Total solar eclipse of 2 July 2019, time-lapse image. This sequence of 29 images runs from top right to lower left, with fourteen images either side of totality. Total solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. Total solar eclipses usually occur less than once a year, and can only be seen from a small area of the Earth's surface. At totality, the solar atmosphere (corona) becomes visible. This total solar eclipse was visible from parts of the southern Pacific Ocean and southern South America. Totality lasted for around 2 minutes. The time from first contact to last contact was around 2.5 hours. Photographed from a desert site north-east of La Serena, Chile, where the eclipse took place towards sunset in winter, with totality at around 16:30 local time (20:30 UTC).