Solar eclipse of December 15, 2039

A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Thursday, December 15, 2039, with a magnitude of 1.0356. 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. Occurring about 4.5 hours before perigee (on December 15, 2039, at 20:55 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.

The totality of the eclipse begins in the southern Pacific Ocean, passing over much of Antarctica and closely reaching the South Pole. A partial eclipse will be visible in the southern extremities of South America and Africa. It will terminate in the southern Indian Ocean several hours later.

Images

Animated path

Eclipse timing

Places experiencing total eclipse

Places experiencing partial eclipse

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.

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.

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2039

• A partial lunar eclipse on June 6.
• An annular solar eclipse on June 21.
• A partial lunar eclipse on November 30.
• A total solar eclipse on December 15.

Metonic

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 27, 2036
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 3, 2043

Tzolkinex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 2032
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2047

Half-Saros

• Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 9, 2030
• Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 20, 2048

Tritos

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 14, 2029
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 14, 2050

Solar Saros 152

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of December 26, 2057

Inex

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 4, 2011
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 24, 2068

Triad

• Preceded by: Solar eclipse of February 14, 1953
• Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 16, 2126

Solar eclipses of 2036–2039

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.

The partial solar eclipses on February 27, 2036 and August 21, 2036 occur in the previous lunar year eclipse set.

Saros 152

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 152, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 70 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on July 26, 1805. It contains total eclipses from November 2, 1967 through September 14, 2490; hybrid eclipses from September 26, 2508 through October 17, 2544; and annular eclipses from October 29, 2562 through June 16, 2941. The series ends at member 70 as a partial eclipse on August 20, 3049. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 30 at 5 minutes, 16 seconds on June 9, 2328, and the longest duration of annularity will be produced by member 53 at 5 minutes, 20 seconds on February 16, 2743. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.

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.

Tritos series

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

The partial solar eclipses on December 7, 2170 (part of Saros 164) and November 7, 2181 (part of Saros 165) are also a part of this series but are not included in the table below.

Inex series

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Notes

External links