Ring of Fire solar eclipse in October, live

(CNN)- According to NASA, this Wednesday’s solar eclipse creates a “ring of fire” in the skies over several areas of South America.

Watch it live:

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun at a time when the Moon is closest to Earth or at its farthest point in its orbit, so it cannot completely block the Sun as a total Sun would. Occurs during eclipse. Instead, the Sun’s bright light engulfs the Moon’s shadow, creating the so-called “ring of fire”.

The path of the October annular eclipse event will pass over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and Antarctica, but in the far south-eastern Pacific region of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and parts of Argentina and Chile, you’ll You can see “Ring Off”. If the sky is clear then the phenomenon of “fire”.

Meanwhile, the partial penumbral solar eclipse will be visible in Hawaii, American Samoa, Brazil, Fiji, French Polynesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Pitcairn Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Uruguay, South Georgia, Malvinas and many other places. Check the Time and Date website to see if the partial eclipse will be visible in your area.

If you’re in the path of a partial or annular eclipse and plan to view any astronomical spectacle, be sure to have a pair of certified eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer. The sun’s harmful rays will never disappear completely from sight and witnessing these phenomena can damage your eyes if you look directly at the sun.

According to the time and date, the annular eclipse started at 12:50 pm (Miami Time) and will end at 4:39 pm (Miami Time).

According to EarthSky, the trajectory will start about 1,700 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, then move southwest. The eclipse is expected to be at its peak, meaning the sun’s shadow will be over the ocean for just over seven minutes at 2:45 p.m. (Miami time).

The eclipse will also present a spectacle for sky watchers on the ground. The annular eclipse will first be visible over land on the remote island of Rapa Nui, famous for the monolithic statues found throughout the island, at 3:07 p.m. (Miami time), and the “ring of fire” will last until 6 p.m., according to EarthSky. According, minutes and 23 seconds.

The eclipse will reach Chile’s Patagonian coast at 4:22 pm (Miami time) before appearing in the Andes and a few minutes later in Argentina and then visible over the southern Atlantic coast at 4:27 pm (Miami time). ,

Finally, a partial eclipse will be visible north of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia at 4:36 pm (Miami time).

It is never safe to look directly at the Sun without using special protection, so there is no phase of an annular eclipse that is safe to view with the naked eye because sunlight is never completely blocked.

If you don’t have certified eclipse glasses or don’t use a handheld solar viewer to view the annular eclipse, you can use binoculars, a telescope, or a camera that has a special solar filter on the front that matches the eclipse glasses. Works the same way. , But according to NASA, don’t look through any optical equipment — camera lenses, telescopes, binoculars — while using eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer. The sun’s rays can still burn the filters of your glasses or visor, given how concentrated they can be through the optical device, and can cause serious eye damage.

Sunglasses will not replace eclipse glasses or solar viewers, which are thousands of times darker and conform to international standards. Do not use broken, scratched or damaged eclipse glasses or solar viewers.

Eclipses can also be viewed indirectly using a pinhole projector, such as one with a hole punched in an index card. These homemade viewers work if you stand with your back to the sun and hold the card. This hole projects an image of the Sun onto the ground or other surfaces. But never look directly at the sun through the hole.

Other pinhole projectors you may have include strainers, straw hats, or anything with small holes. Or you can simply raise your hands, keep your fingers apart, and cross them over each other to form a grid pattern. The small space between them will reflect a crescent of the Sun during a partial eclipse or a ring during an annular eclipse.

Are you standing near a leafy tree? The small spaces between the leaves will scatter the eclipse phase patterns on the ground.

If you’re going to sit outside for a while and wait for the eclipse, don’t forget to apply sunscreen and wear a hat to protect your skin.

The next full moon event, the “Hunter Moon” on October 17, will be a “supermoon” and the closest of the year, at a distance of 357,428 kilometers.

The “Beaver Moon” will occur on November 15, and the last full moon of the year will be the Cold Moon on December 15.

In the meantime, skywatchers can expect the busy meteor shower season to end in 2024. Here are the peak dates for upcoming astronomical activity, according to the American Meteor Society:

Draconids: October 7-8

Orionids: October 20-21

Southern Taurids: November 4–5

Northern Taurids: November 11–12

Leonids: November 17-18

Geminids: December 13-14

Ursids: December 21-22