ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Over a billion people from North and South America are being treated to a celestial show as the Moon bypasses in front of the sun creating what is known as an annular solar eclipse.
In the U.S., residents and visitors from Oregon to Texas are in a prime viewing location as a 125-mile wide path of annularity passes overhead, and they get to see the full “ring of fire” spectacle.
The path included such landmarks as The Alamo in San Antonio, the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, Utah’s Canyonlands National Park and the Desert Southwest’s Four Corners Monument.
The Moon is passing in front of the sun, eclipsing nearly 90% of it for those along the main path of the eclipse. The event is known as an annular solar eclipse because the Moon is at the farthest point in its orbit of Earth and won’t quite cover the entire disc of the sun like what occurs during a total solar eclipse.
During the maximum eclipse, known as annularity, the light from the Sun around the Moon creates the “ring of fire” for which the annular eclipse is known. For places not along the path of annularity, a partial eclipse was visible.
Skies were exceptionally clear in Wyoming where meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Riverton spotted the event from the office.
And in San Diego, skies were also clear for the sun to appear in the form a crescent during the morning hours.
The eclipse was also visible from satellites 22,500 miles away from Earth.
The eclipse was also visible from satellites 22,500 miles away from Earth. The GOES-East satellite captured the West appearing to lose sunlight before noon on Saturday.
The maximum dimness lasted less than an hour before sunlight started its return.
A phenomenon
If you missed the annular eclipse this year, you’ll get another chance next spring as a total solar eclipse treks from Texas across the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys and into New England.
Unlike Saturday’s eclipse that at most will block out about 90% of the Sun, the total eclipse on April 8, 2024 will cover the entire Sun.
The U.S. has had a fortuitous run of eclipses over the past seven years, with another total solar eclipse that crossed the West in 2017. But next April’s eclipse will be the last chance to witness a total solar eclipse in the U.S. until August, 2045.