<p>There are 4 categories of eclipses. There are partial, annular, total, and hybrid eclipses. In a partial eclipse, part of the moon covers the earth casting its penumbra on earth. Judging from my experience on April 8 this year, the only way you will be able to tell there is a partial eclipse without ND5 glasses is by the weird things that happen when the sun is almost entirely obscured. An annular eclipse is when the apparent size of the moon is too small to completely obstruct the sun. Again, with this, without ND5 glasses, you’re not going to see much. Then, there is a total eclipse, where the moon obscures the photosphere allowing the corona to be seen in a display of color that defies explanation. This is the one where you see Bailey’s Beads and the diamond ring effect. I know this shouldn’t be in here, but trust me, if you are on this site, reading this question, you REALLY want to do whatever you have to in order to see a total eclipse.</p>
<p>So, this leads us to our last category of eclipse “hybrid”. According to NASA, most <a href="https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/SEglossary.html#:%7E:text=begin%20as%20annular%2C%20transform%20into%20total%2C%20and%20then%20revert%20back%20to%20annular%20before%20the%20end%20of%20their%20track." rel="nofollow noreferrer">hybrid eclipses start annular, move to total, then move back to annular</a>. It does also occur where an eclipse starts out total and goes to annular or vice versa, but these are rare. This means there is a point along the path of annularity/totality where the eclipse turns from annular to total and/or vice versa. This means that the “diamond ring effect” would occur simultaneously around the moon. According to ChatGPT3.5 the point at which this occurs is called the &quot;limits of central eclipse&quot; or simply the &quot;limits&quot; whereas ChatGPT4 says this point is referred to as simply as the transition point.</p>
<p>My question is, is it possible/has it ever happened, where the limits or transition point for both the annular to total transition and the total back to annular transition were visible from the same point on earth?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-14T12:26:01.620Z
Do you mean so that an observer would see the moon cross in front of the sun as an annular eclipse.  Then get larger and become a total eclipse, and then smaller again, becoming annular again...  No that doesn't happen.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-16T16:35:49.297Z
The change from annular to total is caused by the observer on Earth being further/closer to the moon due to Earth's curvature, rather than the moon getting further/closer to the Earth.  Since the shadow moves about 2000mph, and the Earth's surface maxes out at about 1000mph, any place on Earth can only see one or the other, never both.  An observer in a spacecraft or jet moving at high speeds may be able to do so, but that's not on the Earth's surface.
Greg Miller
<the-sun><the-moon><earth><solar-eclipse>
Is it possible for both transition points in a hybrid eclipse to occur so close together they can be seen from the same spot on earth?
Curious Layman
# Is it possible for both transition points in a hybrid eclipse to occur so close together they can be seen from the same spot on earth?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-04-14)

There are 4 categories of eclipses. There are partial, annular, total, and hybrid eclipses. In a partial eclipse, part of the moon covers the earth casting its penumbra on earth. Judging from my experience on April 8 this year, the only way you will be able to tell there is a partial eclipse without ND5 glasses is by the weird things that happen when the sun is almost entirely obscured. An annular eclipse is when the apparent size of the moon is too small to completely obstruct the sun. Again, with this, without ND5 glasses, you’re not going to see much. Then, there is a total eclipse, where the moon obscures the photosphere allowing the corona to be seen in a display of color that defies explanation. This is the one where you see Bailey’s Beads and the diamond ring effect. I know this shouldn’t be in here, but trust me, if you are on this site, reading this question, you REALLY want to do whatever you have to in order to see a total eclipse.

So, this leads us to our last category of eclipse “hybrid”. According to NASA, most [hybrid eclipses start annular, move to total, then move back to annular](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/SEglossary.html#:%7E:text=begin%20as%20annular%2C%20transform%20into%20total%2C%20and%20then%20revert%20back%20to%20annular%20before%20the%20end%20of%20their%20track.). It does also occur where an eclipse starts out total and goes to annular or vice versa, but these are rare. This means there is a point along the path of annularity/totality where the eclipse turns from annular to total and/or vice versa. This means that the “diamond ring effect” would occur simultaneously around the moon. According to ChatGPT3.5 the point at which this occurs is called the "limits of central eclipse" or simply the "limits" whereas ChatGPT4 says this point is referred to as simply as the transition point.

My question is, is it possible/has it ever happened, where the limits or transition point for both the annular to total transition and the total back to annular transition were visible from the same point on earth?

**Tags:** the-sun, the-moon, earth, solar-eclipse

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you mean so that an observer would see the moon cross in front of the sun as an annular eclipse.  Then get larger and become a total eclipse, and then smaller again, becoming annular again...  No that doesn't happen.  
> **username_2**: The change from annular to total is caused by the observer on Earth being further/closer to the moon due to Earth's curvature, rather than the moon getting further/closer to the Earth.  Since the shadow moves about 2000mph, and the Earth's surface maxes out at about 1000mph, any place on Earth can only see one or the other, never both.  An observer in a spacecraft or jet moving at high speeds may be able to do so, but that's not on the Earth's surface.  

---

## 0 answers

