The Saros cycle series 120 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's descending node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 71 eclipses, including 55 umbral eclipses. The series started on 27 May 933 and will end on 7 July 2195. It included 25 annular eclipses between 1059 and 1492, followed by 4 hybrid eclipses between 1510 and 1564, and is currently in a period of 26 total eclipses until 2033. The most recent eclipse was a total eclipse on 20 March 2015 and the next will be a total eclipse on 30 March 2033. The longest duration of totality was 2 minutes, 50 seconds on 9 March 1997 and the longest annular eclipse was 6 minutes 24 seconds on 11 September 1113.

A total solar eclipse occurred on March 20, 2015. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with a partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. This total solar eclipse is notable in that the path of totality passed over the North Pole. Totality was visible in the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.