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 partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth. It was the 54th eclipse of the 124th Saros cycle, which began with a partial eclipse on March 6, 1049 and will conclude with a partial eclipse on May 11, 2347.