Saros cycle series 142 for solar eclipses occurs at the Moon's descending node, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, containing 72 eclipses, 44 of which are umbral, of which all but one are total. The first eclipse in the series was on 17 April 1624 and the final eclipse will be on 5 June 2904.

A total solar eclipse took place on Monday, December 14, 2020, when the Moon passed between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. Totality occurred in a narrow path across Earth's surface across parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean, when the Moon's apparent diameter was larger than the Sun's so all direct sunlight was blocked. The partial solar eclipse was visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide, including parts of the Pacific Ocean, South America, southwestern Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Moon's apparent diameter was larger than average because the eclipse occurred only 1.8 days after perigee.