by Skywatchers along a narrow band from west Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, India and southern China will witness on Sunday a dramatic "ring of fire" solar eclipse.
So-called annular eclipses occur when the Moon—passing between Earth and the Sun—is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlight, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible.
They happen every year or two, and can only been seen from a narrow pathway across the planet.
Were the Moon just a wee bit closer -– 379,100 rather than 381,500 kilometres away -– Earthlings would be treated to a total blackout, visible at a given spot on our planet about every 400 years.
Remarkably, the eclipse Sunday arrives on the northern hemisphere's longest day of the year—the summer solstice—when Earth's north pole is tilted most directly towards the Sun.
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Source
So-called annular eclipses occur when the Moon—passing between Earth and the Sun—is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlight, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible.
They happen every year or two, and can only been seen from a narrow pathway across the planet.
Were the Moon just a wee bit closer -– 379,100 rather than 381,500 kilometres away -– Earthlings would be treated to a total blackout, visible at a given spot on our planet about every 400 years.
Remarkably, the eclipse Sunday arrives on the northern hemisphere's longest day of the year—the summer solstice—when Earth's north pole is tilted most directly towards the Sun.
Continued...
Source
NASA/Hinode/XRT)
