Dec 14, 2020 Total Solar Eclipse
What the eclipse would look like near the max point
The animation shows approximately what the eclipse looks like near the maximum point of the eclipse (weather permitting).
Stages in eclipse
- Partial Eclipse just started
- Partial Eclipse in good progress
- Full Eclipse starts
- Maximum Eclipse
- Full Eclipse ends
- Partial Eclipse continues
- Partial Eclipse about to end
Click the 'play' button to view the animation. The pause button can also be used to temporarily suspend the animation.
The animation shows where this total solar eclipse is visible (white, gray and red shading) as well as day and night (dark “wave” slowly moving across the Earth's surface).
The colors within the shaded area show how much of the Sun's disk the Moon covers during the eclipse. The dark center of the red area shows the best locations to view this eclipse. Here, the Moon moves centrally in front of the Sun and the eclipse is total.
In the red area, the Sun is obscured 90 percent or more, in the dark gray area the Moon covers between 25 and 90 percent of the Sun's disk. The white shaded area symbolizes locations where less than 25 percent are covered.

The dark strip in the center indicates the best locations for viewing the eclipse. Here, the Moon moves centrally in front of the Sun.
The eclipse is also visible in the areas that are shaded red, but less of the Sun's disk is obscured. The fainter the red shading the less of the Sun's disk is covered during the eclipse.
Where to see the eclipse
Continents seeing at least a partial eclipse:
- South in Africa
- Parts of South America
- Pacific
- Atlantic
- Indian Ocean
- Antarctica
Partial eclipse visible in...
- Easter Island, Chile
- Talcahuano, Chile
- Concepción, Chile
- Talca, Chile
- Santiago, Chile
- Rancagua, Chile
- Valdivia, Chile
- Temuco, Chile
- Osorno, Chile
- Puerto Montt, Chile
- Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina
- Neuquén, Neuquén, Argentina
- Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina
- Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
- Viedma, Rio Negro, Argentina
- Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Montevideo, Uruguay
- Cape Town, South Africa
When the eclipse happens worldwide
The eclipse starts in one location and ends in another, the times below are for visibility for any location on earth.| Event | UTC Time | Time in Palo Alto* |
|---|---|---|
| First location to see partial eclipse begin | Dec 14 at 1:35 PM | Dec 14 at 5:35 AM |
| First location to see full Eclipse begin | Dec 14 at 2:33 PM | Dec 14 at 6:33 AM |
| Maximum Eclipse | Dec 14 at 4:11 PM | Dec 14 at 8:11 AM |
| Last location to see full Eclipse end | Dec 14 at 5:55 PM | Dec 14 at 9:55 AM |
| Last location to see partial Eclipse end | Dec 14 at 6:54 PM | Dec 14 at 10:54 AM |
* Local times shown do not refer to when the eclipse can be observed from Palo Alto. Instead, they indicate the times when the eclipse begins, is at its max, and ends, somewhere else on earth. The local times are useful if you want to view the eclipse via a live webcam See eclipses viewable in Palo Alto.
Eclipses during year 2020
- Jan 10, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
- Jun 5, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
- Jun 21, 2020 Annular Solar Eclipse
- Jul 5, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
- Nov 30, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
- Dec 14, 2020 Total Solar Eclipse (Currently shown)
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More information
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