Eclipse Chase — 20th Apr 2023
This write up is part of my assignment — Eclipse watch planning, in the course — Voyager, by Space Technology & Education Pvt Ltd
20th April 2023 — Hybrid Solar Eclipse
A hybrid eclipse of the Sun occurs on Thursday 20 April, 2023 UT, lasting from 01:34–06:59 UT. The Sun will be darkened for 1 minute and 16 seconds by a dramatic hybrid eclipse covering a narrow path at most 49 km wide. This will be visible in extreme north-western Australia, East Timor, and Indonesia. The partial eclipse will be visible across Australia and southeast Asia.
The assignment is to choose a primary location and a secondary one, in case the primary’s weather condition or any other travel plan goes wrong. The location should be on the path of the eclipse offering visibility and accessibility. Then see what phenomena can be observed at that location.
So here we go.
Primary Location — Close to Marshall Islands, North Pacific Ocean
Phenomena : Transition from Annular to Total solar eclipse.
Location Map
Catch the transition from total to annular, just 1microsec — The end of solar eclipse at 5:54:34.6 (in the first map below) to 5:54:34.7 (start of Annular eclipse in the second map)
Weather
Average temperature 75°F, Partly cloudy, most likely precipitation 55%
Local conditions
Both the points of transition from annular to total and total to annular are over sea. However there is a possibility to take a 7Hr flight from Marshall Islands, or La Réunion island, to view it over sea, the transition from Total to Annular.
Experiments
Below are the new studies that would be of interests to scientists, with respect to observing the annularity from earth or from satellites, ISS for the purpose of unobstructed and better view. Sun spots are can be observed during annularity and data utilised in many studies like the couple below
1. There is study going on, on the relationship between solar activity and global pandemics. Sun spots are the active regions of the sun
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-021-13249-2
2. Sun is showing very low activity, even when it is at the start of the 11-year cycle of maximum to minimum activity, a pattern. But what’s special is we are entering a Modern Grand Solar Minimum from 2020 to 2053. Last time this occurred was from 1645 AD to 1710 AD, called little ice age
Backup location — Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia
Phenomena Bailey’s beads
Caused by the Moon’s mountains, valleys, and craters. These surface features create an uneven edge of the Moon, where small “beads” of sunlight still shine through the lowest parts for a few moments after the rest of the Sun is covered.
Location Map
Weather
Average temperature 90°F, sunny clear sky, very low change of precipitation 6%
Local conditions
Exmouth is 1272Km north of Perth, reachable by coachline, car or flight from Perth Airport. It has lots of tourist attractions, to name Ningaloo Marine Park, Ningaloo Coral Reef, and hence lots of choice for places to stay.
Experiments
Study of solar nano-flares, which causes the corona’s heat much more than suns surface. The radiation caused by nano-flares affects the upper atmosphere, which causes the drag experienced by satellites, leading to further study.
Reference
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/HSE_20230420_pg02_Baily_Beads_Simulation.html
