Solar eclipse of December 4, 2021

The total solar eclipse of December 4, 2021 is limited almost exclusively to the Antarctic and South Atlantic. Just to the south of South Africa and in southern Australia and Tasmania, the partial phases of the eclipse can be seen, but only a very modest degree of coverage.

The geometry of this eclipse is unusual because of the shadow path moves in the "wrong " direction from east to west. In most eclipses the shadow moves from west to east over the terrestrial globe, according to the direction of motion of the moon. The reason for the opposite movement in this darkness is related to the fact that the shadow cone just touches the earth and at the same time is the time of darkness near the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere. The umbra cone extends - if you look at the north than at the top - at the South Pole and strikes the ground on the more distant from the sun side.