Solar eclipse of April 20, 2023


A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Thursday, April 20, 2023, with a magnitude of 1.0132. It was a hybrid event, a narrow total eclipse, and beginning and ending as an annular eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun thereby totally or partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A hybrid solar eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance from annular to total and back as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. Totality occurs between the annularity paths across the surface of the Earth, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Hybrid solar eclipses are extremely rare, occurring in only 3.1% of solar eclipses in the 21st century. Occurring about 4.1 days after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
Totality for this eclipse was visible in the North West Cape peninsula and Barrow Island in Western Australia, eastern parts of East Timor, as well as Damar Island and parts of the province of Papua in Indonesia. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of Antarctica, Australia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. More than 20,000 people watched the eclipse from the town of Exmouth on Western Australia's North West Cape. Providing infrastructure and services for the visitors cost the State Government of Western Australia A$20 million. The date marked a significant moment of astrotourism and tourism in Western Australia.

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
EventTime
First Penumbral External Contact2023 April 20 at 01:35:34.3 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2023 April 20 at 02:38:15.0 UTC
First Central Line2023 April 20 at 02:38:18.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2023 April 20 at 02:38:21.7 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact2023 April 20 at 03:54:32.2 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction2023 April 20 at 03:56:44.7 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction2023 April 20 at 04:13:41.1 UTC
Greatest Duration2023 April 20 at 04:17:26.8 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2023 April 20 at 04:17:56.0 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact2023 April 20 at 04:41:47.9 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2023 April 20 at 05:57:41.3 UTC
Last Central Line2023 April 20 at 05:57:47.4 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2023 April 20 at 05:57:53.5 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2023 April 20 at 07:00:31.9 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.01320
Eclipse Obscuration1.02657
Gamma−0.39515
Sun Right Ascension01h51m01.7s
Sun Declination+11°24'54.1"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'55.4"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension01h51m43.2s
Moon Declination+11°04'16.7"
Moon Semi-Diameter15'53.6"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°58'19.9"
ΔT71.1 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
April 20
Ascending node
May 5
Descending node
Hybrid solar eclipse
Solar Saros 129		Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2023

A hybrid solar eclipse on April 20.

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 129

Inex

Triad