Image credit: Eclipse map/figure/table/predictions courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Map data © Google 2017 On April 20, 2023 a rare ‘hybrid’ solar eclipse will graze Western Australia, Timor Leste and West Papua. Here’s what you need to know.A total solar eclipse is the king of eclipses, so why bother traveling to Western Australia’s tiny Exmouth Peninsula to see a ‘hybrid’ solar eclipse on April 20, 2023? The answer is simple — to see a total solar eclipse! Show
Will this be a popular eclipse?The moon’s shadow just grazes Australia, throwing Exmouth Peninsula and the North West Cape in Western Australia under the shadow, but since it’s a small area eclipse-chasers will likely fill the (somewhat plentiful) accommodation years in advance. However, there likely won’t be as much of a media-frenzy for this eclipse because journalists clearly don’t know what a hybrid solar eclipse is. Check out this article by ABC, the national broadcaster in Australia, which includes this misguided statement alongside a map of Australia eclipse that excludes 2023: “Exmouth and the North West Cape in Western Australia will also experience a solar eclipse in April 2023, however, it is classified as a ‘hybrid’ solar eclipse and so is not included on this map of total solar eclipses.” More fool them because in WA the hybrid solar eclipse will effectively be a total solar eclipse. It’s actually very simple. What is a hybrid solar eclipse?“A hybrid eclipse is one which is annular when the path first touches the Earth, and/or leaves the Earth, but which becomes total for a period in-between,” said Australian astronomer Dave Herald. So depending on where you stand in the eclipse track on the surface of Earth, it can appear as a total solar eclipse or as an annular solar eclipse. Luckily, during that ‘in-between’ period is exactly when the moon’s shadow hits part of Western Australia, Timor Leste and West Papua. However, the spectacle begins and ends as an annular solar eclipse, in this case, at sea. This means that, hybrid or not, every eclipse-chaser who goes to watch this eclipse on land, or anywhere near it, will experience totality just the same as at any other total solar eclipse. So there you have it; you have no excuse to miss this one! Why you need to center yourself in 2023However, it’s important to get as close as possible to the center of the Path of Totality; straying even a few miles either side means drastically cutting-down on maximum duration. The lure in 2023, of course, is 1 minute 16 seconds of totality. That may not sound like much, but it will be enough to attract tens of thousands of eclipse-chasers. Why is 2023 a special eclipse?For astronomers, the attraction of the 2023 hybrid solar eclipse is to see more Baily’s beads than usual. Caused by the last rays of sun coming through the Moon’s valleys, they’re more special during a hybrid solar eclipse. “The duration of individual Baily’s Beads is not affected by the hybrid eclipse type,” explains Herald. “The hybrid eclipse results in far more beads than for an annular or total eclipse (and) a good thing about Exmouth is that both limits of the central eclipse cross the Exmouth peninsular — so that beads can be observed from near both limits.” It’s even possible to simulate what observers will see. What is the Exmouth Peninsula like?Although totality will also be observable from Timor Leste and West Papua, most eclipse-chasers will head to Exmouth in Western Australia, or to a cruise ship off the coast on the Ningaloo Reef. Tourist season there is March to November when the population leaps from 2,700 to 7,500. So that’s about 5,000 beds, though there will be lots of camping opportunities in the peninsula’s Cape Range National Park. Can Exmouth handle the influx of eclipse-chasers? “Exmouth is a fairly remote location,” says Herald. “The biggest hurdle will be getting there, particularly if the airlines don’t put on extra flights.” From Perth, it’s a 1,270 km drive on a sealed road. Image credit: Eclipse map/figure/table/predictions courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Map data © Google 2017 Want to see another eclipse? Check out our ebook When Is The Next Eclipse? When, where & how to see solar & lunar eclipses. Travel guide 2018–2030PS: Thanks for taking the time out to read my post! If you like my blog, please …
