MIAMI, United States. — A hybrid solar eclipse can be seen from Cuba on April 20, assured the Cuban physicist and meteorologist Jose Rubiera in a column published on the digital portal Excellencies.
The scientist indicated that it will be the first solar eclipse of the year and added that it will be one of the rarest that can be seen, “since it will begin as an annular eclipse.”
“It will be one of the least usual, since it will start as an annular eclipse, that is, giving the effect of a ‘ring of light’ on the Sun, because at first the Moon will not completely hide the solar disk, but it will end with the Sun completely. covered, that is, like a total solar eclipse.”
Rubiera also explained that the total eclipse phase will last just 76 seconds.
“These eclipses that are both annular and total at some point in their existence are called hybrid eclipses, and it must be said that they are very rare. There will only be four of them in the entire 21st century,” said the expert.
In the United States, the phenomenon can be seen at 8:30 p.m. (Central Time) and will receive live coverage on NASA’s official YouTube channel.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, totally or partially blocking sunlight from our perspective on Earth. During a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun’s disk, leaving only the Sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, visible as a bright halo around the Moon’s darkened edge.
Total solar eclipses are relatively rare and occur only when the Moon is in its new Moon phase, and when the Moon and Sun are in exact alignment with Earth. Since the Moon moves in an elliptical orbit around the Earth, the relative distance between the Moon and the Earth varies, which means that total solar eclipses can only be seen from a narrow strip of the Earth’s surface.
Scientists warn that you should never look directly at the Sun during a solar eclipse, as this can permanently damage your vision. Instead, special glasses or safe projection devices must be used to view the eclipse.
