On October 2, only a small number of lucky people were able to see with their own eyes as the Sun turned into a stunning ring of fire. This was the result of an annular solar eclipse that covered the entire Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, southern Chile and southern Argentina. Then the ring of fire reached the Atlantic Ocean, where it disappeared from view.
Annular eclipses occur because the distance between the Earth and the Moon varies between 362,000 and 406,000 kilometers. When our planet’s companion passes the apogee of its orbit (as it was on October 2), the diameter of its disk in the Earth’s sky is 14% smaller than when it is at perigee. It is difficult for the human eye to see the difference, but it is enough to determine whether the eclipse will be total or annular.
The main feature of the past eclipse was that it started and ended far from land. Only 175,000 people live in the zone which allowed the ring of fire to be seen. However, that didn’t stop astrophotographers who decided to travel to the edge of the world to see the eclipse.
The most popular place to watch the eclipse was Easter Island, where crowds of observers from around the world gathered to watch the rare celestial phenomenon. They were not scared, even by the unfavorable weather forecast. Fortunately, before the beginning of the eclipse, the clouds cleared, which made it possible to take some very spectacular photos.
The fire ring phase was also observed in a narrow band at the tip of South America. However, the weather there was worse than on Easter Island. Nevertheless, local photographers managed to take some beautiful shots. This is how, for example, the eclipse looked in Buenos Aires.
And this is how the beginning of the recent eclipse looked from the top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea mountain. The image was taken at the moment of sunrise.
Earlier we told you about when the next solar eclipse would be visible in Ukraine.
