Amazing ring of fire to be seen as Earth, moon and sun line up

– A spectacular “ring of fire” solar eclipse tomorrow will regale sky gazers in South America and southern Africa, with seafarers in the Atlantic getting a front-row view too, astronomers say.

The eclipse – during which the sun will all but disappear as the moon crosses its path – will be most visible in a 100km band cutting through Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A so-called annular solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, moon and sun line up.

But even when perfectly aligned, the moon is too far from Earth to completely block out the sun, creating instead the impression of a fiery ring.

At first, it will look as if a “bite” has been taken out of the sun, said Terry Moseley of the Irish Astronomical Association, stressing that viewers should not observe the eclipse with the naked eye.

“This ‘bite’ gradually gets bigger and bigger as the moon ... moves further and further in front of the sun. As about 90% of the sun is covered, you’ll notice a distinct drop in temperature and brightness and a change in the quality of the light,” he said.

As the day darkens, birds and animals may enter a night-time routine, thinking sunset is nigh.

At the height of the eclipse, the moon will be right in the middle of the sun, leaving “a perfect, beautiful, symmetrical ring” of light around the edge before exiting on the other side, said Moseley.

It will take about two hours for the moon to move across the face of the sun, but the “ring of fire” peak will last a mere minute.

Starting in the southeast Pacific Ocean at sunrise, the eclipse will hit solid land at 12.21 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in southern Chile, near the town of Coyhaique, then cut through Argentina – near Camarones Bay on the eastern coast – before hitting the South Atlantic.

At sea, the eclipse peak will last 44 seconds and “only be visible to any ships that happen to be in the right place at the right time”, Moseley said.

It will reach Angola, south of the town of Benguela, around 15.15 GMT, then move to Zambia and the DRC just before the sun sets and the light show ends.

According to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, the eclipse can be safely observed using a basic pinhole projector. Punch a tiny hole in a piece of paper with a sharp pencil, hold it up to the sun and project the image on to a second sheet.