New Delhi, India

The annular solar eclipse will be visible on Wednesday (Oct 2). During this astronomical phenomenon, the moon will pass over the sun creating a “ring of fire”.

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This year’s eclipse will be visible for a much longer duration of 7 minutes and 25 seconds and will cover 93% of the sun, according to Space.com. The last annular solar eclipse which occurred on October 14, 2023, was only visible for 4 minutes and 52 seconds in the United States, Mexico, and other countries in South and Central America.

What is a ring of fire solar eclipse?

According to NASA, a ring of fire eclipse occurs during a new moon, when the Earth, moon and sun are in a straight path. However, unlike a total eclipse, which completely covers the sun, an annular eclipse happens when the moon is at a farther point from the Earth and appears smaller. Thus, a ring of fire is visible as the moon cannot cover the entire sun.

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Also read | Earth to get a ‘second moon’ on Sep 29. Here is how to watch it

About two to five solar eclipses are visible from Earth in a year, while a total solar eclipse occurs only once or twice a year. This phenomenon will not happen again until 2026 and will be visible in Spain, Greenland, and Iceland.

Where will the ring of fire be visible?

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The ring of fire will only be visible in the Pacific Ocean, and southern parts of Chile and Argentina.

The annular eclipse can be seen in Chile and Argentina a little before 5:30 pm local time. While April’s eclipse was visible to 32 million people across North America, the coming eclipse will be only visible to 175,000 people, making it much more remote.

The eclipse will also be visible in Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island around 2 pm local time.

Also read | Huge water presence, three times greater than oceans of Earth, found in space

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in parts of North America, South America, Antarctica, and the Atlantic Ocean, where the sun will appear as a crescent, including in Hawaii, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

How to look at the solar eclipse safely?

It is important to take precautions while looking at a solar eclipse and only use solar viewers and filters as regular sunglasses are not safe. 

If you don’t have proper safe solar viewers, you can also look at the eclipse indirectly by making a pinhole projector and protecting the image of the sun on a nearby surface. However, it is important to be cautious while using such methods.

(With inputs from agencies)