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A once-a-decade astronomical event will wow lucky skygazers later this week.
The “hybrid solar eclipse” is a rare form of solar eclipse that changes appearance as the moon’s shadow moves across the Earth’s surface.
It means people can see the sun being almost or completely obscured by the moon, depending on where they are, making it darker during the day.
According to Royal Observatory, the event will be visible from parts of the equator and the southern hemisphere, including Western Australia and South East Asia, around 11:30am local time, but not from the UK or US.
Those who can see it don’t want to miss it; the last hybrid eclipse was in November 2013, while the next isn’t until November 2031.
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Rarely will the curvature of the Earth mean that the Moon will be close enough to cover the entire Sun during one part of the eclipse, but will be just too far away during another part of the eclipse, thus seeing different parts of the world a total or annual solar eclipse. This is known as a hybrid solar eclipse
The shaded area marks the moon’s shadow moving across Earth on Thursday; people in this area will only see a partial eclipse unless they are on the path traversed by the black dot in the center – in which case they will see a total or annular eclipse
A solar eclipse is known to happen when the moon passes between the sun and our planet and blocks our view of the sun.
But there are different types solar eclipse depends on how much of the sun’s surface is actually blocked.
A ‘total’ eclipse occurs when the face of the sun is completely blocked by the moon, while an ‘annular’ eclipse makes the moon appear slightly smaller than the sun, leaving a bright ring of light around the silhouette of the moon.
Meanwhile, there’s a “partial” eclipse where the sun is only partially obscured by the moon, making it look like the sun has had a “bite.”
A hybrid eclipse is a combination of a total and an annular eclipse, but is preceded by a partial eclipse when the moon moves into position.
Dr. Greg Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told MailOnline: “This eclipse will only be visible from Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, the southern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, while the related partial eclipse will also be visible to a few surrounding countries. Regions.’
The area indicated by the blue lines on this map is the total area that will be traversed by the moon’s shadow on Thursday. The purple line in the middle marks ‘the path of totality’
So how exactly does a hybrid solar eclipse happen?
On Thursday, the moon’s shadow will sweep across Earth thousands of miles across — and every area within this shadow will see at least a partial eclipse.
The center of this shadow is known as “the path of totality” – and it is along this path that Earthlings will see either a total solar eclipse or an annular solar eclipse.
Which people will see – total or annular – depends on exactly where they will be along the path.
Because the Earth is a sphere, some points on the planet are closer to or farther from the Moon at any given time.
So on Thursday, when the sun, moon and Earth are aligned, people in Western Australia, East Timor and Indonesia will be closer to the moon than those positioned further around the Earth’s curvature.
Because of this, people in these locations (Western Australia, East Timor and Indonesia) will be perfectly placed to see a total solar eclipse.
Meanwhile, those further along the path of totality will see an annular solar eclipse, as they are just a little farther from the moon.
As a result of this extra distance, the moon will appear smaller and thus cover less than the sun – resulting in an annular eclipse.
On Thursday, when the sun, moon and Earth align, people in Western Australia, East Timor and Indonesia will be closer to the moon than those further around the Earth’s curvature. Therefore, the moon will appear larger and block more of the sun. The time in the top right corner is shown in UTC
A total solar eclipse can be seen near Hopkinsville, Kentucky on August 21, 2017. It takes less than a year for a total solar eclipse to sweep across North America. On April 8, 2024, the moon will cast its shadow over much of the US, Mexico, and Canada, plunging millions of people into midday darkness
As with any solar eclipse, it is important that skywatchers do not look directly at the sun with the naked eye while the event is taking place, even while wearing sunglasses.
It is also not wise not to look at the sun with binoculars, a telescope or a telephoto lens on an SLR camera.
Using a simple pinhole projector, solar eclipse viewing glasses, which can be purchased online, or special solar filters are viable alternatives.
“The easiest way to look at a solar eclipse is to use a hole in a map,” said Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society.
‘An image of the sun can then be projected onto another piece of map behind it (experiment with the distance between the two, but it should be at least 30 cm).
“Under no circumstances should you look through the hole.”
Dr. Massey said another popular method of viewing an eclipse is the mirror projection method.
“You need a small, flat mirror and a means of placing it in the sun so that it reflects the sunlight into a room where you can see it on a wall or some kind of flat screen,” he said.
‘Perhaps you also have eclipse glasses with a certified safety mark, which are available from specialist astronomy suppliers.
“If they aren’t damaged in any way, can you see the sun through them?”
Binoculars or telescopes can also be used to project the image of the sun.
‘Mount them on a tripod and place a piece of card with a hole in it over the eyepiece, and place another between 50cm and a meter behind it,’ Dr Massey said.
“Point the telescope or binoculars at the sun and you should see the clear image on the separate map.”
Unfortunately, the next total solar eclipse – when the moon completely blocks the sun’s face – won’t be visible in the UK for another 67 years.
This solar eclipse, which occurs on September 23, 2090, will be the first total solar eclipse visible from Britain since August 11, 1999, and the first visible from Ireland since May 22, 1724.
However, the next solar eclipse in the US will occur on April 8, 2024, and will travel from Texas to Maine.
This will be seen as a partial solar eclipse in parts of Britain just before sunset.