This image highlights Baily’s Beads, a feature of total solar eclipses that are visible at the very … [+]
What is a hybrid solar eclipse? On April 20, 2023—exactly 150 days from today—this rarest kind of solar eclipse will flash across the southern hemisphere from Australia to West Papua.
Its rarity—coupled with the fact that it will last barely a minute or so—means few understand what a hybrid solar eclipse really is and fewer still give it the value it deserves. As a result many even experienced eclipse-chasers will give it a miss.
That’s a huge mistake.
Welcome to the hybrid solar eclipse, which occurs only seven times in the 21st century and is neither one thing nor the other … and simultaneously all things at once.
Here’s everything you need to know about hybrid solar eclipses, why they occur and why to go see the next one:
The four types of solar eclipse
Before the importance of the coming hybrid solar eclipse can be explained it’s necessary to understand the three other kinds of solar eclipses that can be seen from planet Earth:
Partial solar eclipse
The most common type of solar eclipse sees only part of the Sun obscured by the moon. As well as being events in themselves, a partial solar eclipse—which last occurred in October—is always the initial and final phase of any kind of solar eclipse, while any eclipse viewed outside the path of totality will be seen as a partial solar eclipse. Either way, solar eclipse safety glasses need to be worn at all times when viewing a partial solar eclipse.
Total solar eclipse
The most spectacular kind of solar eclipse, a total occurs when the Moon fits perfectly over the Sun’s disk, cutting out its light for a few minutes to cause an eerie twilight. This precious totality can be viewed with the naked eye, so either side of the brief event is a partial solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse occurs roughly once every 18 months and last happened in 2021 in Antarctica.
The progression of a total solar eclipse.
Annular solar eclipse
This is when the moon is slightly further away from earth that on average, so only obscures the center of the Sun’s disk. Observers see a bright “ring of fire” around the moon, which has to be viewed using solar eclipse glasses. Either side of the annularity is a partial solar eclipse.
Hybrid annular eclipse
A rare kind of solar eclipse happening only seven times in the 21st century, during a hybrid event the eclipse can be experienced briefly as an annular eclipse at the beginning and end of the eclipse path, and as a spectacular total solar eclipse in the middle of the eclipse path. They occur because the Moon’s shadow doesn’t quite touch the Earth’s curved surface at the extremes—sunrise and sunset—only touching its protruding middle. They are rare because the range for tip of the Moon’s shadow to strike Earth, or not, is incredibly narrow.
Understanding eclipse paths
Solar eclipses are nothing more than the Moon’s shadow projected onto a revolving Earth. They thus appear to cause a “stripe” across the day-side of Earth—the path of the eclipse. If you stand within the boundaries of the path you will experience the eclipse to its fullest extent. The width of an eclipse path is determined by the distance of the Moon from the Earth during the eclipse. Eclipses are possible because the moon is roughly 400 times smaller than the Sun but around 400 times closer, with both objects, therefore, appearing to be the same size in our sky.
However, the Moon’s orbit of that is slightly elliptical, so it’s sometimes smaller and sometimes bigger than average. When an eclipse occurs while the Moon is relatively close to Earth, the tip of its cone-shaped shadow touches the Earth’s surface and a total solar eclipse results. The closer the Moon to Earth, the wider the eclipse path and the longer the maximum totality.
When an eclipse occurs while the Moon is further away from Earth than on average the tip of its cone-shaped shadow doesn’t touch Earth. The result is an annular solar eclipse. It’s only when the Moon is in exactly the right place that both occur during the same event—a hybrid solar eclipse.
The Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, bounded on the west by the Cape Ranges, will experience just … [+]
When is the next hybrid solar eclipse?
The next hybrid solar eclipse will occur on April 20, 2023 in the southern hemisphere. However, almost all of the event happens at sea. It begins in the remote Indian Ocean from where a very brief annular solar eclipse will be visible for a second or so. The same thing will happen in the remote Pacific Ocean later that day.
In between, a total solar eclipse of around a minute will be visible, though barely from land. They will be many cruise ships on the west coast of Western Australia to catch the event, as well as on the Exmouth Peninsula, the only part of Australia where totality will be visible. Other options for viewing this event as a total solar eclipse include Timor-Leste and West Papua.
However, it’s Western Australia that has the best chance of a clear sky.
Why to experience a hybrid solar eclipse
Eclipse-chasers should treat a hybrid solar eclipse exactly the same as you would a total solar eclipse, searching out only the part of the eclipse path where totality can be experienced. However, they do have special characteristics.
Celestial mechanics mean that totality is likely to be fairly short, but as any eclipse-chaser will tell you, even a few seconds of totality is a rare and precious thing in itself. Besides, one consequence of the shortness of totality is that observers get to see a longer display of Baily’s beads—the last rays of light streaming through the valleys on the Moon—just before a spectacular diamond ring. That’s something experienced eclipse-chasers get really excited about, and rightly so—it’s a spectacular bonus to a jaw-dropping totality.
That all makes this next hybrid solar eclipse a real rarity, but it’s time to make plans because the paucity of locations to experience it will make this an eclipse enjoyed only by the well-organized few. Get that cruise booked or that car hired!
The bright beads of light visible here are caused by the last rays of sunlight shining through the … [+]
Hybrid solar eclipses in the 21st century
Since hybrid solar eclipses occur only every decade or two even avid eclipse-chasers aren’t likely to experience many in a lifetime of observing solar eclipses. Here’s exactly when they’re going to happen in the remainder of the 21st century:
- November 14, 2031 (1 minute 8 seconds)
- November 25, 2049 (38 seconds)
- May 20, 2050 (21 seconds)
- December 6, 2067 (8 seconds)
Disclaimer: I am editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
