Over the next 18 months, there will be four solar eclipses, two of which, a total and an annular, will be visible from large swathes of the United States and North America.
April 20, 2023: The Hybrid Eclipse of 2023
On April 20, there will be a rare hybrid solar eclipse starting in Indian Ocean, traversing Australia, and ending in the Pacific Ocean. Only three countries in the world will experience this full solar eclipse—the Exmouth peninsula of Western Australia, the nation of Timor-Leste, and the Papua and West Papua provinces of Indonesia.
What makes this eclipse different from most, is that it begins as an annular solar eclipse, quickly transitioning to a total solar eclipse, and ends as an annular solar eclipse again— a hybrid eclipse. Besides the three regions mentioned earlier, viewers outside of the total solar eclipse will witness the ring-like annular solar eclipse.
There are four types of solar eclipses: total, partial, hybrid, and annular. The type of solar eclipse depends on how the Moon aligns with Earth and the Sun, and how far the Moon is away from Earth.
The April 20 hybrid eclipse will begin at 9:36 p.m. EDT on April 19 (0136 GMT on April 20) and end at 2:59 a.m. EDT (0659 GMT) on April 20, according to In the Sky. None of it will be visible from North America, but TimeAndDate.com will have a livestream of the total eclipse starting at 9:30 p.m. EDT on April 19.
The last hybrid eclipse occurred on November 3, 2013, and this next type of solar eclipse will occur on November 14, 203, and will be visible from some parts of the continental United States, unfortunately not Washington state.
Two Upcoming Eclipses in the United States
Two solar eclipses will cross the United States in 2023 and 2024—all 48 contiguous states in the U.S. will experience at least a partial eclipse.
On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will create a “ring of fire” around the moon to be visible in the sky from Oregon to Texas. This eclipse will be visible from Washington state!
The October 14 annular eclipse follows the United States total eclipse of August 2017, and comes six months before the Mexico-US-Canada total eclipse of April 2024. From Seattle, the best times to see the partial eclipse begins at 8:07:32 am PST, peaking at 9:20:13 am PST, and ending at 10:39:36 am PST.
For residents in Seattle at least 80% of the Sun will be covered, whereas residents in Snohomish County will experience at 78% partial eclipse. Those in Eugene, Oregon will experience an 89% blocking of the Sun for just under four minutes.
From the United States, crossing over San Antonio, the total eclipse passes over Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, plus parts of Central America, Colombia, and Brazil. Elsewhere in the Americas—from Alaska to Argentina—a partial eclipse will be visible.
Six months later, on April 8, 2024, The Great American Total Solar Eclipse will darken the skies from Texas to Maine. This will be the third total or annular eclipse to traverse the US mainland in seven years, following the total eclipse of August 2017 and the annular eclipse of October 2023.
The April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse runs through Mexico (from Sinaloa to Coahuila), the US (from Texas to Maine), and Canada (from Ontario to Newfoundland). A partial eclipse will be visible across nearly all of North America, and a sliver of western Europe.
From Seattle, the best times to see the partial eclipse begins at 10:39:02 am PST, peaking at 11:29:21 am PST, and ending at 12:21:16 pm PST. For residents in Seattle and Snohomish County, at least an 20% of the Sun will be covered.
October 2, 2024: The South American Annular Solar Eclipse
This annular solar eclipse will cross over Chile and Argentina. The path will also cross over Easter Island in Chile. In the U.S., a partial solar eclipse will occur in Hawaii.
Author: Mario Lotmore
