
F. Espenak and Xavier Jubier. "NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12"
. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
20. marts 2015 Total Solar Eclipse
Time&Date
"Solar eclipse 2015 live: Britain to plunge into morning twilight as Moon blocks out Sun"
. Daily Telegraph. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
"Solar Eclipse: live updates"

. Guardian. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.

"Solar eclipse as seen by a radio telescope"
. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
European power grids keep lights on through solar eclipse[1]
"Solar Eclipse 2015 Impact Analysis
" pp3+6+7+13 . European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, 19
February 2015. Accessed: 4 March 2015.
Curve of potential power loss
S. L. Gray , R. G. Harrison. "Diagnosing eclipse-induced wind changes
" Proceedings of the Royal Society. DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2012.0007 Published 25 May 2012.
Archive
"In 2015, first of six supermoons comes on January 20"
. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
"Instagram"
. Instagram. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
2015 Apr 04 chart:
Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC
1.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros120.html

Bibliography

NASA graphics

Google interactive map of the eclipse from NASA

NASA Besselian Elements Partial Solar Eclipse of 2007 September 11

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar eclipse of 2015 March 20.

Centered and aligned video recording of full phase of total solar eclipse

on YouTube

Eclipse spectacle

AstroBob, 3/20/15
[show]

Solar eclipses
Categories:

2015 in Europe

2015 in science

Solar eclipses

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