Photos: ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse lights up the sky
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(NewsNation Now) — A “ring of fire” solar eclipse lit up the sky Thursday morning.
Unlike a total solar eclipse, which occurs when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, causing the sun to be completely blocked, this eclipse was annular, which only occurs when the moon is in its first phase.
Skywatchers in parts of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, and Siberia had a complete view of the narrow path of this year’s first solar eclipse, according to NASA. It was a partial eclipse for much of the rest of northeastern North America, Greenland, Northern Europe, and northern Asia.
Video from Maryland showed a partial eclipse with skywatcher Israel Joffe, in North Bethesda, Maryland, likening the effect to the computer game character Pac-Man.
The new moon was farther from Earth in its elliptical orbit and appeared smaller — too small to cover the sun completely. As a result, a bright ring of sunlight surrounded the moon’s silhouette at mid-eclipse. That bright outer rim is known as the “ring of fire.”
“As the pair rises higher in the sky, the silhouette of the Moon will gradually shift off the sun to the lower left, allowing more of the sun to show until the eclipse ends,” NASA said.
None of the U.S. will see the full annular eclipse, which will last about an hour and 40 minutes. This was the first “ring of fire” solar eclipse seen in the U.S. since 2017.
NASA livestreamed the eclipse on its website in early Thursday morning.
This was the first solar eclipse of 2021. The second and final eclipse will occur Dec. 4.
TOPSHOT – A eclipsed sun rises over New York City on June 10, 2021 seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. – Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images) 
A eclipsed sun rises over Tobermory on June 10, 2021 in Ontario, Canada. – Canadian and Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Geoff ROBINS / AFP) (Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images) 
LEWES, DELAWARE – JUNE 10: In this handout image provided by NASA, a partial solar eclipse is seen as the sun rises behind the Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse on June 10, 2021 in Lewes, Delaware. Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images) 
A partial solar eclipse is seen through cloud cover from Primrose Hill in central London on June 10, 2021. (Photo by Niklas HALLE’N / AFP) (Photo by NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP via Getty Images) 
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – JUNE 10: In this handout image provided by NASA, a partial solar eclipse is seen as the sun rises behind the Capitol Building on June 10, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – A annular (partial solar) eclipse is seen as the sun rises over Scituate Light in Scituate, Massachusetts on June 10, 2021. – Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images) ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – JUNE 10: In this handout image provided by NASA, a partial solar eclipse is seen as the sun rises behind the Capitol Building on June 10, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images) 
Illustration picture shows a partial lunar eclipse, in Brussels, Thursday 10 June 2021. The phenomenon occurs when the moon gets between the earth and the sun and the moon casts a shadow over the earth. Some 15% of the sun will be covered. BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS (Photo by JASPER JACOBS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – The sun rises partially eclipsed June 10, 2021 in this view taken from behind a window (hence the doubling effect) of Summit One Vanderbilt, a high rise in New York City on June 10, 2021. – Northeast states in the U.S. will see a rare eclipsed sunrise, while in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, this annular eclipse will be seen as a visible thin outer ring of the sun’s disk that is not completely covered by the smaller dark disk of the moon, a so-called “ring of fire”. (Photo by Stan Honda / AFP) (Photo by STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images)
Nexstar Media Wire contributed to this report.
