Jump to 20:45 to see totality. The graphic below shows what to look for!

NASA EDGE talks NASA Heliophysics, NASA Solar Missions, Eclipses, and Space Weather as the perfect setup for exclusive, high-resolution footage of the 2021 Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse. Join Blair and Franklin as the talk with NASA Scientists Kelly Korreck, Michael Kirk, and Jesse Woodroffe before sharing this exclusive eclipse footage provided by the J. M. Pasachoff Antarctic Eclipse Expedition. Credit to Christian Lockwood, Theo Boris, David Zimmerman, Janet Boris, and Peter Boris for providing the stream and footage of the eclipse.

NASA - What can you see during a total solar eclipse?

C. Alex Young of The Sun Today is in Antarctica and saw it live! Weather conditions were not great, with serious waves as the boat moved to the path of totality. Clouds blocked the view of the corona, but it’s the full experience that makes it special.

Video below has no sound. Filmed from a boat off the Antarctic coast.

[REPORT FROM ALEX – 2021.12.03 – Before Eclipse] – Hello from Shingle Cove, Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands. It is the day before the Dec. 4 total solar eclipse which starts in just over 12 hours. We set sail this afternoon for open waters to the NE to view the eclipse. We are expecting about 8 other ships in the area early tomorrow morning. The eclipse starts at 3:18 am local time. The Sun will be only 4 degrees in the sky. Sunrise is at 2: am. Totally starts at 4:07:05 am and ends at 4:08:47 am. Last contact and the end of the eclipse is 4:59 am. Satellite contact is on and off so I hope I can get this video out of our current location. I hope to have more video and photos from our landing as well as the eclipse and when we reach the Antarctic continent. Stay tuned for more first-hand accounts (with bonus icebergs, penguins, whales, seals, albatrosses, & more)! Clear skies!

🌞 🌑 🌎 🌊 🛥️ 🧊 🐧 🐳 🦭 🐦

 
[2021.12.04 – After Eclipse] – No corona but amazing none the less. We moved off the center line closer to the edge of the south Orkneys because of severe seas. We had about a minute of the shadow and extreme darkness because of the cloud cover. Birds swarmed around the ship as darkness fell upon us. It was quite surreal and calming and after the darkness began to pass the icebergs around us and the glaciers and island next to the ship magically reappeared. I caught the come and go of the Moon’s shadow and darkness with a timelapse video using my iPhone.

Eclipse Highlights

The maximum duration of this total solar eclipse is just short of 2 minutes.

CREDIT: Eclipsewise.com
CREDIT: Eclipsewise.com

The unusual path of this eclipse moves east to west across West Antarctica. Most eclipse paths move from west to east.

This reversal is only possible in polar regions. Its path across Antarctica will cross near Berkner Island, traverse an arc over the continent, exit, and pass over Shepard Island.
  • Date: Saturday, December 4, 2021
  • Magnitude: 1.0367
  • Saros: 152 (13 of 70)
  • Greatest eclipse: 7:34:38
  • Max. width of band: 419 km (260 mi)

 

Most eclipses, including this one, happen mostly over water because the earth is 70% ocean.

The next total solar eclipse will occur on December 4, 2021, but will only be visible to a very small portion of Antarctica, or cruises to the water nearby. Alex Young will be on one of these cruises, so hopefully, we will have a first-hand account.

Chances for clear skies in the Southern Ocean are only 10%. This is a good reminder to see a total solar eclipse if you can! If it occurs over land, it’s often hard to get to those locations like the last total solar eclipse in the Andes Mountains in South America

But you’re in luck because the 2024 eclipse will be visible in parts of the US, Mexico & Canada! Start making plans now to see the next one on April 8, 2024. After that, you’ll have to travel, because you won’t see another one in the US until 2045!! Get to the path of totality in 2024, and hope for no clouds.

There’s also an Annular Solar Eclipse coming up. It will be visible in parts of the United States, Mexico, and several Central American and South American countries on October 14, 2023, at 15:03 UTC. Stay tuned for details!

CREDIT: TimeandDate.com
CREDIT: TimeandDate.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
The total solar eclipse begins at sunrise at approximately 7:00 UTC and ends just after 8:00 UTC. The zone of penumbral (partial) eclipse covers the Antarctic continent and touches only small southernmost sections of South America, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
Maps from the Atlas of Solar Eclipses - 2020 to 2045. CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
The eclipse begins at sunrise at the right side (below the Falkland Islands) and ends at sunset on the left side of this map. The map displays the shadow of the Moon at 2 minute intervals. Because of the low latitudes of the Antarctic region, the Sun appears at a low sky altitude and this explains the elongated shape of the shadows, especially at sunrise and sunset. CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
Maps from the Atlas of Solar Eclipses - 2020 to 2045. CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
Maps from the Atlas of Solar Eclipses - 2020 to 2045. CREDIT: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
Total Solar Eclipse – December 4, 2021
Total Solar Eclipse – December 4, 2021 - CREDIT: NASA / Fred Espenak

The Sun, Earth, and Moon Never Ceases to Amaze

This is certainly true when it comes to lunar and solar eclipses. When the Moon, Earth, and Sun are lined up just right we can get a lunar eclipse (during a full moon) and a solar eclipse (during a new moon). Well, it is that time again – Eclipse Season!

This is the second eclipse season of 2021 with a deep partial lunar eclipse & total solar eclipse!

Every year there are typically two eclipse seasons, which contain at least two and sometimes three eclipses. Each eclipse season is roughly 34 days long and repeats at 173.4 day intervals (close to 6 months).

The first eclipse season for 2021 had two eclipses:

The second eclipse season for 2021 has two eclipses:

  • a deep partial lunar eclipse on November 18-19, 2021
  • and a total solar eclipse on December 4, 2021

 

 NASA live-streamed the eclipse from Union Glacier, Antarctica, starting at 1:30 a.m. ET on Dec. 4 . Here is the replay.

NASA’s feed is courtesy of the JM Pasachoff Antarctic Expedition.

CREDIT: Michael Zeiler, GreatAmericanEclipse.com
CREDIT: Michael Zeiler, GreatAmericanEclipse.com

Mark your calendars! Two upcoming solar eclipses in 2023 & 2024.

After that, you’ll have to travel, because you won’t see another one in the USA until 2045!!