It would only seem appropriate that the final eclipse in this eccentric year of 2020 would appear only from Patagonia – called the “end of the world”, as it reaches the bottom of the South American continent.
While some parts of Chile and Argentina will experience total solar eclipses, the moon will completely annihilate the sun, while partial solar eclipses will only be visible from the lower two-thirds of South America and the narrower part of South West Africa. North America will see no part of it.
The 2020 total solar eclipse will begin at 9:33 a.m. (EST (1433 GMT), approximately 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, over the South Atlantic Ocean, and reach the Pacific coast of Chile 87 minutes later, at 11 a.m. EST. (1600 GMT). It will take about 25 minutes to clear the southeast from the Patagonia section of Chile and Argentina, then move about 350 miles (, 000,000 km) over the South Atlantic Ocean, without any more land. The local sunset will end at about 2 local0 miles (370 km) southwest off the coast of Namibia at 12:54 pm EST (1754 GMT).
Video: Total solar eclipse in December 2020 – where does it appear?
Related: Total Solar Eclipse 2020: Here’s how to watch it online
| Location | Partial starts | Perfection begins | Duration | Partial end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savedra | 11:38 am | 1:00 p.m. | 2m4s | 2:28 p.m. |
| Pucon | 11:41 in the morning | 1:03 p.m. | 2M9S | 2:31 p.m. |
| Valcheta | 11:52 am | 1:16 p.m. | 2 m 11 s | 2:43 p.m. |
| Salina del AJ | 11:59 a.m. | 1:25 p.m. | 6s | 2:50 p.m. |
| Location | Partial starts | Max | Partial end | Dimension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago | 11:36 am | 1:01 p.m. | 2:31 p.m. | 0.83 |
| Buenos Aires | 12:03 p.m. | 1:32 p.m. | 2:59 p.m. | 0.79 |
| Montevideo | 12:09 p.m. | 1:37 p.m. | 3:03 p.m. | 0.79 |
| Sao Paulo | 12:45 p.m. | 2:04 p.m. | 3:16 p.m. | 0.43 |
| Lima, Peru | 9:16 am | 10:16 am | 11:23 p.m. | 0.28 |
| Wal Wal Lewis Bay, Namibia | 6:58 p.m. | 7:40 pm | After sunset | 0.76 |
The regions of Chile and Argentina, spread by the total eclipse, are, unfortunately, sparsely populated. Fortunately, during its 4-minute journey over Chile, the black shadow of the moon will pass over the cities of Villarica (p. 46,000) and Pucon (p. 22, 22,000), the most popular tourist resort areas during the summer that officially begin. Is. Just a week later. Both cities have favorable meteorological prospects, indicating that the weather may be fair and dry to watch the eclipse.
The point of the best eclipse is 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Sierra Colorado, a village and a municipality in the province of Rio Negro in Argentina (P.P. 1,300). The width of the path here is 55 miles (90 km) and the total eclipse will last 2 minutes 9.6 seconds.
About 400 to 500 miles (600-800 km) to the north is the large metropolitan area of Santiago, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. All three cities will see fairly large amounts of obscured sun through the moon (about 75-80%). Unfortunately, that magical word “perfection!” It’s all too far to experience the vague experience of amazing places.
Pre-empty views, thanks for the epidemic
Since the early 70’s, “eclipse chases” have been in vogue, with many scientific expeditions, tours and cruises taking large numbers of people to the predicted narrow zone where total solar eclipses will appear, usually no more than a few precious minutes.
Sadly, it looks like many will be denied that opportunity this year due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic. Some professional astronomers are mourning that they will be forced to miss their first total eclipse in more than 30 years! We can only hope that things will be different for the total solar eclipse scheduled for December 4, 2021.
Antarctica, no?
Editor’s note: If you would like to safely observe the total solar eclipse of 2020 and want to share your experience with Space.com for a story or slideshow, send images and comments [email protected].
J Rao Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium in New York. He writes about astronomy, farmers’ almanacs and other publications for Natural History magazine. Follow us on Twitter @speed.com and Facebook.
