Stunning images of ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse captured
Jocelina Joiner and Nexstar Media Wire
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Pimlico Primary school in London, Tuesday July 10, 2018, with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to meet staff and students. (Toby Melville/Pool via AP)
The statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is silhouetted against the sky early morning in London, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny shows his ballot as he arrives to vote during a city council election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Residents of Russia's capital are voting in a city council election that is shadowed by a wave of protests that saw the biggest demonstrator turnout in seven years and a notably violent police response. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)
FILE - In this July 18, 2018, photo, soybean farmer Michael Petefish holds soybeans from last season's crop at his farm near Claremont in southern Minnesota. China's government says its importers are inquiring about prices for American soybeans and pork in a possible goodwill gesture ahead of talks aimed at ending a tariff war with Washington. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
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(NEXSTAR) — Skywatchers were treated to a “ring of fire” solar eclipse on Thursday, and the images are spectacular.
The eclipse was visible Thursday morning, when a new moon occurred.
Parts of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, and Siberia had a complete view of the narrow path of this year’s first solar eclipse, according to NASA. It was a partial eclipse for much of the rest of northeastern North America, Greenland, Northern Europe, and northern Asia.
Unlike a total solar eclipse, which occurs when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, causing the sun to be completely blocked, this eclipse was annular, which only occurs when the moon is in its first phase.
The new moon is farther from Earth in its elliptical orbit and appears smaller — too small to cover the sun completely. As a result, a bright ring of sunlight surrounded the moon’s silhouette at mid-eclipse. That bright outer rim is known as the “ring of fire.”
None of the U.S. saw the full annular eclipse, which lasted about an hour and 40 minutes.
This was the first of two solar eclipses in 2021, with a total solar eclipse to occur on Dec. 4.
