Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015

Solar eclipse of March 20, 2015
	From Longyearbyen, Svalbard
	Map
Type of eclipse
Nature	Total
Gamma	0.9454
Magnitude	1.0445
Maximum eclipse
Duration	167 sec (2 m 47 s)
Coordinates	Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Max. width of band	463 km (288 mi)
Times (UTC)
Greatest eclipse	9:46:47
References
Saros	120 (61 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)	9541

A total solar eclipse occurred on 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 a 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 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.^[1]

The track of totality passed across the North Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean. The only populated places from which the totality could be seen were the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.^[2]

Event

The solar eclipse began at 08:30GMT in North West Europe and moved towards the northeast but 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.^[3] For example, London experienced an 85% partial solar eclipse while points north of the Faroe Islands in the Norwegian Sea saw a complete solar eclipse.^[4]

The eclipse was observed at radio frequencies at the Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Finland, where a partial eclipse was seen.^[5] The eclipse was also observed by meteorological satellite Meteosat-10.^[6]^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]^[10] Temperature may decrease by 3 °C, and wind power may decrease as winds are reduced by 0.7 m/s.^[11]

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 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.^[12]

Religious Significance

Proponents of the Blood Moon Prophecy, such as Bob O'Dell ^[13] 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 ^[14] was a highly symbolic location infusing the day with both great natural significance and profound religious meaning according to O'Dell. Due to the supposed significance of the eclipse, Blood Moon enthusiasts organized a global prayer event in Jerusalem that day.^[15]

Eclipse visibility

The event was visible as a partial eclipse all across Europe including: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom,^[16] Ireland,^[17] Portugal, France,^[18] Germany,^[19] Poland,^[20] Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Montenegro, Finland, Western Russia, and Ukraine.

11049438 955010251175912 324184008 n(1).jpg

Lisbon, Portugal, from 8:15 through 10:00 (local time, GMT)^[21]
20th March 2015 Solar Eclipse in Sheffield, UK.jpg

Sheffield, United Kingdom. All time local time (GMT)
Solar eclipse of 2015 March 20 - Lorient 5743.JPG

Lorient, France, 10:19:54 local time (9:19:54 GMT)
15-03-20-Sonnenfinsternis-Berlin-RalfR-N3S 6865-01.jpg

Berlin, Germany, 10:28:36 local time (9:28:36 UTC) – unconfirmed source
15-03-20-Sonnenfinsternis-Markt Schwaben.JPG

Markt Schwaben, Germany
March 20th Eclipse - Ireland.jpg

Dublin, Ireland, 9:30:09 GMT
Eclipse, 2015, Chester-le-Street.jpg

Chester-le-Street, United Kingdom, 9:36 GMT
EclipseTórshavn.JPG

Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, End of totality, 9:43:14 local time (GMT)
Solar eclipse 20.03.2015 Wrocław, Poland.png

Wrocław, Poland, 10:43:55 local time (9:43:55 UTC)
Solar Eclipse 2015 - Hjartdal, Norway.JPG

Hjartdal, Norway, 10:47:00 local time (9:47:00 UTC)
Zatmění Slunce 2015-03-20 Praha, Dejvice 10.48.jpg

Prague, Czech Republic, 10:48:53 local time (9:48:53 UTC)
2015 Zaćmienie słońca 20.03.2015.jpg

Kłodzko, Poland, 10:54:15 local time (9:54:15 UTC)
Solar eclipse 2015 Warsaw Poland.jpg

Warsaw, Poland, 10:56:00 local time (9:56:00 UTC)
Solar eclipse 2015 Budapest Hungary.jpg

Budapest, Hungary, 10:59:45 local time (9:59:45 UTC)
Sonnenfinsternis - Solar eclipse of 2015 March 20 in Austria 5.jpg

Bregenz, Austria, 11:05:47 local time (10:05:47 UTC)
Solar eclipse 20th, March 2015, in Milano, Italy.JPG

Milan, Italy, 11:07:49 (10:07:49 UTC) – unconfirmed source
Solar eclipse of 2015 March 20 in Kiev.JPG

Kiev, Ukraine, 12:28:17 local time (10:28:17 UTC)
Ulcinj – Eclipse 2015.JPG

Ulcinj, Montenegro, 11:34:14 local time (10:34:14 UTC)
20 Mar 2015 Moscow 10-35 (UTC), 13-35 (Local).jpg

Moscow, Russia, 13:35:27 local time (10:35:27 UTC)

Simulation

330px	File:Animation solar eclipse of March 20, 2015.gif

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses

A total lunar eclipse followed on April 4, 2015, visible over Australia, and the Pacific coast of Asia and North America.^[22]

Solar eclipses 2015–2018

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.

Solar eclipses 2015–2018

Solar eclipse series sets from 2015–2018
Saros	Map	Saros	Map
Descending node		Ascending node
120 Longyearbyen, Norway	March 20, 2015 Total	125	September 13, 2015 Partial
130	March 9, 2016 Total	135	September 1, 2016 150px Annular
140	February 26, 2017 Annular	145	August 21, 2017 150px Total
150	February 15, 2018 Partial	155	August 11, 2018 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, 50 seconds on March 9, 1997.^[23]

Series members 55–65 occur between 1901 and 2100:

55	56	57
January 14, 1907	January 24, 1925	February 4, 1943
58	59	60
February 15, 1961	February 26, 1979	March 9, 1997
61	62	63
March 20, 2015	March 30, 2033	April 11, 2051
64	65
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	March 19–20	January 5–6	October 24–25	August 12–13
118	119	121	123	125
June 1, 2011	March 20, 2015	January 6, 2019	October 25, 2022	August 12, 2026
128	129	131	133	135
June 1, 2030	March 20, 2034	January 5, 2038	October 25, 2041	August 12, 2045
138	139	141	143	145
May 31, 2049	March 20, 2053	January 5, 2057	October 24, 2060	August 12, 2064
148	149	151	153	155
May 31, 2068	March 19, 2072	January 6, 2076	October 24, 2079	August 13, 2083
157
June 1, 2087