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. Occurring about 14 hours after perigee (on March 19, 2015, at 19:40 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

Totality was visible in the Faroe Islands and Svalbard. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Greenland, Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, and western Russia. This total solar eclipse is notable in that the path of totality passed over the North Pole.

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.

Event Simulation

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 had 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.Solar Eclipse March 2015 Policy Brief European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, 15 July 2015 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) could have been −400 MW/minute and +700 MW/minute for places in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark which were up to 85% obscured."Solar Eclipse 2015 – Impact Analysis" pp3+6+7+13 . European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, 19 February 2015. Accessed: 4 March 2015. 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 24°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 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).

Eclipse timing Places experiencing total eclipse Solar Eclipse of March 20, 2015(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseStart of total eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of total eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of totality (min:s)Duration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum magnitude Tórshavn 08:39:02 09:41:06 09:42:06 09:43:05 10:47:53 1:59 2:09 1.0068 Klaksvík 08:39:30 09:41:30 09:42:33 09:43:36 10:48:17 2:06 2:09 1.0076 Ny-Ålesund 10:11:37 11:10:04 11:11:15 11:12:25 12:11:16 2:21 2:00 1.0148 Barentsburg 10:11:26 11:10:16 11:11:31 11:12:46 12:11:58 2:30 2:01 1.0205 Longyearbyen 10:12:04 11:10:54 11:12:08 11:13:22 12:12:32 2:28 2:00 1.0179References:

Places experiencing partial eclipse Solar Eclipse of March 20, 2015(Local Times)Country or territory City or placeStart of partial eclipseMaximum eclipseEnd of partial eclipseDuration of eclipse (hr:min)Maximum coverage Lisbon 07:59:23 09:01:03 10:08:23 2:09 66.92% Madrid 09:05:08 10:09:00 11:18:20 2:13 66.53% Saint Anne 08:20:35 09:26:12 10:36:10 2:16 83.09% Dublin 08:24:09 09:28:33 10:36:55 2:13 91.56% Paris 09:22:43 10:29:31 11:40:28 2:18 77.89% London 08:25:01 09:31:09 10:41:13 2:16 84.44% Douglas 08:26:35 09:31:23 10:39:58 2:13 91.53% Rome 09:23:58 10:31:30 11:42:51 2:19 53.75% Zurich 09:26:24 10:34:27 11:46:15 2:20 69.33% Brussels 09:27:34 10:34:47 11:45:43 2:18 79.65% Luxembourg 09:27:16 10:34:55 11:46:16 2:19 75.87% Nuuk 06:28:42 (sunrise) 06:36:06 07:27:35 0:59 88.46% Reykjavík 08:37:49 09:37:20 10:39:35 2:02 97.77% Amsterdam 09:30:26 10:37:39 11:48:20 2:18 81.77% Prague 09:36:50 10:45:45 11:57:19 2:20 68.67% Vienna 09:36:54 10:45:56 11:57:31 2:21 62.83% Berlin 09:38:54 10:47:32 11:58:41 2:20 74.32% Budapest 09:39:46 10:48:48 12:00:01 2:20 58.36% Copenhagen 09:42:27 10:50:30 12:00:46 2:18 80.60% Oslo 09:46:48 10:53:33 12:02:14 2:15 88.59% Warsaw 09:47:40 10:56:49 12:07:26 2:20 66.16% Danmarkshavn 09:01:02 09:59:10 10:58:29 1:57 95.68% Stockholm 09:52:34 11:00:15 12:09:12 2:17 81.97% Riga 10:56:22 12:04:52 13:14:04 2:18 72.49% Tallinn 10:59:29 12:07:22 13:15:46 2:16 76.60% Helsinki 11:00:22 12:08:03 13:16:12 2:16 77.76% Rovaniemi 11:06:44 12:12:12 13:17:53 2:11 87.56% Alert 05:57:40 (sunrise) 06:13:58 06:59:40 1:02 79.28% Moscow 12:13:10 13:20:19 14:26:32 2:13 57.50% Belushya Guba 12:27:46 13:29:58 14:31:04 2:03 81.88%References:

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.

Eclipse details Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

+March 20, 2015 Solar Eclipse Times Event Time (UTC) First Penumbral External Contact 2015 March 20 at 07:41:59.5 UTC First Umbral External Contact 2015 March 20 at 09:10:40.3 UTC First Central Line 2015 March 20 at 09:13:50.9 UTC First Umbral Internal Contact 2015 March 20 at 09:17:19.8 UTC Ecliptic Conjunction 2015 March 20 at 09:37:18.1 UTC Greatest Duration 2015 March 20 at 09:46:24.2 UTC Greatest Eclipse 2015 March 20 at 09:46:46.8 UTC Equatorial Conjunction 2015 March 20 at 10:18:14.1 UTC Last Umbral Internal Contact 2015 March 20 at 10:15:51.3 UTC Last Central Line 2015 March 20 at 10:19:19.7 UTC Last Umbral External Contact 2015 March 20 at 10:22:29.9 UTC Last Penumbral External Contact 2015 March 20 at 11:51:20.4 UTC

+March 20, 2015 Solar Eclipse Parameters Parameter Value Eclipse Magnitude 1.04455 Eclipse Obscuration 1.09109 Gamma 0.94536 Sun Right Ascension 23h58m01.5s Sun Declination -00°12'50.4" Sun Semi-Diameter 16'03.7" Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.8" Moon Right Ascension 23h56m50.5s Moon Declination +00°42'08.7" Moon Semi-Diameter 16'41.6" Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 1°01'15.8" ΔT 67.7 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

+ Eclipse season of March–April 2015 March 20Descending node (new moon) April 4Ascending node (full moon) Total solar eclipseSolar Saros 120 Total lunar eclipseLunar Saros 132

Related eclipses Eclipses in 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

Saros 120

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

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

Eclipse spectacle AstroBob, 3/20/15