Annular Eclipse

Sometimes, nature is kind and generous. In April, for example, it produced a total solar eclipse that was seen by tens of millions.
At other times, though, nature is more impish. An example of that comes up tomorrow. There’s another solar eclipse. But this time, the Moon will be farthest from Earth for the entire year. So the Sun will encircle the Moon with a wide ring of fire – an annular eclipse. And not many people will see it – almost its entire path is over the Pacific Ocean.
During an annular eclipse, the Moon lines up directly in front of the Sun, as it does during a total eclipse. But the Moon is farther from Earth than average, so it can’t completely cover the Sun. Tomorrow’s eclipse peaks less than an hour before the Moon reaches its greatest distance from Earth for the entire year – more than 252,500 miles – almost 14,000 miles farther than the average distance. So the Moon will block no more than 87 percent of the Sun’s disk.
Even so, it should be a great sight for anyone along the path – as long as they have the proper eye protection.
The eclipse begins south of Hawaii, then sweeps toward the southeast. It nicks the tip of South America, then ends over the South Atlantic. Hawaii will see a partial eclipse, beginning at sunrise. And North America? Well, nature’s not as generous this time. None of the eclipse will be visible from anywhere on the continent.
Script by Damond Benningfield