Rare “Ring of Fire” Solar Eclipse to happen on Wednesday

2 months ago

Share Story

Another astronomical event is expected to be witnessed by millions as a rare “Ring of Fire” Solar eclipse is set to adorn the skies over parts of South America on Wednesday.

Annular solar eclipses happen whenever the moon passes between Earth and the sun when the moon is near or at the farthest point in its orbit from Earth. Thus, it can’t completely block the sun as it does during a total solar eclipse. Instead, the sun’s fiery light surrounds the moon’s shadow, creating the so-called ring of fire, as per CNN.

According to NASA, the path of Wednesday’s annular eclipse is set to track over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and Antarctica. However, the ring of fire phenomenon should be visible in parts of Argentina, Chile and the remote southeastern Pacific territory of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.

A crescent-shaped partial solar eclipse will also be visible in areas such as Hawaii, American Samoa, Brazil, Fiji, French Polynesia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Pitcairn Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Uruguay, South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and many other locations, CNN reports.

The event comes months following a rare “Total Eclipse” in April.