“Ring of fire” eclipse to dazzle Americas

A rare annular solar eclipse will dazzle skywatchers in parts of the U.S., Mexico, and many countries in South and Central America


Never look directly at eclipse without specialised eye protection designed for solar viewing

Greatest eclipse:
17:59:21GMT, Oct 14 
Duration: 5mins 17secs 
Path width: 187.4km

16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30

20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20%

Path of annularity over U.S.

OR ID NV CA UT AZ 
UNITED STATES
CO NM TX
MEXICO
PACIFIC OCEAN
200km 125 miles


TOTAL ECLIPSE
Moon’s umbral shadow obscures Sun completely

ANNULAR ECLIPSE
Moon is further away from Earth, so outer edge of sun (annulus) is visible, creating “ring of fire”

SUN
MOON
Penumbra Umbra

SUN
Umbra

EARTH


Sources: NASA, Great American Eclipse
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