A total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

occurred at the Moon’s

ascending node An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes. Planes of reference Common planes of referenc ...

of orbit on Thursday, April 20, 2023, with a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of 1.0132. It was a hybrid event, a narrow total eclipse, and beginning and ending as an annular eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A hybrid solar eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance from annular to total and back as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. Totality occurs between the annularity paths across the surface of the Earth, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Hybrid solar eclipses are extremely rare, occurring in only 3.1% of solar eclipses in the 21st century. Occurring about 4.1 days after

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

(on April 16, 2023, at 3:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. Totality for this eclipse was visible in the

North West Cape North West Cape is a peninsula in the north-west of Western Australia. Cape Range National Park, Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge. It is in the Gascoyne region and includes the town of ...

peninsula and Barrow Island in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, eastern parts of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, as well as

Damar Island Damer, or Damar, (), also called Kenli Island, is a small volcano, volcanic island in the Barat Daya Islands group in Indonesia's Maluku (Indonesian province), Maluku province, on the southern side of the Banda Sea. It is flanked by four smaller ...

and parts of the province of Papua in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. More than 20,000 people watched the eclipse from the town of

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

on Western Australia's North West Cape. Providing infrastructure and services for the visitors (Exmouth's normal population is less than 3,000) cost the State Government of Western Australia A$20 million (US$13.5 million). The date marked a significant moment of astrotourism and tourism in Western Australia.

Images

Gallery

Australia

2023.4.20 Total Solar Eclipse ～西オーストラリアでの金環皆既日食 ~.webm, Video of totality from

Exmouth, Western Australia Exmouth ( , Thalanyji, Dhalandji: ''Ningaloo'') is a town on the tip of the North West Cape and on Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia, north of the state capital Perth and southwest of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. The town was establish ...

2023 partial solar eclipse as viewed from Perth, Western Australia (cropped).jpg, Partial from

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, 03:19 UTC

East Timor

2023-04-20 Solar Eclipse in Timor-Leste 6.jpg

Indonesia

File:20232004Eclipse 1.jpg, Partial from

Bekasi Bekasi (, ) is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta. It serves as a commuter town, commuter city within the Jakarta m ...

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

, 03:30 UTC File:Gerhana Matahari 20 April 2023 - Jakarta 10.47 WIB.jpg, Partial from

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, 03:47 UTC File:Solar Eclipse April 2023 PKY.jpg, Partial from

Palangka Raya Palangka Raya or Palangkaraya is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian provinces of Indonesia, province of Central Kalimantan. The city is situated between the Kahayan River, Kahayan and the Sabangau River, Sabangau rivers on the island ...

Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...

, 04:02 UTC File:Partial Solar Eclipse 20 April 2023 from Pangkalpinang, Indonesia.jpg, Partial from

Pangkal Pinang Pangkalpinang, colloquially written as Pangkal Pinang, also known as Pin-kong in Hakka, is the capital and largest city of the Bangka Belitung Islands Province in Indonesia. It is located on Bangka Island's east coast, the city is divided into ...

Bangka Belitung Islands The Bangka Belitung Islands (; Jawi: ) is a province of Indonesia. Situated off the southeastern coast of Sumatra, the province comprises two main land masses — the islands of Bangka and Belitung — and numerous smaller islands. Bangka B ...

, 04:05 UTC File:Post Totality - Hybrid Solar Eclipse 2023 - Viewed from Biak.jpg, Partial viewed from

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

, Papua, 05:25 UTC - post-totality

Malaysia

File:2023年4月20日_砂拉越州古晉市日食.jpg, Partial from

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

, 04:13 UTC

Philippines

File:April 20, 2023 eclipse in San Fernando, Pampanga.jpg, Partial from

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

, 04:50 UTC File:Partial eclipse april20 pampanga.png, Partial from

Magalang Magalang, officially the Municipality of Magalang (; ), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 124,188 people. History Magalang was mentioned as a ''visita'' of the nea ...

, 04:55 UTC File:Solar Eclipse of April 20, 2023.jpg, Partial from

San Jose del Monte San Jose del Monte, officially the City of San Jose del Monte (abbreviated as SJDM or CSJDM); ; ; ; ; ), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 651,813 people, maki ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...

, 04:55 UTC File:Solar Eclipse of April 20,2023 Quezon City.jpeg, Partial from Novaliches, Quezon City, 04:49 UTC

Vietnam

File:Solar eclipse 200423.jpg, Partial from

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, 04:21 UTC

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an

eclipse season An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...

, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2023

* A hybrid solar eclipse on April 20. * A penumbral lunar eclipse on May 5. * An annular solar eclipse on October 14. * A partial lunar eclipse on October 28.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 6, 2027

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit between Tuesday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 9, 2016, with a magnitude of 1.045. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's and the ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of June 1, 2030 An annular solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, June 1, 2030, with a magnitude of 0.9443. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image ...

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of April 25, 2032

Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of May 20–21, 2012 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of March 20, 2034 Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

Solar Saros 129

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of April 8, 2005 * Followed by:

Solar eclipse of April 30, 2041 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Tuesday, April 30, 2041, with a magnitude of 1.0189. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of ...

Inex

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994 An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, descending node of orbit on Tuesday, May 10, 1994, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 0.9431. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totall ...

* Followed by:

Solar eclipse of March 30, 2052 A total solar eclipse will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, March 30, 2052, with a magnitude of 1.0466. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image o ...

Triad

* Preceded by:

Solar eclipse of June 19, 1936 file:1936 uludag.jpg, left, Astronomers in Turkey observing the 1936 eclipse A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's Lunar node, descending node of orbit on Friday, June 19, 1936, with a Magnitude of eclipse, magnitude of 1.0329. A solar ecl ...

* Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 18, 2110

Solar eclipses of 2022–2025

Saros 129

Metonic series

Tritos series

Inex series

References

External links

{{authoritycontrol 2023 04 20 2023 in science 2023 04 20 April 2023