On Saturday, Oct. 14, an Annular Solar Eclipse, also known as the ‘Ring of Fire,’ will grace our skies and its an event not to be missed.
During the annual solar eclipse, the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun, so it won’t block the entire disk. The result is a beautiful “ring of fire.”
Locally, we will only see 75.94% of the eclipse with the start of partial eclipse beginning at 10:24 a.m. and reaching maximum eclipse at 11:53 a.m.
The point of greatest eclipse — where viewers could see a ring of fire lasting 5 minutes, 17 seconds — will occur off the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
To safely view this event, you must use solar filters at all times.
Whether your location will experience a partial solar eclipse or an annular solar eclipse, the dangers are the same.
In fact, a “ring of fire” is technically nothing more than a particularly pretty partial solar eclipse, because at no point will more than 91% of the sun’s disk be covered by the new moon.
Observers will need to wear solar eclipse glasses, and cameras, telescopes and binoculars must have solar filters placed in front of their lenses at all times.
To see the exact path of annularity, check out this interactive map created by French eclipse expert Xavier Jubier.
