SOLAR ECLIPSE. This Thursday, April 20, 2023, a hybrid solar eclipse, the first of the year, will be visible from Australia, the Indian and Pacific oceans. At what time ? How to see it in France?
[Mis à jour le 19 avril 2023 à 16h07] The next solar eclipse will occur this Thursday, April 20, not visible from France but from the southern Indian Ocean, much of Oceania, Southeast Asia and western Pacific Ocean, part of Antarctica, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines… It will occur from 3:34 a.m. (French time) to 8:59 a.m. (French time). Maximum eclipse is predicted for 6:16 a.m. Astronomy lovers, you can follow the show on the site timeanddate.com.
This first solar eclipse of the year 2023 is a “hybrid” eclipse and the next, on October 14, 2023, will be an annular eclipse, visible only in America. How to explain the phenomenon of solar eclipse, hybrid, total or partial? When are the next total or partial eclipses visible in France? Learn all about it in the file below.
The solar eclipse of April 20, 2023 is a hybrid eclipse, which means that it can be total or annular depending on the place of observation. During its path, it will pass from directory to total, then from total to annular. The April 20 solar eclipse will begin in the southern Indian Ocean (annular) then cross northwest Australia (total) and end in the Pacific Ocean (annular).
A solar eclipse occurs when Earth, Moon and the Sun are perfectly aligned in the same plane. The Moon then casts its shadow on the Earth, thus masking the Sun, and plunging part of our planet in the dark for a few minutes.
The Earth revolves around the Sun in a plane called the “plane of the ecliptic”. The Moon on its side revolves around the Earth in another plane. So at new moon, when our satellite is located between the Earth and the Sun, it is usually not perfectly aligned with them. This is why there is no solar eclipse every new moon. Exceptionally, all the conditions are met: Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned in this order on the plane of the ecliptic. A solar eclipse then occurs.
A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Earth-Moon-Sun alignment is not perfect, when the Moon passes slightly above or below the Earth-Sun alignment. The Moon comes to hide only a piece of the Sun, which is not enough to completely darken the sky. “To start to have a feeling of darkness in the sky, to perceive a kind of cold light, you need at least 95% obscuration of the Sun,” said AFP Florent Deleflie, astronomer at the Paris Observatory. . This astronomical phenomenon of partial solar eclipse, which occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are imperfectly aligned, does not darken the sky and is observable only with protections adequate, under penalty of “irreversible retinal burns”, warns Florent Deleflie, of the Paris Observatory.
On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, a partial solar eclipse was visible in the sky over France. Nevertheless, the Sun had not been hidden in the same way according to the regions. Indeed, it was in the east of the country that the partial eclipse was most visible. In Strasbourg, the obscuration rate was almost 20%. Even at the peak of the eclipse, over Kazakhstan, the Sun was over 80% hidden. An insufficient figure to have a perception of darkness in broad daylight, since it requires an obscuration of at least 95% of the Sun. Discover the most beautiful photos of this solar eclipse around the world:
Find all the dates of the next eclipses of sun total in the world, but also partial and annular in France, in our file below.
The next solar eclipses visible from France will be partial. A partial eclipse shows only part of the Sun obscured by the Moon. They will be visible in France on the following dates: March 29, 2025 and the August 12, 2026.
An extremely rare phenomenon, a total solar eclipse only occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are perfectly aligned. A total solar eclipse will not occur until September 3, 2081 in France. French astronomy enthusiasts will have to be patient… More precisely on September 3, 2081, followed by a second complete eclipse on September 29, 2090. In the meantime, it will still be possible to see the Moon partially occult the Sun.
If you want to enjoy the spectacle of a total solar eclipse in Europe, you will have two chances to see one… In 6 years! August 12, 2026 First, darkness will cover northern Spain and parts of Iceland. This total solar eclipse will only be partially visible in France. The next year, August 2, 2027, a second total eclipse will be visible in the far south of Spain. If you stay in France, you can still enjoy a very beautiful partial eclipse.
Between the partial and total eclipse, the annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and the Moon are perfectly aligned with the Earth but the apparent size of the Moon is slightly smaller than that of the Sun. This then forms a bright ring surrounding the lunar disk. The next annular eclipses will be completely visible from France on the following dates: November 5, 2059 then February 27, 2082.
To observe a solar eclipse with the naked eye, it is imperative to wear special glasses. Conventional sunglasses are not sufficient to protect the retina. During the eclipse, with the decrease in luminosity, the pupils will tend to dilate. When the sun suddenly reappears, serious retinal damage can occur. These burns are not painful, so special care should be taken.
Tricks like looking at the eclipse through a CD or through smoked glass are not effective. To protect your eyes and make the most of the eclipse, go to an astronomy club where you can observe the eclipse indirectly by projection. The simplest solution: make a small hole in a piece of cardboard, direct it towards the sun and observe the projected eclipse. Be aware that glasses allowing you to observe the eclipse without danger are available for around 2 euros. It is also possible to buy them in shopping centers or in stores such as Nature et Découverte, or to order them on the Internet. All the tips are in our file below: