The rarest form of solar eclipse is set to happen in just one day—what is known as a hybrid solar eclipse will begin on the evening of April 19 Eastern Time.
Hybrid eclipses only happen a few times every century so watching this one is a rare opportunity (see below for more on the four types of eclipses).
The Hybrid Solar Eclipse Path
The hybrid eclipse will be visible along a narrow path. Beginning as an annular eclipse far south in the Indian Ocean at 10:37 p.m. EST (2:37 a.m. UTC), the hybrid eclipse path will cross Western Australia (where it will be visible from Perth), Timor-Leste, and Indonesia (West Papua and Papua). Then it will become a total eclipse and reach its period of maximum eclipse at 12:16 a.m. EST (4:16 a.m. UTC), before becoming an annular eclipse again and ending near the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean at 2:59 a.m. EST (6:59 a.m. UTC). The entire hybrid eclipse will last 199 minutes from start to finish.Meanwhile, skywatchers within a much wider path along that journey, including Southeast Asia, the East Indies, Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand, may bear witness to a partial eclipse.
The Four Types of Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and casts a shadow on the Earth’s surface. The sun appears blocked out either totally or partially, depending on various conditions, which determine the type of solar eclipse it will be.There are four types of solar eclipses: total, partial, annular, and hybrid—the rarest of all.
A total eclipse—as the name suggests—is when the sun is totally blocked out by the moon, from the viewpoint of the Earth, allowing viewers to witness the sun’s corona appear around the lunar disk; the magnificence of this solar atmosphere is normally blocked out by the brilliance of the sun. This type of eclipse can be seen only along a very narrow path as the moon’s umbral shadow crosses the Earth’s surface.
A partial eclipse is when the sun is blocked out by the moon only partially from the vantage point of the Earth; the sun appears to dim somewhat or appears like a crescent as viewed from within the moon’s penumbral shadow—this being cast along a much wider path transiting the Earth.
An annular eclipse happens because the moon appears smaller at certain times—when it is farther from the Earth along its orbit—and thereby doesn’t totally obliterate the sun, even as it passes directly in front of it. Rather, the moon allows a dramatic “ring of fire” to shine from behind it—hence the term annular, which means “ring-shaped.” Like total eclipses, annular eclipses occur along a very narrow path.
Hybrid eclipses occur because of the curvature of the Earth which, in rare cases, causes the moon to appear smaller in certain places along a narrow path across the Earth, though not in all places along that path. This causes a shift: an annular eclipse becomes a total eclipse before becoming an annular eclipse again—hence it is a hybrid of two types of eclipses.
This rarest type happens only a few times each century. The last was in 2013 and the next—after this one in April 2023—will occur in 2031. Then we will have to wait until 2164 for another hybrid eclipse. Meanwhile, there will be 224 solar eclipses this century.
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