Moon Blocks (Most of) The Sun In 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse

Sunday Feb. 26, a ring of fire appeared in the sky over parts of South America, the Atlantic Ocean, and Africa, during an annular solar eclipse. An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon passes directly before the substance of the sun, yet does not seem sufficiently large in the sky to totally cover the star.

The black disc of the moon shut out the greater part of the sun's face, yet a bit of the sun stays visible. Since the moon circles the Earth in an elliptical manner, the distance of the moon from our planet is for the most part around 31,000 miles. But on Feb. 26, the moon will be 235,009 miles far from the Earth. Because of an impact is known as the "negative shadow", or antumbra, the moon will shut out the vast majority of the sun while just permitting the sides to be visible.

Due to the impressive distance across the moon under the negative shadow or antumbra, it would be impossible for it to cover the sun completely. This is the explanation behind why the Ring of Light will be obviously visible around the moon. The Eclipse or the "Ring of Fire" will be seen over the South Pacific Ocean, South America, Africa and the South Atlantic Ocean. Countries like Argentina, Chile, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia will also get a glimpse at the event.

Yet, it is South America, along with the Southern Shore of the Gulf of Corcovado which will witness the primary landfall of the antumbra of the moon. For the those who can't see it in their nations, they can rather watch the live webcast by Slooh Community Observatory on Space.Com. This event will be a once in a while occasion and many would hold up patiently to catch it on their unique instruments and telescopes.

In any case, each one of the individuals who is wanting to witness this eclipse must make sure that they see it through a pinhole camera or with the assistance of solar viewing glasses. Watching it with the naked eyes or with ordinary binoculars may bring about the negative effect on the eyes and harm to the optic nerves in the cerebrum.