The final solar eclipse before the Great American Eclipse occurs on Sunday, February 26, 2017. This will be an annular solar eclipse, sometimes referred to as the ‘Ring of Fire’. This happens because on this date, the Moon appears slightly smaller than the Sun in the sky. Therefore, the Moon cannot obstruct all of the Sun’s disc during this eclipse. The annular phase of the eclipse will be visible from a narrow corridor that begins in the southern Pacific Ocean, hitting landfall in southern Chile then through southern Argentina. The path of the partial shadow then spends the next couple of hours crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The next country to witness annularity will be Angola, Africa where the eclipse will be visible in the evening towards sunset. The final stages of the eclipse occur in the far northern tip of Zambia during sunset and finally the Democratic Republic of Congo. The full extent of the annular eclipse and it’s partial phase can be seen on the map below.
Interactive Eclipse Map
Courtesy of Xavier Jubier
Live Webcast
A live webcast will be available below on Sunday 26, February, 2017 courtesy of the Slooh observatory