Saturday, October 14, 2023: Mark Your Calendar!A total solar eclipse crossed the continental United States from coast to coast on August 21, 2017. Some 20 million people saw the Moon completely cover the Sun within a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina, and hundreds of millions more across all of North America and northern South America saw a partial solar eclipse that day. On October 14, 2023, the Moon will again pass directly between Earth and the Sun — but this time it will not quite completely cover the solar disk, instead turning it into a thin "ring of fire." This annular (Latin for ring-shaped) eclipse will be visible within a roughly 125-mile-wide path from Oregon to Texas and on into Mexico, Central America, and South America. Again, North Americans outside the path will be treated to a partial solar eclipse if the weather cooperates.  The annular solar eclipse of February 26, 2017, photographed from Patagonia, South America. The sequence goes from left to right, with the Moon moving from upper left to lower right. For this eclipse the Moon covered about 98% of the Sun's bright face, leaving only a very thin "ring of fire" still shining. During the October 14, 2023, annular eclipse the ring will be fatter, as the Moon will cover only about 90% of the Sun. Courtesy Jay M. Pasachoff and Christian Lockwood. As explained in "How & Why Solar Eclipses Happen," by a cosmic coincidence the Sun and the Moon appear nearly the same size in our sky. The Sun's diameter is really about 400 times bigger than the Moon's, but the Sun is also about 400 times farther away than the Moon. Because Earth's orbit around the Sun and the Moon's orbit around Earth are both ellipses, not perfect circles, the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon vary a little during the year (Sun) and during each month (Moon). Our planet is closest to the Sun (perihelion) in early January and farthest (aphelion) in early July, and the Sun appears about 3% wider in January than in July (not that you’d notice). When the Moon is closest to Earth (perigee), its apparent diameter is 11% larger than when it’s farthest (apogee); again, this effect is not too noticeable. When near perigee, the Moon can easily cover the entire solar disk and create a total solar eclipse. But near apogee the Moon is too small to cover all of the Sun's brilliant face. At mideclipse an annulus (ring) of brilliant sunlight surrounds the lunar silhouette, resulting in an annular eclipse. Like the total phase of a total solar eclipse, the annular phase of an annular eclipse is visible only within a narrow path across Earth's surface. Outside that path, observers under clear skies will see a partial eclipse instead. With the path of the October 14, 2023, annular eclipse stretching from Oregon to Texas before heading out into the Gulf of Mexico, where should you plan to rendezvous with the Moon's shadow if you wish to stay in the United States? Most eclipse aficionados go where the weather prospects are most favorable. For this eclipse, as shown in the graphic below, that's parts of Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. (As it turns out, the weather prospects in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula, Central America, and South America are generally less favorable than in the U.S., so staying in the U.S. is a good idea.) This graph shows the average October cloud cover (2000-2018) from satellite measurements at 10:30 am local time along the centerline of the October 14, 2023, annular eclipse track. Units are fractional sky cover, which can be interpreted as percent cloud cover. Courtesy Jay Anderson, Eclipsophile.com. Depending on your location within the path of annularity, the "ring of fire" effect in the U.S. will last up to 5 minutes. Since there will still be plenty of the Sun's bright face showing, it is absolutely essential throughout the entire eclipse to view through a safe solar filter, that is, one that meets the transmission requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Such filters are widely available and cost at most a few dollars. Looking at the uneclipsed or partially (or annularly) eclipsed Sun through dark sunglasses or any other unapproved filter is a recipe for serious and potentially permanent eye injury. See our Eye Safety and Resources pages for details. More Information About the Solar Eclipse of October 14, 2023
Where can I see eclipse in 2023?On Oct. 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America. Visible in parts of the United States, Mexico, and many countries in South and Central America, millions of people in the Western Hemisphere can experience this eclipse.
Where is the eclipse on April 2023?Totality for this eclipse will be visible in the North West Cape peninsula and Barrow Island in Western Australia, eastern parts of East Timor, as well as Damar Island and parts of the province of Papua in Indonesia. It is a hybrid eclipse, with portions of its path near sunrise and sunset as annular.
Is there a total eclipse of the Sun in 2023?Total Solar Eclipse on April 20, 2023.
What time is the 2023 eclipse?In the USA, the annular solar eclipse begins in Oregon at 9:13 a.m. PDT and ends in Texas at 12:03 p.m. CDT. These are some key cities and national parks inside the path of annular solar eclipse. Duration is 4 minutes, 29 seconds. Partial eclipse begins at 8:05 am PDT, annular eclipse begins at 9:15 am PDT.
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