RING OF FIRE: ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE

Photo by Kevin Baird via Flickr

Experience the natural beauty of our solar system by watching the annular solar eclipse on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Occurring two weeks after the total lunar eclipse on May 26, the solar eclipse will cast Earth in the shadow of the Moon and last around an hour and forty minutes. This particular eclipse has a rare magnitude that has only occurred twice in the past 150 years.

SOL

The ancient Greeks believed that each day the handsome Sun god Helios rode a chariot drawn by fire-breathing horses across the sky. Wearing a crown of radiant sunbeams, Helios was worshipped as the source of life and regeneration. Although Helios is the Greek word for sun, the rise of the Roman Empire introduced the Latin Sol, the basis of the word Sun in many languages today.  

RING OF FIRE

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon partially blocks the Sun, casting its shadow over Earth. This only occurs during a new moon, when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth.

Since the Moon's shadow is not large enough to cover our entire planet, not everyone will be able to experience this phenomenon. Solar eclipses are only visible where the shadow of the Moon falls, and the closer you are to the center of the shadow's path the larger the eclipse appears.

This June, the eclipse will be annular. The name annular comes from the Latin word for ring – annulus. With an annular solar eclipse, the Moon covers only the Sun’s center. This phenomenon leaves the Sun’s outer edge exposed, forming a “ring of fire” around the Moon visible only in locations on Earth where the Moon and Sun are perfectly aligned. Outside of these locations, an annular eclipse is similar to a partial solar eclipse and appears like the shape of a crescent Moon.

Photo by Opapaty via Pixabay

SUN WATCH

This solar eclipse starts at sunrise in Ontario, Canada, and ends at sunset over northeastern Siberia. The eclipse will be most visible over Russia, Greenland, and Canada, where viewers will witness the “ring of fire.” Although U.S. residents are not in the “ring of fire” zone, people living along the East Coast and Upper Midwest will still be able to witness a partial solar eclipse. The most ideally situated metropolitan areas to view the partial eclipse at sunrise are Toronto, Philadelphia, New York, and the beaches of New Jersey.

The Moon will obscure almost 80% of the left side of the Sun as it rises in the east-northeast at 5:42am EDT. As the Sun and Moon rise together, the silhouette of the Moon will gradually shift further away to the lower left of the Sun. The Sun will fully reappear by 6:29am EDT.

EYE SAFETY

Special eye protection or indirect viewing techniques are important when viewing a solar eclipse, since looking directly into the Sun can lead to permanent eye damage or blindness. Wear proper eye protection and witness the beauty of our solar system.