Lucky few to see ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse over Antarctica on Feb. 17
While the new moon this Tuesday, February 17, will pass without much fanfare across most of the world, something more exciting will occur over part of Antarctica: a “ring of fire” solar eclipse, also known as an annular solar eclipse.
During a ring finger solar eclipsethe moon passes directly in front of the sun but appears too small in the sky to completely cover it. That’s because the Moon is at its farthest point from Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit during these rare eclipses. On February 17, 96% of the sun will be covered during the “Ring of Fire.”
Observers within a narrow path 616 kilometers wide will see a “ring of fire” – the bright edge of the sun around the dark silhouette of the moon – for a maximum of 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
However, few people will witness it. This eclipse is as distant as possible, with the eclipse path passing over largely uninhabited terrain in the Antarctic interior.
“It is possible that only a few people will see this eclipse from the annular zone,” eclipse meteorologist Jay Anderson wrote on his website: Eclipsophile. “It’s a challenge to reach, and there are only two inhabited places in the ring shadow, neither of which are set up to accommodate tourists. “At worst, a few dozen Russian researchers in Mirny and a small number of French-Italian residents in Concordia. [two research stations in Antarctica] will record the event for posterity.
An eclipse for scientists (and penguins)
At Mirny Station on the Davis Sea coast, the “ring of fire” phase, called annularity, will last 1 minute 52 seconds, according to Time and date. Meanwhile, the Concordia station, operated jointly by France and Italy, will see the ring of fire for 2 minutes and 9 seconds. The latter location has a much better chance of having clear skies, time and date adds.
The eclipse officially begins at 09:56 UTC (4:46 a.m. EST), when a partial eclipse will begin across Antarctica and parts of Southeast Africa. (Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius will experience a 10% to 35% partial eclipse.) The annular phase occurs between 11:42 UTC and 12:41 UTC (6:42 a.m. to 7:42 a.m. EST), with partial phases ending at 2:27 p.m. UTC (2:27 p.m. EST).
Eclipses always come in pairs. Since the alignment between the sun, new moon and Earth is precise enough to cause an annular solar eclipse on February 17, a lunar eclipse is inevitable at the next new moon. On March 3, a a total lunar eclipse will be visible from East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, parts of the Pacific Ocean, and western North America.
The next annular solar eclipse will occur on February 6, 2027, when a “ring of fire” will be visible for 7 minutes and 51 seconds from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, depending on the time and date.
