Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, March 20, 2015, with a magnitude of 1.0445. 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 a partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. This total solar eclipse is notable in that the path of totality passed over the North Pole. Totality was visible in the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.

The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes and 47 seconds off the coast of the Faroe Islands. It was the last total solar eclipse visible in Europe until the eclipse of August 12, 2026.

The track of totality passed across the North Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean.

Event

The solar eclipse began at 08:30 GMT in northwest Europe, and moved towards the northeast, but was still in northern Europe. It was most visible from the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, the 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 Europe. For example, London experienced an 86.8% partial solar eclipse while points north of the Faroe Islands in the Norwegian Sea saw a complete solar eclipse. Three chartered airliners flew above the clouds, giving passengers a slightly prolonged view.

The eclipse was observed at radio frequencies at the Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Finland, where a partial eclipse was seen. The eclipse was also observed by meteorological satellite Meteosat-10.

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. 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 were 80-85% obscured. The temperature drops varied greatly across Europe, with most areas having an insignificant drop in temperature due to the overcast weather, while others, like Scotland, Wales, and Iceland received a drop of 2-4°C. These areas were not obscured by cloud cover during the eclipse which may have led to the drop in temperature. Wind speed in the UK dropped by ~9%.

Coincidence of events

In addition to the eclipse, 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 were 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.

At greatest eclipse, the Sun was at its zenith less than 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of the Equator. Greatest eclipse occurred at 09:45:39 UTC of Friday, March 20, 2015 while March Equinox occurred at 22:45:09 UTC, just under 13 hours after the greatest eclipse (Greatest eclipse occurred in winter, 13 hours before spring).

Religious Significance

Proponents of the Blood Moon Prophecy, such as Bob O'Dell also pointed out that 20 March 2015 was also a significant day on the Jewish and Biblical calendar. That evening was the onset of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month in the Biblical calendar year. Furthermore, the path of the total eclipse over the North Pole was a highly symbolic location infusing the day with both great natural significance and profound religious meaning according to O'Dell. Due to the significance of the eclipse, a global prayer event in Jerusalem was organized that day.

Eclipse visibility

The event was visible as a partial eclipse all across Europe including: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, France, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Montenegro, Finland, Western Russia, and Ukraine.

Simulation

Related eclipses

Eclipses of 2015

• A total solar eclipse on March 20.
• A total lunar eclipse on April 4.
• A partial solar eclipse on September 13.
• A total lunar eclipse on September 28.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of June 1, 2011
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 6, 2019

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 7, 2008
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of April 30, 2022

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 14, 2006
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 25, 2024

Tritos

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026

Solar Saros 120

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of March 30, 2033

Inex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 9, 1986
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 28, 2044

Triad

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 19, 1928
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 19, 2102

Solar eclipses of 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.

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

Saros 120

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.

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.

References

Bibliography

• NASA graphics
• Google interactive map of the eclipse from NASA
• NASA Besselian Elements – Partial Solar Eclipse of 2007 September 11

External links

• Northern Equinox Eclipse, APOD 3/21/2015, totality of Longyearbyen, Svalbald
• A Double Eclipse of the Sun, International Space Station moving in front of the eclipsed sun, APOD 3/22/2015, partial eclipse of Fregenal de la Sierra, Spain
• Diamond Rings and Baily's Beads, APOD 3/28/2015, totality of Longyearbyen, Svalbald
• Corona from Svalbard, APOD 3/31/2015
• Centered and aligned video recording of full phase of total solar eclipse on YouTube
• Eclipse spectacle AstroBob, 3/20/15
• A Full time-lapse taken by UK resident Roger Skillin in Iceland where it was 97.3% totality on YouTube