Astronomy Essentials

Hybrid solar eclipse: An annular-total on April 19-20

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Fred Espenak

and

April 19, 2023

Hybrid solar eclipse: Animation of Earth globe with black dot in large gray circle moving along a yellow line near Australia. — The April 19-20, 2023, hybrid solar eclipse, as seen from the moon’s vantage point. The moon’s large penumbral shadow is lightly shaded and is outlined with a solid black edge. A partial eclipse is visible on April 20 from within this penumbra. An annular or a total eclipse is visible on April 20 along the yellow line. The date of the eclipse for us in the Americas is April 19 … but we won’t see this eclipse. Animation by Fred Espenak and Michael Zeiler.

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Hybrid solar eclipse April 19-20, 2023

When and where to watch: A hybrid solar eclipse will be visible in Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia (West Papua and Papua) on April 20, 2023. At the same time, a partial solar eclipse will be visible on April 20 in southeast Asia, East Indies, Australia, Philippines and New Zealand. The partial eclipse beings at 1:34 UTC and ends at 6:59 UTC on April 20. The central (hybrid) eclipse begins at 2:37 UTC and ends at 5:56 UTC on April 20. Note that, for the Americas, this eclipse takes place mostly on the night of April 19 (so the eclipse isn’t visible in the Americas).
Greatest eclipse takes place off the coast of Timor at 4:16:47 UTC on April 20. There will be 1 minute and 16 seconds of totality.
Duration of the hybrid eclipse is 199 minutes.
Maximum eclipse: At maximum eclipse, the sun is 1.02657 percent covered by the moon with an eclipse magnitude of 1.0132.
Note: In a hybrid solar eclipse, if you are in the path of totality, you see either an annular solar eclipse or a total solar eclipse, depending on your position along the central eclipse path.

The number one rule for solar eclipse observing – even partial eclipses – is to make sure you protect your eyes by using a safe solar filter. Click here to learn how to watch a solar eclipse safely. Purchase eclipse glasses from the EarthSky Store.

The path of the hybrid solar eclipse

An unusual eclipse comes on April 19-20, 2023. Viewers along a narrow path in Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia (West Papua and Papua) will see a hybrid solar eclipse on April 20. And along this narrow path the eclipse begins as an annular eclipse, changes to a total eclipse and then becomes an annular eclipse again. At the same time, outside this narrow path, those in southeast Asia, East Indies, Australia, Philippines and New Zealand will see a partial solar eclipse. By the way, hybrid eclipses only occur a few times a century. There will be 224 solar eclipses in the 21st century, and only seven of them will be hybrid eclipses.

On April 20, 2023, the partial solar eclipse will start in the Indian Ocean, coming onshore on the west coast of Australia. Then the path of the eclipse will pass over Australia and Indonesia plus some surrounding regions. Soon the central eclipse (the blue line on the chart below) will start as an annular eclipse along western Australia, Timor and Indonesia. As the eclipse continues along its narrow path, it will become a total eclipse then will turn into an annular eclipse again. Finally, the eclipse will end over the Pacific Ocean as an annular eclipse near the Marshall Islands.

If you are in the areas outside the yellow line (video gif above), you will see a partial solar eclipse. Naturally, the closer to the hybrid path you are, the more the sun will be eclipsed by the moon.

Over the course of 3 hours and 19 minutes, the moon’s central shadow traverses an 8,574-mile-long (13,800-km-long) track covering 0.07% of Earth’s surface area.

Annotated map of globe centered north of Australia with lines indicating paths and times of eclipse. — View larger. | The blue line shows the path of the April 19-20, 2023, hybrid solar eclipse. Those farther from the path will see a partial solar eclipse. Image via Fred Espenak.

Seeing the eclipse from your location

The April 20, 2023, Solar Eclipse Circumstances Calculator is an interactive web page. It can quickly calculate the local circumstances for the eclipse from any geographic location.

You can also find the path of the April 20, 2023, eclipse on an interactive Google map.

Black circle with fuzzy white rim, bright crescent, thin brilliant ring in fuzzy orange circle. — The appearance of a total, partial and annular solar eclipse. Image via K. Bikos/ timeanddate.com.

This is 2023’s 1st solar eclipse

While this April 20 hybrid solar eclipse is an unusual phenomenon, by far, the most-watched solar eclipse of 2023 will be the October 14 annular solar eclipse, since its path sweeps across very populated parts of the globe in the Americas.

Live music event at the Ningaloo during the eclipse

The band Pink Floyd is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its album The Dark Side of the Moon with a listening event timed to this eclipse, at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Marine Park (Nyinggulu) in Exmouth, Western Australia. You can watch it on the livestream below or on YouTube.

Bottom line: A hybrid solar eclipse will cross Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia on April 20, 2023. Areas in Asia, East Indies, Australia, Philippines and New Zealand will see a partial eclipse. Note that this eclipse takes place on April 19 in the Americas (but the Americas won’t see this eclipse). Find maps and more here.

Big eclipses for North America: Total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

Via EclipseWise

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April 19, 2023

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Astronomy Essentials

Fred Espenak

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About the Author:

Fred Espenak is a scientist emeritus at Goddard Space Flight Center. For decades, he has been NASA's expert on eclipses, and some of you may know him as Mr. Eclipse. Fred maintains NASA's official eclipse web site (eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov) as well as his personal web site on eclipse photography (mreclipse.com). Now retired and living in rural Arizona, Fred spends most clear nights losing sleep and photographing the stars (astropixels.com). His latest website is devoted to helping you enjoy eclipses (www.eclipsewise.com). He is an EarthSky content partner.