Solar Eclipse Prime Page

Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Fred Espenak

Key to Solar Eclipse Figure (below)

Introduction


The Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14 is visible from the following geographic regions:

  • Partial Eclipse: Pacific, south South America, Antarctica
  • Total Eclipse: south Pacific, Chile, Argentina, south Atlantic

The map to the right depicts the geographic regions of eclipse visibility. Click on the map to enlarge it. For an explanation of the features appearing in the map, see Key to Solar Eclipse Maps.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on 2020 Dec 14 at 16:14:39 TD (16:13:29 UT1). This is 1.8 days after the Moon reaches perigee. During the eclipse, the Sun is in the constellation Ophiuchus. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of 1212.

The eclipse belongs to Saros 142 and is number 23 of 72 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node. The Moon moves northward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma increases.

The total solar eclipse of 2020 Dec 14 is preceded two weeks earlier by a penumbral lunar eclipse on 2020 Nov 30.

These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.

The eclipse predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 70.2 seconds for this eclipse.

The following links provide maps and data for the eclipse.

Global Map Animation of Solar Eclipse

Michael Zeiler GreatAmericanEclipse.com and
Fred Espenak EclipseWise.com have created a series of eclipse animations - one for every solar eclipse during the 21st Century.

The animation of the Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14 shows the path of the Moon's shadows as they sweep across a global map of Earth (an orthographic projection). The vantage point of the animation is as seen from the Moon. The daylight hemisphere of Earth then faces the Moon and the lunar shadows appear perfectly circular with no distorted projection effects as they race across Earth. Another consequence of this viewing geometry is that the Moon's shadows move across the disk of Earth in a straight line.

The Moon's umbral shadow appears as a small black disk and tracks along the path of totality (yellow strip). The much larger penumbral shadow is lightly shaded and is outlined with a solid black edge. A partial eclipse is visible from within the penumbra, while a total eclipse is visible inside the umbra.

The map to the right shows a single frame from the medium size animation for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14 . In the upper left corner is the type of eclipse and the eclipse date. To the upper right is the Universal Time. The lower left corner displays the instantaneous duration of totality. To the lower right is the credit for the animation.

Animations for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14 are available in three sizes/resolutions: small, medium, and large. They can be viewed through the following links:


Creative Commons License
These animations may be freely used and shared through Creative Commons.
You may use and distribute these eclipse animations as long as they are not modified and you include an attribution.
Solar Eclipse Global Animation by Fred Espenak and Michael Zeiler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on work at EclipseWise.com and GreatAmericanEclipse.com

Attribution: "Global Map Animation of Eclipse courtesy of Michael Zeiler (GreatAmericanEclipse.com) and Fred Espenak (EclipseWise.com)".

Eclipse Data: Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Eclipse Characteristics
Parameter Value
Eclipse Magnitude 1.02536
Eclipse Obscuration 1.05136
Gamma-0.29394
Conjunction Times
Event Calendar Date and Time Julian Date
Greatest Eclipse 2020 Dec 14 at 16:14:39.4 TD (16:13:29.1 UT1) 2459198.176032
Ecliptic Conjunction 2020 Dec 14 at 16:17:44.3 TD (16:16:34.0 UT1) 2459198.178172
Equatorial Conjunction 2020 Dec 14 at 16:19:21.9 TD (16:18:11.7 UT1) 2459198.179302
Geocentric Coordinates of Sun and Moon
2020 Dec 14 at 16:14:39.4 TD (16:13:29.1 UT1)
Coordinate Sun Moon
Right Ascension17h30m05.9s17h29m54.3s
Declination-23°15'32.3"-23°32'58.8"
Semi-Diameter 16'14.9" 16'23.7"
Eq. Hor. Parallax 08.9" 1°00'10.4"
Geocentric Libration of Moon
Angle Value
l 3.5°
b 0.4°
c 1.5°
Prediction Parameters
Paramater Value
Ephemerides JPL DE405
ΔT 70.2 s
k (penumbra) 0.2725076
k (umbra) 0.2722810
Saros Series 142 (23/72)

Explanation of Solar Eclipse Data Tables

Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Contacts of Penumbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
First External ContactP113:35:04.213:33:54.002°06.1'S115°39.1'W
First Internal ContactP215:38:01.715:36:51.528°51.1'S159°10.6'W
Last Internal ContactP316:51:09.216:49:59.043°59.0'S040°45.1'E
Last External ContactP418:54:16.818:53:06.618°01.3'S006°29.5'W
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Penumbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N114:21:59.714:20:49.520°47.5'N117°05.2'W
South Extreme Path Limit 1S115:22:00.315:20:50.043°20.1'S165°23.9'W
North Extreme Path Limit 2N218:07:24.418:06:14.104°54.8'N004°56.1'W
South Extreme Path Limit 2S217:07:08.317:05:58.156°50.6'S053°23.4'E

