HYBRID ECLIPSE ON 3 NOVEMBER 2013
A
partial solar eclipse — one of only two on Earth this year — was visible in the
sky over much of the eastern USA early Sunday morning. It was the second solar
eclipse this year, according to NASA. The eclipse, seen for only about 30
minutes after sunrise, appeared throughout the entire East Coast where clouds
didn't obscure it. It could only be seen as far west as eastern Ohio, eastern
Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and most of Georgia.
But
unlike May's annular eclipse, where the moon stands directly in front of the
sun but still leaves a visible ring of light, Sunday's eclipse was another
breed entirely: a HYBRID ECLIPSE.
WHAT
IS A HYBRID ECLIPSE:
A hybrid between an annular eclipse and a total eclipse, where the moon is just
large enough to completely block out the sun, leaving behind a hazy corona
visible. Due to the curvature of Earth, different regions along the hybrid
eclipse's path will see it as either total or annular.
Hybrid
eclipses are rarer than other types, accounting for a little under one out of
twenty of all solar eclipses. The last hybrid eclipse occurred in April 2005,
and the next one is expected in 2023.
This
eclipse was a rare "hybrid" eclipse, in which a few parts of the
Earth saw an "annular" eclipse (where the moon does not completely
block out the sun, leaving just a "ring of fire" around the moon),
while other parts saw a "total" eclipse, when the moon completely
covers the sun.
The USA,
along with parts of Europe and Africa, didn't see the annular or the total
variety and were treated instead to a "partial" solar eclipse: The
sun appeared as if it has had a big bite taken out of it. Only people in
central Africa, in countries such as Gabon, Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and
Somalia, saw the total eclipse of the sun.Unlike total, annular, or hybrid
eclipses, partial eclipses block a smaller fraction of the sun. A partial
eclipse may not be the once-in-a-decade occurrence as is a hybrid eclipse, but
it's still a welcome way to start out a Sunday morning.
Weather
conditions were forecast to be best for eclipse viewing in the southeastern
U.S., where clear skies were expected Sunday morning, according to AccuWeather.
Skies were predicted to be cloudier in the Mid-Atlantic and along the Northeast
coast, while rain and even some snow showers may have obstructed the sky in
interior sections of the Northeast and New England.
The next
chance to see a total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be Aug. 21, 2017.
