A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit on Sunday, November 3, 2013,[1] [2] [3] [4] with a magnitude of 1.0159. It was a hybrid event, a narrow total eclipse, and beginning as an annular eclipse and concluding as a total eclipse, in this particular case. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 2.9 days before perigee (on November 6, 2013, at 9:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.[5]
Totality was visible from the northern Atlantic Ocean (east of Florida) to Africa (Gabon (landfall), the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia), with a maximum duration of totality of 1 minute and 39 seconds, visible from the Atlantic Ocean south of Ivory Coast and Ghana.[6]
Places with partial darkening were the eastern coast of North America, southern Greenland, Bermuda, the Caribbean islands, Costa Rica, Panama, northern South America, almost all the African continent, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Greece, Malta, Southern Russia, the Caucasus, Turkey and the Middle East.
This solar eclipse happened simultaneously with the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and it was possible to observe a partial solar eclipse in Abu Dhabi before the sunset while the F1 race took place, as shown briefly during its broadcast.[7]
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.[8]
| First Penumbral External Contact | 2013 November 03 at 10:05:41.2 UTC | |
| First Umbral External Contact | 2013 November 03 at 11:06:24.6 UTC | |
| First Central Line | 2013 November 03 at 11:06:26.7 UTC | |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 2013 November 03 at 11:06:28.9 UTC | |
| First Penumbral Internal Contact | 2013 November 03 at 12:14:17.3 UTC | |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 2013 November 03 at 12:39:54.2 UTC | |
| Greatest Eclipse | 2013 November 03 at 12:47:36.1 UTC | |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 2013 November 03 at 12:51:04.5 UTC | |
| Greatest Duration | 2013 November 03 at 12:51:58.3 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral Internal Contact | 2013 November 03 at 13:21:08.2 UTC | |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 2013 November 03 at 14:28:50.1 UTC | |
| Last Central Line | 2013 November 03 at 14:28:50.4 UTC | |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 2013 November 03 at 14:28:50.8 UTC | |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 2013 November 03 at 15:29:29.3 UTC |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.01587 | |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.03200 | |
| Gamma | 0.32715 | |
| Sun Right Ascension | 14h35m19.9s | |
| Sun Declination | -15°12'22.5" | |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 16'07.4" | |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.9" | |
| Moon Right Ascension | 14h35m37.0s | |
| Moon Declination | -14°53'30.7" | |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 16'07.6" | |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°59'11.0" | |
| ΔT | 67.2 s |
See also: Eclipse cycle. This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) 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.