Explanation of Penumbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes: Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Contacts of Umbral Shadow with Earth
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
First External ContactU114:33:44.214:32:34.007°43.6'S132°45.3'W
First Internal ContactU214:34:16.414:33:06.107°48.4'S132°55.4'W
Last Internal ContactU317:55:01.717:53:51.523°38.9'S011°07.6'E
Last External ContactU417:55:29.817:54:19.623°34.8'S010°58.5'E
Extreme Northern and Southern Path Limits of Umbra
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
North Extreme Path Limit 1N114:33:53.214:32:42.907°38.1'S132°45.1'W
South Extreme Path Limit 1S114:34:07.514:32:57.307°54.0'S132°55.6'W
North Extreme Path Limit 2N217:55:22.017:54:11.823°30.0'S010°57.9'E
South Extreme Path Limit 2S217:55:09.417:53:59.223°43.7'S011°08.2'E

Explanation of Umbral Shadow Contacts and Extremes Tables

Central Line Extremes and Duration: Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Extreme Limits of the Central Line
Contact Event Contact Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude
Extreme Central Line Limit 1C114:34:00.314:32:50.107°46.0'S132°50.3'W
Extreme Central Line Limit 2C217:55:15.817:54:05.523°36.8'S011°03.0'E

Explanation of Central Line Extremes Table

Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration
Event Time
TD
Time
UT1
Latitude Longitude Sun
Altitude
Sun
Azimuth
Path Width Central
Duration
Greatest Eclipse16:14:39.416:13:29.140°20.1'S067°57.4'W 72.7° 10.3° 90.2 km02m09.69s
Greatest Duration16:14:45.116:13:34.940°20.7'S067°54.8'W 72.7° 10.1° 90.2 km02m09.69s

Explanation of Greatest Eclipse and Greatest Duration

Polynomial Besselian Elements: Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Polynomial Besselian Elements
2020 Dec 14 at 16:00:00.0 TD (=t0)
n x y d l1 l2 μ
0 -0.18183 -0.26964 -23.2578 0.54388 -0.00227 61.2659
1 0.56335 -0.08581 -0.0020 0.00010 0.00010 14.9965
2 0.00002 0.00019 0.0000 -0.00001 -0.00001 -0.0000
3 -0.00001 0.00000 - - - -
Tan ƒ1 0.0047502
Tan ƒ2 0.0047266

At time t1 (decimal hours), each besselian element is evaluated by:

x = x0 + x1*t + x2*t2 + x3*t3 (or x = Σ [xn*tn]; n = 0 to 3)

where: t = t1 - t0 (decimal hours) and t0 = 16.000

Explanation of Polynomial Besselian Elements

Eclipse Publications

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For more visit: AstroPixels Publishing

Links for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14

Links to Additional Solar Eclipse Information

  • Home - home page of EclipseWise with predictions for both solar and lunar eclipses

Decade Tables of Solar Eclipses:
| 1901 - 1910 | 1911 - 1919 | 1921 - 1930 | 1931 - 1940 | 1941 - 1950 |
| 1951 - 1960 | 1961 - 1970 | 1971 - 1980 | 1981 - 1990 | 1991 - 2000 |
| 2001 - 2010 | 2011 - 2020 | 2021 - 2030 | 2031 - 2040 | 2041 - 2050 |
| 2051 - 2060 | 2061 - 2070 | 2071 - 2080 | 2081 - 2090 | 2091 - 2100 |

Solar Eclipse Publications

Eclipse Publications

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jpeg jpeg
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For more visit: AstroPixels Publishing

Eclipse Predictions

Predictions for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2020 Dec 14 were generated using the JPL DE405 solar and lunar ephemerides. The lunar coordinates were calculated with respect to the Moon's Center of Mass. The predictions are given in both Terrestrial Dynamical Time (TD) and Universal Time (UT1). The parameter ΔT is used to convert between these two times (i.e., UT1 = TD - ΔT). ΔT has a value of 70.2 seconds for this eclipse.

Acknowledgments

Some of the content on this website is based on the books 21st Century Canon of Solar Eclipses and Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy.

Permission is granted to reproduce eclipse data when accompanied by a link to this page and an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, www.EclipseWise.com"

The use of diagrams and maps is permitted provided that they are NOT altered (except for re-sizing) and the embedded credit line is NOT removed or concealed.