Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2020 June 15

A Ring of Fire Sunrise Solar Eclipse
Video Credit: Colin Legg & Geoff Sims; Music: Peter Nanasi

Explanation: What's rising above the horizon? It's the Sun. Most sunrises don't look like this, though, because most sunrises don't include the Moon. In the early morning of 2013 May 10, however, from Western Australia, the Moon was between the Earth and the rising Sun. At times, the rising Sun was not only eclipsed by the Moon but also by earthly clouds, making it hard for the uninformed to understand what was happening. In an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block the entire Sun, and at most leaves a ring of fire where sunlight pours out around every edge of the Moon. The featured time-lapse video also recorded the eclipse through the high refraction of the Earth's atmosphere just above the horizon, making the unusual rising Sun and Moon appear also flattened. As the video continues on, the Sun continues to rise, and the Sun and Moon begin to separate. This weekend, a new annular solar eclipse will occur, visible from central Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and a narrow band across Asia, with much of Earth's Eastern hemisphere being able to see a partial solar eclipse.

Tomorrow's picture: still crazy


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