Hybrid Solar Eclipse On April 20: Rare Event Is A Combination Of Total And Annular Eclipses. Know Its Different Phases

Solar Eclipse 2023: A hybrid solar eclipse, also known as an annular-total eclipse, can change from an annular to a total eclipse, or from a total to an annular eclipse, along the observer's path.

Solar Eclipse 2023: The first solar eclipse of 2023, which falls on April 20, will be a rare astronomical phenomenon. This is because it will be a hybrid solar eclipse, which is a combination of total and annular solar eclipses. The last hybrid solar eclipse occurred in November 2013, and the next one will occur in November 2031, making the hybrid solar eclipse of April 20, 2023 a one-in-10-years eclipse.

While the solar eclipse will not be visible in India, people in the country can watch the spectacle online.

What are total and annular solar eclipses?

When the New Moon (position of the moon in which the Sun and Earth are on its opposite sides) comes between the Sun and Earth, and casts the darkest part of its shadow, called the umbra, on Earth, a total solar eclipse occurs. 

The Moon covers the entire disk of the Sun during a total solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse is visible only in those regions of the world, which are located in the path of the Moon's umbra. 

The countries that will witness the total phase of the solar eclipse are Australia, East Timor and Indonesia.

The path of totality will pass over a small peninsula called North West Cape, in Australia. North West Cape is located about 1,100 kilometres north of Perth. 

The path of totality, at the point where it meets Australia, is 40 kilometres wide. 

The rest of Australia, and a big portion of Southeast Asia, will witness a partial solar eclipse.

Those outside the path see a partial solar eclipse, where the Moon blocks only a part of the Sun. 

About 71 per cent of the Sun will appear to be covered by the Moon to observers in Perth.

To observers in Sydney, 10 per cent of the Sun will appear to be covered by the Moon, and in Singapore the figure will be 16 per cent. 

An annular solar eclipse is one in which the edge of the Sun remains visible as a bright ring around the Moon.

A hybrid solar eclipse, also known as an annular-total eclipse, can change from an annular to a total eclipse, or from a total to an annular eclipse, along the observer's path.

The curvature of the Earth increases the distance between the Moon and all observers at either end of the narrow path of totality. To those observers, the Moon will appear too small to cover the Sun completely. Therefore, the eclipse will appear to be annular to those observers. In other words, the Sun will appear to form a ring around the Moon. 

A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse. 

Since some regions will witness a total solar eclipse while some will see an annular eclipse, the solar eclipse is hybrid, which is a slightly rare phenomenon. 

Phases of the hybrid solar eclipse visible to those in the path of totality

A total solar eclipse has five stages: beginning of partial solar eclipse (first contact); beginning of total solar eclipse (second contact); totality and maximum eclipse; end of total eclipse (third contact); and end of partial eclipse (fourth contact). 

In the first contact phase, the Moon becomes visible over the Sun's disk. 

The Moon covers the entire disk of the Sun, with some observers in the Moon's umbral path seeing the diamond ring effect, during the second contact phase.

In the totality and maximum eclipse stage, the Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun, with only the Sun's corona being visible, as a result of which the sky goes dark, and temperatures drop. The midpoint of the time of totality of a solar eclipse is known as the maximum point of the eclipse.

The third contact phase is the one in which the Moon starts to move away, and the Sun reappears.

When the Moon leaves the Sun's disk, the partial eclipse ends.