NASA explains how a 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse occurs and how it differs from a total solar eclipse.
WARNING: People should always use protective solar eclipse eyewear when viewing a solar eclipse.
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
WARNING: People should always use protective solar eclipse eyewear when viewing a solar eclipse.
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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TechTranscript
00:00 Roughly every year or two, somewhere in the world, the sun appears for a few moments as a ring of fire in the sky.
00:07 This is called an annular solar eclipse.
00:10 Annular comes from the Latin word annulus, which means ring.
00:15 An annular solar eclipse occurs when a new moon passes directly in front of the sun, but appears too small to cover it completely.
00:23 But why is that?
00:24 It's because the moon's orbit around Earth isn't a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse, or slightly oval-shaped.
00:31 This causes the moon to move closer to us and then farther away during its month-long orbit.
00:36 When the moon is at its closest point, called perigee, it appears slightly larger in our sky.
00:42 When it's farthest from us, at apogee, it appears a little smaller.
00:47 But we don't see an annular eclipse every month.
00:50 That's because the moon's orbit is also slightly tilted in relation to Earth's orbit around the sun.
00:56 This means during most months, the moon is either too high or too low to block the sun.
01:01 So only when a new moon is at apogee and passes directly between Earth and the sun,
01:07 do spectators on Earth get the rare opportunity to see the ring of fire in the sky.
01:12 Unlike a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely covers the sun,
01:16 during an annular eclipse, the sun never fully disappears.
01:20 So if you're lucky enough to be in the path of an annular solar eclipse,
01:24 make sure to wear your solar eclipse glasses or use other safe solar filters
01:29 to witness this spectacular ring of fire in the sky.
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