Solar Eclipse 2020: Date, Time, Visibility and Significance

Solar Eclipse 2020: The second and last solar eclipse or Surya Grahan of the year will occur on December 14, 2020. There are three kinds of solar eclipses, i.e., Total, Partial, and Annular. There is also a rare solar eclipse which is hybrid; it is a combination of an Annular eclipse and Total eclipse.

As per drikpanchang, this would be a Total Solar Eclipse of magnitude 1.02, which means that at the time of the largest eclipse, the Sun would be completely hidden by the shadow of the Moon. The longest duration of the totality would be 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Solar Eclipse 2020: Timing

This solar eclipse would start at 07:03 pm and will end at 12:23 pm. This means that this 2020 solar eclipse will last for about five hours.

Solar Eclipse 2020: Visibility

Temuco, Villarrica, Sierra Colorada are some cities in Chile and Argentina where the total solar eclipse would be seen. The partial solar eclipse can be seen from the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, and southern South America.

Some of the best-known cities from where the partial solar eclipse would be visible are from Santiago in Chile, Sao Paulo in Brazil, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Lima in Peru, Montevideo in Uruguay and Asunción in Paraguay.

How often does a solar eclipse occur?

Each year between 2 and 5 solar eclipses occur, each visible only in a limited area. So most calendar years have only 2 solar eclipses. The maximum solar eclipses that can occur in one year is 5, but this is very rare.

"According to NASA calculations, only about 25 years in the past 5,000 years have had 5 solar eclipses. The last time this happened was in 1935, and the next time will be in 2206."