Total Solar Eclipse 2023 Live Updates: People gather in Australia, Indonesia and Timor Leste to watch rare hybrid eclipse australia news
donna lu
There’s still time to get out and get your solar eclipse glasses. Only approved glasses will absorb the appropriate wavelengths of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. Here’s how to find a safe pair – they must:
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Be sure to buy from reputed sellers to ensure that they are not fake.
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Display the correct security certification (ISO 12312-2).
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Do not show scratches, cracks or any other signs of damage.
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Fit snugly to your face so no gaps let light in (check they fit your normal glasses if you need them for normal vision).
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Check by looking at the lamp or lightbulb – only sunlight should be visible through actual eclipse glasses. There is no risk of eye damage with this test, provided the previous steps are followed.
Our celestial livestream will begin in 30 minutes, so stay tuned. Coming up in the meantime: more on shadow snakes, totality, coronas, and a sun-eating god of the underworld.
The total eclipse path will sweep mostly over water, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. For those watching the total eclipse, it will last a little over a minute.
The partial eclipse, although also brief, will be seen by many more people: Where and when you can see it in cities in Australia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand (UTC):
Hybrid solar eclipses are rare – only a few have happened in the past 100 years. There’s a clue in the name – the way the Sun, Moon and Earth will align today means the eclipse is a combination of two types – annular or total, depending on where you are in relation to the Moon.
This is how Tanya Hill, senior curator of astronomy at Museum Victoria, explained it to my colleague donna lu,
“It begins over the Indian Ocean as a annular eclipsewhere the Moon is just a little too small to block out the Sun completely and a ring of sunlight shines around the dark Moon,” he said.
“By the time the Moon’s shadow reaches the ground, it will have become a total eclipse – the Moon now appears large enough to block out the Sun completely.”
Updated at 20.24 EDT
In Australia, only lucky viewers in the state of Western Australia will be able to experience the total eclipse. People in other parts of the country will be outside the area completely covered by the inner shadow of the Moon. In other states, the event will be a partial eclipse, with the Sun only obscured to varying extents.
Here’s a breakdown of the eclipse times in Australian cities:
Here are our full details on when, where and how to watch the eclipse safely in Australia:
TODAY IS THE DAY: The Earth, Moon and Sun will be perfectly lined up, causing a rare type of total solar eclipse called a hybrid solar eclipse. This is a phenomenon that occurs only a few times every 100 years.
People in Australia, Timor-Leste and parts of Indonesia will have the best view of it: for a few moments, if the sky is clear, it will completely transform its surroundings.
But it will be visible in some form in Australia and Indonesia, and in parts of New Zealand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest. Before we begin: The same rules apply today as any other day – don’t look directly at the sun unless you’re looking at something safe. The best are eclipse glasses (ISO No. 12312-2).
You can also look through a homemade pinhole camera, strainer or welding mask if you have any of these on hand.
A total solar eclipse will be visible in some parts of the world on Thursday. Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP
Follow for a list of viewing times, reactions from eclipse watchers, and the weirdest things we can expect, including crescent moon-shaped disco ball-like lights and, more ominously, “shadow snakes.”
And please send me your photos, comments and questions on twitter @helenrsullivan Or via email: [email protected].
