- Jonathan Amos
- BBC science correspondent
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Image source, Getty Images
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The Ring Solar Eclipse will be visible from the top of the world
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This Thursday (10/06), the show will begin in most of the Earth’s northern hemisphere, when the ‘Ring of Fire’ solar eclipse appears.
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This event is also called an annular solar eclipse, when the Moon moves across the Sun but does not completely block its light.
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Instead, the golden light will still be seen shining around the outside of the Sun.
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The best view of this annular eclipse will be seen at the North Pole.
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Not many people live there, but most of the world’s population will still be treated to views of a partial eclipse where the Moon will appear to be ‘biting’ the Sun.
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The viewable areas include the eastern United States and northern Alaska, as well as much of Canada, Greenland, and parts of Europe and Asia.
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In England, the best place to watch the eclipse, when the Sun is the largest portion of the Moon, is Scotland.
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In these places, 40% of the Sun is covered. But in southern England, as in London, only 20% of the Sun is covered.
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As usual, the advice for those of you who want to see a solar eclipse is, do not do it with the naked eye because it can cause severe damage to the eyes.
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Enjoying the view of the solar eclipse must be done with the help of protective equipment, such as eclipse glasses or a projector that is punched with a needle.
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It’s even better if you watch the eclipse with an astronomy group who can show you how to view the eclipse safely.
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The “annular path” – or the trajectory of the Earth’s surface where the Moon’s exact position covers the circle of the Sun, creating incredible views – begins at sunrise in Ontario, Canada, at 09:49 local time.
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The eclipse will then sweep across the top of the Earth, including over the North Pole, then reach the Russian Far East and finally end at sunset at 11:33 am local time.
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Image source, Getty Images
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The pinhole camera technique is a very safe way to view the eclipse
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The place where you can enjoy the longest annular eclipse – with a duration of almost four minutes – is in the middle of the Nares Strait, the small canal that separates Canada from Greenland.
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However, there are very few creatures that can see 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon. Maybe some walruses on a floating block of ice.
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For other locations, there are many applications to view simulated annular solar eclipses, and you can enter nearby cities, such as here.
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This annular solar eclipse will not be visible from Indonesia.
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Image source, Stefan Seip
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When the Moon is slightly farther from Earth, the Moon cannot cover the entire surface of the Sun
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Not all eclipses are total. The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not perfectly spherical. The Moon’s distance from Earth varies from about 3356,500 km to 406,700 km.
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This difference in distance makes the size of the Moon in the sky can vary, with a difference of about 13%.
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If the Moon covers the Sun at the closest distance in its orbit, there will be a total solar eclipse because the entire surface of the Sun is covered by the Moon.
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But if the Moon covered the Sun at its furthest orbital distance, as is now the case, the Moon would not completely cover the Sun – then the Sun’s “ring” would be visible.
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But this is no less beautiful than a total eclipse.
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“Eclipses give us the opportunity to connect with the Sun,” said Prof Lucie Green of the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
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“Usually, the Sun is so bright and dazzling that we don’t pay much attention to it. But during an eclipse, of any kind, we can – if we watch it safely – watch the Moon slide in front of the Sun and remind ourselves of the solar system we live in. this,” he told BBC News.
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