A ring of fire solar eclipse is happening for the first time in over a decade, and here’s how to see it

Written by Douglas Helm | published 5 minutes ago

If you are a space watcher in the United States, there will be a very important event to celebrate on your calendars this October. The ring of the eclipse of fire will be visible from eight different states, making it the first time in eleven years that this event has been visible in North America. Those in Central and South America will also get a chance to witness the event after bypassing North America (via MarthaStewart.com).

The ring of fire is set to begin on Oct. 13, and those in Oregon, northern California, Nevada, Utah, northeastern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas will have a chance to see it before it ends on Oct. 14. We last saw this even in 2012 when it passed over large swathes of the United States and gave space enthusiasts a great view of our sun.

A ring of eclipse of fire will be visible over North America on October 13. Eleven years have passed since such an event occurred.

Just keep in mind that you’ll need to be within a 125-mile path to see the full eclipse, otherwise you’ll only get a view of the partial eclipse this time.

The ring of fire eclipse gets its name from the moon passing over the sun, causing a black disk that covers most of the sun and a ring of fire circling the moon. The event occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun at the farthest point in its orbit. It is definitely an incredible event to see and is worth the drive a bit if you are close enough to catch it.

Viewing the event requires either specialized eclipse glasses or you can use an indirect viewing method such as a pinhole projector.

While it’s still really cool to see, keep in mind that an annular eclipse of fire is not a total eclipse of the sun. That is, it is not safe to look at the sun with your naked eye at any time during the eclipse, and that you will need a special viewing device to look at the event. Viewing the event requires either specialized eclipse glasses or you can use an indirect viewing method such as a pinhole projector.

How do you see the eclipse?

Those in the path of the fire eclipse ring will need to hope for decent viewing conditions if they want to get a good look at the event. Ideally, clear skies would be the best conditions for viewing the eclipse, but any conditions in which the sun is visible should suffice for viewing the event. Those who have cloudy and rainy skies may not be so lucky this time.

As mentioned, the ring of fire eclipse will follow a path along the Oregon coast to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Next, the eclipse will pass over Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Panama before completing its journey through Colombia and the coast of Brazil. With the latest event coming up in 2012, it’s not often that you get a chance to witness this event, so be on the lookout.

However, there is good news for future eclipse watchers. If you missed the episode of the eclipse of fire, you can look forward to the total solar eclipse that will be visible in the US on April 8, 2024. You’ll really want to make sure you travel for this eclipse since the next total eclipse in the US won’t be visible until 2044.