Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ningaloo ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse
Mains level: Not Much
A ‘hybrid’ solar eclipse called the Ningaloo Eclipse recently happened on April 20, 2023.
Ningaloo ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse
- It was a rare astronomical event that occurred on April 20, 2023.
- The Moon passed directly between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on a narrow strip of land in Western Australia.
- It was a “hybrid” eclipse, starting as an annular eclipse and transitioning into a total eclipse.
- The path of the eclipse crossed over the Ningaloo Reef, a world heritage site in Western Australia.
- It offered a unique opportunity to view the eclipse against the backdrop of the reef and the Indian Ocean.
How rare are such events?
- During a solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth’s surface.
- However, solar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon’s orbit is tilted by about 5 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
- Therefore, the Moon’s shadow usually misses Earth, but occasionally the alignment is just right for a solar eclipse to occur.
- In the case of the Ningaloo Hybrid Solar Eclipse, the alignment was such that the Moon was at the right distance from Earth to create both an annular and a total eclipse as it moved across the Sun.
- This type of eclipse is quite rare, occurring only about once every 400 years.
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