Explanation:
Tomorrow, a few lucky people may see a "ring of fire."
That's a name for the central view of an
annular eclipse of the
Sun by the
Moon.
At the peak of this eclipse,
the middle of the Sun will appear to be missing and the dark Moon will appear
to be surrounded by the bright Sun.
This will only be visible, however, from a
path that crosses the southern Indian Ocean.
From more populated locations, southern
Africa and parts of
Australia, most of
the Moon will only appear to take a
bite out the Sun.
Remember to
never look directly at the Sun even during an eclipse.
An annular eclipse occurs instead of a
total eclipse when the
Moon is on the far part of its
elliptical orbit around the
Earth.
The next annular eclipse of the Sun will take place in 2010 January,
although a
total solar eclipse will occur this July.
Pictured above, a spectacular
annular eclipse
was photographed behind palm
trees on 1992 January.
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