Friday's Trifecta: Supermoon, Solar Eclipse, Spring Equinox
This week sees a rare combo of total solar eclipse, perigee moon, and the first day of spring.
Friday, March 20, will see an astronomical triple play when a rare total solar eclipse occurs on the same day as the vernal equinox, and a supermoon makes an appearance.
A total eclipse occurs when the moon comes between Earth and the sun, casting a lunar shadow onto the Earth’s surface along a narrow, 62-mile-wide (100-kilometer) path. Because this “black hole” effect lasts for only a couple of minutes, totality ends up being a truly rare event for any single spot on Earth—occurring about once every three centuries for each geographical location.
Friday’s eclipse will race across remote regions of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, so only a relatively few lucky souls will be able to
