Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse
Several regions on Earth will witness the phenomenon of a ring of fire solar eclipse, which is expected to occur on Saturday, October 14, 2023.
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| A "ring of fire" can be seen around the moon during an annular eclipse visible from Chiayi in southern Taiwan on June 21, 2020. (Photo: Alberto Buzzola/LightRocket/Getty Images) |
The Ring of Fire solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America. Some parts of the United States, Mexico, and many countries in South and Central America can also witness this phenomenon.
What is a ring of fire solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the new moon is right between Earth and the sun and its shadow hits Earth.
Meanwhile, a ring solar eclipse occurs when the moon appears relatively small in the sky so that it cannot cover the entire solar disk and leaves a thin outer ring often called the "ring of fire".
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The moon's ability to cover the entire solar disk depends on the moon's distance from Earth.
The Moon has a slightly oblong orbit around the Earth so that at two points each month, the Moon is at its farthest (apogee) and closest (perigee) position to the Earth. This makes the moon appear a little smaller and a little bigger.
On October 14, 2023, the new moon will look relatively small so that it can only cover 91% of the sun's disk when viewed from the narrow annularity path that stretches from Oregon to Texas and beyond.
Ring Solar Eclipse Process
There are 5 different stages of the ring solar eclipse phenomenon, namely:
- In the first stage, a partial eclipse begins: The silhouette of the moon begins to appear in front of the solar disk. The sun looked like it had been bitten.
- 2nd stage, a full eclipse or annularity begins: A ring of fire appears. For a few seconds as the annularity begins, Baily's beads, which appear like grains of light, sometimes appear at the edges of the moon's silhouette.
- Maximum eclipse: The Moon covers the center of the Sun's disk.
- Stage 3, annularity ends: The Moon begins to move away from the Sun's disk. Again, Bailey's beads may be seen along the front edge of the Moon.
- Stage 4, the partial eclipse ends: The Moon stops overlapping the disk of the Sun. The eclipse ends at this stage.
How long does a ring solar eclipse last?
A ring-of-fire solar eclipse can last more than 3 hours in locations of visible annularity.
From start to finish, the total duration of a ring eclipse can be more than 6 hours, but not in one location.
For annularity, when only the ring of fire is visible in the sky, it can range from less than a second to more than 12 minutes.
That's a bit of information about the "Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse". Hopefully useful and a reference for you.