The distance from the Earth to the Moon varies slightly since the Moon's orbit around the earth is slightly elliptical (oval shaped). When the Moon is farther from the Earth the disk of the Moon appears smaller. When closer, the disk appears larger. During some eclipses, the Moon is relatively far away and the apparent size of the Moon is correspondingly smaller. During these eclipses, the Moon appears too small to completely cover the Sun and the eclipse is a kind of partial eclipse where a ring of sunlight is visible around the edges of the moon. There are more annular eclipses than total eclipses. This was not always the case as the Moon is slowly getting farther from the Earth. Eventually, there will be no more total eclipses. Eclipse photographs copyright 1999 by Fred Espenak, courtesy of www.MrEclipse.com
This is a partial solar eclipse in which the Moon is not close enough to the Earth to completely block out the Sun's light. When the Moon is centered on the Sun there is still an uncovered ring of sunlight.
An eclipse where the Moon is too far from the Earth for the Moon to completely cover the Sun. This leaves the outer edge of the Sun to be seen as a ring.
Solar eclipse in which the Moon's disk does not quite cover the Sun's disk, leaving a bright ring of sunlight around the Sun.
a type of solar eclipse in which a ring (annulus) of sunlight remains visible.
only a thin outer disk of the sun can be seen
a special partial solar eclipse
a type of eclipse that occurs every year
a type of partial eclipse
A solar eclipse where the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun but is too far from Earth to completely cover the solar disc. At the peak of an annular eclipse, the Moon is surrounded by a ring of sunlight.
annular eclipse Solar eclipse occurring at a time when the Moon is far enough away from the Earth that it fails to cover the disk of the Sun completely, leaving a ring of sunlight visible around its edge.
This occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. This means that the Sun appears as a very bright ring surrounding the outline of the Moon.
a solar eclipse in which the moon does not fully cover the disk of the sun, leaving a thin ring of sunlight visible
Occurs when the moon's disc diameter is less than Sun's and a 'ring of fire' takes place that can be seen during the eclipse sequence. Magnitude is always 1.0000
An annular eclipse is a type of solar eclipse. During an annular eclipse, the Sun looks like an "annulus" or ring. The ring is visible when the Moon does not entirely cover the disc of the Sun during the eclipse. This type of eclipse happens when the Sun is at perihelion (closest to the Earth) and the Moon is at apogee (farthest from the Earth).
A solar eclipse that occurs when the apparent size of the Moon is not great enough to completely cover the Sun. A thin ring of sunlight can be seen around the black disk of the Moon.
An eclipse of the Sun in which the Moon is slightly farther away from the Earth than in a total solar eclipse, so it appears too small to completely cover the sun's disk. The result is a ring of light (an annulus) around the moon at the peak of the eclipse. See also
a type of solar eclipse that happens when the Sun and Moon are exactly lined up but the Moon is too far away from the Earth to totally block the Sun's surface. A ring (annulus) of sunlight is seen around the dark Moon (contrast with total solar eclipse).