The hybrid eclipse, visible from the southern hemisphere on April 20 this year, is a rare astronomical event, Russian astronomer, senior researcher at the PK Sternberg State Institute of Astronomy, associate professor in the Physics Department of Moscow State University named after him. Lomonosov Vladimir Surdin.
“A hybrid eclipse can be compared to a petrol or electric car. So this eclipse has a variable quality. “It starts out full, but then takes the shape of a ring,” said the astronomer.
During a total eclipse, the satellite is close to the planet – it appears large and completely covers the solar disk. And in a ring shape, on the contrary, the Moon moves away from the Earth. In this case, the satellite cannot completely cover the Sun, the bright solar disk comes out from behind the Moon and the corona is not visible.
“In this case, the transition from total to annular occurs because the Moon passes an average distance from Earth. Since Earth’s equator is closer to the Moon and the poles are farther away (relative to Earth’s radius), then when the moon shadow moves across the earth’s surface near the equator, we see a total eclipse, and when it approaches the pole, it’s an annular eclipse,” Surdin said.
Read more about this solar eclipse here: material “socialbites.ca”.