PERTH, Western Australia — While Central Texans are gearing up for our own eclipse in 2024, some skywatchers on the other side of the world had a chance to view one of their own.
A rare hybrid eclipse swept over parts of the Indian Ocean, Australia and Indonesia on Thursday, April 20 (Wednesday, April 19 in America). While the eclipse mostly occurred over water, those lucky enough to be in areas that could see the eclipse were able to view the rare event for about a minute.
Hybrid eclipses like this one typically only occur around once every decade. The last occurred in 2013, and the next one is expected to happen in 2031.
According to NASA solar expert Michael Kirk, these eclipses happen when the Earth is the "sweet spot" where the sun and moon appear to be almost the exact same size in the sky.
Sometimes the moon is a little closer to the Earth and blocks out the sun completely, and other times it is farther away, allowing light from the sun to shine out from behind it in an annular eclipse.
Some places, such as the Perth Observatory and the Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory, streamed the event online, so that even those not in the path of the eclipse could still watch the rare event take place.
If you missed this one, don't worry. A solar eclipse is expected to pass over Central Texas on April 8, 2024, and many local towns are already making preparations.
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