The final event of 2013 is that of the most interesting eclipse. It is one of the rare hybrid or annular/total eclipses in which some sections of the path are annular while other parts are total.
The duality comes about when the vertex of the Moon’s umbral shadow pierces Earth’s surface at some locations, but falls short of the planet along other sections of the path.
The unusual geometry is due to the curvature of Earth’s surface that brings some geographic locations into the umbra while other positions are more distant and enter the antumbral rather than umbral shadow.
In most cases, the central path begins annular, changes to total for the middle portion of the track, and reverts back to annular towards the end of the path.
However, November 3 eclipse is even more unique because the central path to begin annular and ends total. Because hybrid eclipses occur near the vertex of the Moon’s umbral/antumbral shadows, the central path is typically quite narrow.
The hybrid eclipse of 2013 is visible from within a thin corridor, which traverses the North Atlantic and equatorial Africa. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes eastern North America, northern South America, southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The hybrid eclipse of 2013 is visible from within a thin corridor, which traverses the North Atlantic and equatorial Africa. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes eastern North America, northern South America, southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The path of the Moon’s shadow begins in the North Atlantic approximately 1000 km due east of Jacksonville, FL. From the central line, a 4 second annular eclipse is visible at sunrise (11:05 UT). As the shadow races forward, the narrow 4 km wide path rapidly shrinks to zero and the eclipse changes from annular to total. This all transpires within the first 15 seconds of the shadow’s trajectory. For the remainder of the track, the eclipse remains total.
Ends