Yesterday, there was an annular eclipse of the sun, a phenomenon that occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and stands between our star and our planet.

The special thing about this eclipse is precisely the moment when it occurs: it is the last eclipse of the decade, and also the only annular eclipse we have had this year. That the Moon is “inside” the Sun makes that ring of fire effect leave amazing images.

A different eclipse

The eclipse has been visible especially in Asia, with crowds gathering to be able to see it in countries such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India or Saudi Arabia. In this video you can see how that particular ring of fire was visible from Singapore (point 1:16:30 of that follow-up):

In total eclipses of the sun, the Moon completely covers the Sun and leaves only the particular halo or corona) of the solar atmosphere. However in annular eclipses of the sun like this, when the moon does not fully cover the Sun, the Moon is near the heyday (the furthest point from the centre of Earth’s orbit) and its angular diameter is smaller than the solar one.

This causes this special phenomenon, which, by the way, will be repeated on June 10, 2021, as soon as next year. As in the latter case, it will be visible especially in the eastern hemisphere.