Tens of millions of individuals across the Americas were treated to a rare celestial phenomenon on Saturday as an annular solar eclipse — generally known as the “ring of fireplace” — temporarily darkened skies from Oregon to Brazil.
Spectators hooted and hollered because the moon passed in front of the sun, not completely blocking it out, but leaving a halo of sunlight piercing through at its edges.
In Albuquerque, Latest Mexico, hot-air balloons speckled a transparent sky, taking people even closer to the eclipse because the event coincided with the town’s annual balloon festival.
“It’s very exciting to be here and have the convergence of our love of flying with something very natural like an eclipse,” balloon pilot Allan Hahn of Aurora, Colorado, said.
His balloon, named Heaven Sure Too, was one in all 72 chosen for a special “glow” performance as skies dimmed.
Much of the Western hemisphere fell within the eclipse’s west-east path: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Latest Mexico and Texas within the US, with a sliver of California, Arizona and Colorado. It was also visible in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil.
NASA and other space organizations livestreamed the eclipse.
All the eclipse — from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until it’s back to normal — is 2 1/2 to 3 hours at any given spot.
Nonetheless, the highly anticipated “ring of fireplace” portion lasts from just three to 5 minutes, depending on location.
In Cancun, Mexico, tons of of individuals hoping to get a take a look at the obscured sun packed into the town’s planetarium to look at the eclipse. Some took a peek through box projectors, while others looked through telescopes and protective special glasses.
Children and adults cheered and whistled, with some raising their arms to the sky on the spectacle.
“It’s the third one which I even have seen, but I come due to energy it gives you. It’s something that nature brings us and that we must watch,” Pilar Cáceres, 77, a retired elementary school teacher said.
Other enthusiasts flocked to more distant regions for the eclipse, reminiscent of Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah.
Kirby James and Caroline McGuire of Toronto said they hadn’t planned their trip to the favored park across the eclipse but were elated to be there for the “epic” experience among the many red rock hoodoos.
“Nothing that you would be able to read could prepare you for a way it feels,” said Kirby James, 63, a co-founder of a software company. “It’s the moment, especially when the ring of fireplace got here on, you realized you were having a lifetime experience.”
Next April, a complete solar eclipse will move across the USA in the other way, starting in Mexico, then Texas and on to Latest England before concluding in eastern Canada.
The subsequent ring of fireplace eclipse, which occurs less often, shall be in October next 12 months on the southernmost tip of South America. Antarctica will see one in 2026.
After that, the ring of fireplace won’t be visible within the US until 2039 — and Alaska shall be the one state in its direct path.
Tens of millions of individuals across the Americas were treated to a rare celestial phenomenon on Saturday as an annular solar eclipse — generally known as the “ring of fireplace” — temporarily darkened skies from Oregon to Brazil.
Spectators hooted and hollered because the moon passed in front of the sun, not completely blocking it out, but leaving a halo of sunlight piercing through at its edges.
In Albuquerque, Latest Mexico, hot-air balloons speckled a transparent sky, taking people even closer to the eclipse because the event coincided with the town’s annual balloon festival.
“It’s very exciting to be here and have the convergence of our love of flying with something very natural like an eclipse,” balloon pilot Allan Hahn of Aurora, Colorado, said.
His balloon, named Heaven Sure Too, was one in all 72 chosen for a special “glow” performance as skies dimmed.
Much of the Western hemisphere fell within the eclipse’s west-east path: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Latest Mexico and Texas within the US, with a sliver of California, Arizona and Colorado. It was also visible in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil.
NASA and other space organizations livestreamed the eclipse.
All the eclipse — from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until it’s back to normal — is 2 1/2 to 3 hours at any given spot.
Nonetheless, the highly anticipated “ring of fireplace” portion lasts from just three to 5 minutes, depending on location.
In Cancun, Mexico, tons of of individuals hoping to get a take a look at the obscured sun packed into the town’s planetarium to look at the eclipse. Some took a peek through box projectors, while others looked through telescopes and protective special glasses.
Children and adults cheered and whistled, with some raising their arms to the sky on the spectacle.
“It’s the third one which I even have seen, but I come due to energy it gives you. It’s something that nature brings us and that we must watch,” Pilar Cáceres, 77, a retired elementary school teacher said.
Other enthusiasts flocked to more distant regions for the eclipse, reminiscent of Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah.
Kirby James and Caroline McGuire of Toronto said they hadn’t planned their trip to the favored park across the eclipse but were elated to be there for the “epic” experience among the many red rock hoodoos.
“Nothing that you would be able to read could prepare you for a way it feels,” said Kirby James, 63, a co-founder of a software company. “It’s the moment, especially when the ring of fireplace got here on, you realized you were having a lifetime experience.”
Next April, a complete solar eclipse will move across the USA in the other way, starting in Mexico, then Texas and on to Latest England before concluding in eastern Canada.
The subsequent ring of fireplace eclipse, which occurs less often, shall be in October next 12 months on the southernmost tip of South America. Antarctica will see one in 2026.
After that, the ring of fireplace won’t be visible within the US until 2039 — and Alaska shall be the one state in its direct path.
