Rare hybrid solar eclipse delights sky watchers

Under cloudless skies, 20,000 eclipse chasers packed a small outpost to watch a rare solar eclipse that drenched parts of Australia’s northwest coast at midday on Thursday as it brought down tropical heat.

The remote tourist town of Exmouth, with less than 3,000 inhabitants, is being promoted as one of the best spots in Australia to view the eclipse which also passes through remote areas of Indonesia and East Timor.

An international crowd had gathered for days, camped out in tents and trailers on the red, dusty plains on the edge of town with cameras and other viewing equipment pointed skyward.

NASA astronomer Henry Throop was among those in Exmouth cheering in the darkness.

“Isn’t it amazing? It’s amazing. It’s amazing. It’s so sharp and so bright. You can see the corona around the sun there,” said the visibly excited Washington resident.

“It’s only been a few minutes, but it’s really been a long time. There’s nothing else you can see that looks like that. It’s just amazing. Spectacular. And then you can see Jupiter and Mercury, and you can see that at the same time during the day. – even seeing Mercury is pretty rare. So that’s pretty cool.”

Such celestial events happen about once every decade: The last one was in 2013 and the next one won’t be until 2031. It happens when Earth is in its “sweet spot” so that the moon and sun are about the same size. sky, said NASA solar expert Michael Kirk.

At some point, the moon gets close enough to block the sun in a total eclipse. But when the moon is a bit further away, it allows some sunlight to be seen in the annular eclipse.

“It’s a crazy phenomenon,” Kirk said. “You actually see a bigger moon in the sky.”

Some other solar eclipses will be easier to catch. An annular eclipse in mid-October and a total eclipse in April 2024 will cross millions of people in America.

An enthusiastic first audience

First-time eclipse chaser Julie Copson, who traveled more than 1,000 kilometers north from the port city of Fremantle on Australia’s west coast to Exmouth, said the phenomenon left her skin tingling.

“I felt emotional, like I could cry. The colors changed and I saw the corona and the sun flared,” said Copson.

“It was very strong and the temperature dropped a lot,” he continued, referring to the sudden 5 C drop from 29 C as the moon’s shadow covered the area.

This is the fifth eclipse for Detroit resident Shane Varrti, who began planning the trip to Exmouth a year ago.

“It’s very exciting. All this effort has come to fruition,” said Varrti.

The ‘Ring of Fire’ appears to some

In the Indonesian capital, hundreds flocked to the Jakarta Planetarium to see the cloud-covered partial eclipse.

Azka Azzahra, 21, came with her sister and friends to get a closer look using a telescope with hundreds of other visitors.

“I still like to come even though it’s cloudy. It’s nice to see how enthusiastic people come here to see the eclipse, because it’s very rare,” said Azzahra.

In East Timor, people gathered on the beach in the municipality of Lautem, waiting to witness a rare solar eclipse through eclipse glasses. Some came from other countries and gathered with locals to get a clear view of the eclipse.

People cheer when the sun and moon reach their maximum eclipse.

“This is a very new natural phenomenon for Timor Leste. It is very important for us to be able to watch and experience it first hand,” said Martinho Fatima, an official of the civil protection authority.

Hybrid solar eclipses are tracked from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and mostly over water. A few lucky people on the road may see the total darkness of the eclipse or the “ring of fire” as the sun peeks out from behind the moon.