A rare hybrid solar eclipse is happening this Thursday, but it won’t be visible in Brazil | Sciences

The first solar eclipse of the year occurs early Thursday (20), Brasilia time. Although it no While it’s possible to watch from Brazil, the lucky ones from Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia will be witnessing an even more special phenomenon this year.

This is because Thursday’s eclipse will be a hybrid, something that only happens every 10 years.

Thus, depending on the location, residents of these countries will experience either a Annular solar eclipse or one The total eclipse of the sun.

But what is that supposed to mean? First, we need to understand that a solar eclipse occurs when the moon positions itself between the sun and the earth in such a way that it ends up casting a shadow on the earth.

Then the moon blocks the sunlight coming from the earth.

Sometimes the moon blocks only part of the sunlight, in the so-called A partial or annular eclipse of the sun.

When the moon blocks all sunlight, we have it A total eclipse of the sun.

Understand the different types of eclipses by watching the video below:

And so, as you can see in the images above, in a total solar eclipse, the Earth, Moon, and Sun line up in such a way and in such a precise position that the entire star in our system is “covered” by planet Earth. Perspective – It’s possible to see only the corona, the sun’s atmosphere.

In case annular solar eclipse, The three celestial bodies are still aligned, but with a slightly larger distance than the Moon relative to our planet. The result is the formation of a “ring of fire” in the sky.

At dawn on Thursday, spectators from these countries in Oceania will be able to witness one of these phenomena.

According to NASA, the US space agency, the event will start around 10 pm on Wednesday (20) in Brasilia time, but will reach its peak at 1 am on Thursday.

According to the National Observatory, the last hybrid eclipse occurred in November 2013, and the next hybrid solar eclipse—after this year—will occur only in November 2031.

The next solar eclipse in Brazil is of the annular type and will occur on October 14, 2023. Countries in the North and Northeast regions will be able to view the full version, while the partial version will be seen across the country.

Cities such as Natal (RN), Joao Pessoa (PB), Juazeiro do Norte (CE) and São Félix do Xingo (PA) will be lucky enough to observe the “ring of fire” around the moon created by our sun.

On the other hand, in much of the Midwest, Southeast, and South, whoever looks up at the sky around 3 p.m. on October 14 will see our star “bite” off the Moon.

This is because a partial solar eclipse always accompanies an annular solar eclipse.

The United States and Central America will also have a privileged view of the astronomical event.

Lunar eclipses will not be so amazing this year, at least for Brazil.