Rare hybrid solar eclipse happening this week, and next event in 2164

COLOMBO (News 1st); A rare hybrid solar eclipse occurs on April 20th.

Director of the Astronomy and Space Science Unit of the Department of Physics, University of Colombo Prof. Chandana Jayaratne said that the celestial event will commence at 7:04 AM from the Indian Ocean and will end at 12:29 PM in the Pacific Ocean.

He said Sri Lankans and skywatchers all over the world will be able to witness this rare celestial event.

On Thursday (20), the moon will block out the sun during what is known as a hybrid solar eclipse for 76 seconds as seen from the southern hemisphere.

This type of eclipse shifts from total solar eclipse to annular (ring-shaped) as the moon's shadow moves across the surface of the Earth. 

The last hybrid solar eclipse happened in 2013, and the next will occur in 2031. After that, future skywatchers will have to wait until March 23, 2164.

This week’s total solar eclipse is technically referred to as a hybrid solar eclipse.

There are two types of central solar eclipse: total and annular.

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon entirely blocks the Sun for a few minutes and allows observers to see the solar corona with their naked eyes.

During an annular solar eclipse the Moon is slightly too far away from earth in its elliptical orbit, and so doesn't quite block all of the Moon, resulting in a ring around the Moon that can only be safely observed using solar eclipse safety glasses.

What happens during a hybrid eclipse is a bit of both.

The range is so narrow that hybrid solar eclipses will only occur four more times this century, in 2031, 2049, 2050 and 2067.