Nov. 3: Hybrid Eclipse of the Sun (African TDY?) This is a rather unusual solar eclipse in that, along its track, which runs for 8,450 miles across the Earths surface, the eclipse quickly morphs from annular to total; it is therefore known to astronomers as a hybrid eclipse. Truth be told, along most of the track, the eclipse appears as a total, with a very thin annulus (or ring) of sunlight visible near the very beginning of the track. The track of the central line of this eclipse begins in the Atlantic about 545 miles southwest of Bermuda. So, along North Americas Atlantic Coast, interested viewers (using proper viewing devices, such as pinhole projection or #14 welders glass) will only see the dark disk of the moon exiting the suns face at sunrise. The eclipse track will pass south of the Cape Verde Islands, then curve southeastward parallel to the African coastline. The greatest eclipse, with 100 seconds of totality and the path width reaching a maximum of just 36 miles, occurs approximately 250 miles off the coast of Liberia. The shadow track will then sweep across central Africa, passing over sections of Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya, before ending at sunset at the Ethiopia-Somalia border.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 10:37:08 +0000
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