The celestial spectacle was short but impressive: people were able to experience a wreath of fire solar eclipse over large parts of the American continent.
Millions of people in parts of North, South and Central America viewed a rare wreath of fire solar eclipse on Saturday. During this annular solar eclipse, the moon moves in front of the sun, but the outer edge of the sun remains visible.
According to the US space agency NASA, the solar eclipse was most pronounced in parts of the US states Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas as well as in parts of Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia and Brazil.
People watch the partial solar eclipse in Brazil. The annular solar eclipse crossed America from north to south
After five minutes it was over
The visibility of the annular solar eclipse moved in a narrow strip from northwest to southeast across the American continent. The maximum duration of the annular phase of five minutes and 17 seconds was reached over Panama.
Partial phases of darkness could be seen over large areas of the USA, although rain clouds prevented a view of the celestial spectacle on parts of the US East Coast, for example.
The moon crosses in front of the sun during the annular solar eclipse.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves centrally in front of the sun, but is at a comparatively large distance from the earth at this moment. This means that the Earth’s satellite does not completely cover the sun’s disk. A total solar eclipse has been announced again for parts of North America in April 2024.