As reported by Digital Lookthis year we will have three eclipses: one of the Moon (occurred in March) and two of the Sun. One of the solar eclipses was total and took place in April, being seen in parts of Canada, almost all of the USA and northern Mexico.
The next one, scheduled for October 2nd, will be an annular solar eclipse – like the last one visible from Brazil, which took place last year, also called the “Ring of Fire”.
What is a solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow over a certain area of the planet and totally or partially blocking sunlight. There are three best-known types of this phenomenon: partial, annular and total. There is also a fourth, rarer pattern, which practically mixes them all: the hybrid solar eclipse (like the one that happened in April 2023).
Partial eclipse is the most common type, which happens when only a part of the Sun is covered by the Moon. In this case, there is practically no change in the day’s luminosity. In turn, a total eclipse is characterized when the entire solar disk is blocked by the Moon, making the day completely dark.
The annular solar eclipse is very similar to the total one, because the Moon covers the Sun, but leaves a circle of visible light around it – the so-called “Ring of Fire”. This happens because it is further away from the Earth (at or close to its apogee), making its apparent circumference smaller than that of the Sun.
The Moon’s distance from Earth varies because its orbit is not perfectly circular – it is slightly oval, tracing a path known as an ellipse. As it traverses this elliptical path around the planet each month, its distance alternates between 356,500 km at perigee (closest approach) and 406,700 km at apogee.
Read more:
Where the “Ring of Fire” can be seen
According to the website Space.comOctober’s annular solar eclipse will be visible to those within a wide path across the Pacific Ocean and southern South America.
At the maximum point of the eclipse in the Pacific, the Moon will cover 93% of the center of the Sun, and the “Ring of Fire” will be visible for 7 minutes and 25 seconds.
This annular solar eclipse has a long and wide path, rising south of Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean and settling north of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean. This journey is 14,163 km, with the path being 265 to 331 km. width. Very little of this trail crosses soil, with only Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and parts of southern Chile and Argentina in South America within the path of annularity.
The “ring of fire” will be visible from that remote volcanic island in the South Pacific, halfway between Tahiti and South America. It has only been 14 years since a total solar eclipse was visible from there, on July 11, 2010 .
About 3,540 km west of Chile, Rapa Nui is home to a thousand mysterious moai, the remnants of a 13th- and 16th-century culture. Perched on stone pedestals called ahus, these carved human figures can be found in several locations across the island , which is entirely within the path of the eclipse.
Only 11,600 km of the annularity path crosses land on October 2, the vast majority in southern South America, in two countries in particular: Chile and Argentina.
Key locations in Chile include Cochrane, near the center line, and Chile Chico, just outside the northern limit, near the Argentine border. The latter would be a good choice for anyone who wants to see extended views of Baily’s accounts, which can last a few minutes.
In Argentina, a place of choice in a wild and empty region could be the Perito Moreno National Park. For a more arid eclipse with the highest chances of clear skies anywhere along the way, the best choices are Puerto Deseado and Puerto San Julián in Santa Cruz province on the Atlantic coast of Argentine Patagonia.
On average, a central solar eclipse occurs in the same place twice every 366 years or so, according to NASA, but two and a half years after the 2024 annular solar eclipse, another one happens partially in the same place. On February 6, 2027, a 7-minute, 51-second “Ring of Fire” will once again be visible from Chile and Argentina.
