MOSTI is now sharing about the Hibird Solar Eclipse that will happen on April 20, 2023.
This eclipse phenomenon is very, very rare, and is estimated to only happen once every decade. For the 21st century, this hybrid solar eclipse will occur only 7 times, namely in 2013, 2023, 2031, 2049, 2050 and 2067.
This phenomenon is known as a hybrid because it involves all three areas of the Moon's shadow, namely the umbra, penumbra and antumbra. This Hybrid Solar Eclipse phenomenon occurs 4.1 days after the Moon is at perigee, which is the point of the Moon's orbit that is closest to Earth at a distance of 367,968km. The magnitude of the Hybrid Solar Eclipse this time is 1.0132.
The 49km wide eclipse path starts in the Indian Ocean at sunrise and ends at sunset in the Pacific Ocean and only crosses land areas in parts of Western Australia, Timor-Leste and West Papua. When this phenomenon occurs, an annular eclipse will be visible for a few seconds in the Indian and Pacific Oceans with maximum eclipses in Exmouth, Western Australia (~ 1 minute), Timor-Leste (1 minute 14 seconds) and West Papua (1 minute 9 seconds) . The Partial Solar Eclipse will be visible in the wider area of the Moon's penumbra covering Southeast Asia including Malaysia, the East Indies, Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand.
In Peninsular Malaysia, this phenomenon is expected to be visible through a Partial Solar Eclipse from 11 am to 1 pm on 20 April 2023. Meanwhile in Sarawak until 1.30 pm, and in Sabah until 2 pm.