On May 20, an annular eclipse will span the Pacific, from China and Japan at sunrise to the U.S. southwest at sunset. People along the path of the eclipse will 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. An annular eclipse occurs instead of a total eclipse when the Moon is on the far part of its elliptical orbit around the Earth. Pictured above, a spectacular annular eclipse was photographed behind palm trees on 1992 January.
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| Annular Eclipse: The Ring of Fire. Credit & Copyright: Dennis L. Mammana (TWAN) |
Source:
- Astronomy Picture of the Day, January 25, 2009
