A Rare Partial Solar Eclipse is Heading Our Way Next Thursday, April 20!

Hang on to your hats and get your glasses ready, for we have a Partial Solar Eclipse coming our way!

Next Thursday (April 20, 2023), the whole of Malaysia will get to experience a Partial Solar Eclipse in conjunction with the Hybrid Solar Eclipse happening near the Australian continent.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia (MOSTI) took to their Facebook page to share the news.

They wrote, “A Hybrid Solar Eclipse is a very rare eclipse, which is estimated to occur once every decade where both the distance of the moon and the sun to the earth need to be in a certain position for this phenomenon to happen.”

“Hybrid Solar Eclipses will only occur 7 times in the 21st century, namely in 2013, 2023, 2031, 2049, 2050 and 2067.”

It is called a ‘hybrid’ because it involves all 3 areas of the moon’s shadow, namely the umbra, penumbra and antumbra, which combines all 3 types of solar eclipses, namely the Total Solar Eclipse, Annular Solar Eclipse and Partial Solar Eclipse along the middle path of the eclipse.

“The type of eclipse we see depends on the location of the observer along the path of the eclipse (the part of the moon’s shadow where we are),” they added.

For the latest information on the Hybrid Solar Eclipse, follow the social media pages of the Malaysian Space Agency – MYSA and the National Planetarium.

Also, it is never safe to look directly at the sun’s rays – even if the sun is partly obscured, so don’t forget to prepare your glasses if you’re going to watch this rare phenomenon!

Also read: Dr Wan Azizah Shared A Rather Odd Post & Here Come The Conspiracy Theories!