Early Thursday morning a few fortunate folks from Canada to Siberia were treated to the full “Ring of Fire” annular [NOTE: NOT annual] solar eclipse. But the show was also at least partially visible for a larger number of folks in the Upper Midwest and New England.
Maybe this path is a little easier to understand:
[For the curious, the Negative Path of Annularity is when the sun will be positioned in the annular eclipse before sunrise – making it very difficult to view.]
We should also note that there are different types of solar eclipses:
And for those astronomy-loving folks who actually remember what creates a umbra or penumbra (let alone an antumbra) here’s a diagrammatic representation of the alignments:
Time to get on with the show. First, let’s meet and greet some of the photographers around the world who captured all that astronomical science in action, and the folks around the world who got to enjoy it in real-time:
So let’s start with views from a couple of world capitals, beginning with Washington, DC.
Then London featuring the eclipse framed by two spires – the one with the flag is the spire atop the House of Parliament, and the other is the spire atop the Elizabeth Tower (formerly called the Clock Tower – but renamed in 2012 in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II), which houses Big Ben.
Toronto, the largest city in Canada (but not its capital), featured the 1,800-foot (553-meter) CN Tower as a popular focal point.
America’s largest city also offered a couple interesting views. A reflection of the eclipse in a skyscraper window in Midtown Manhattan, view over the Hudson River and one from Brooklyn of its namesake bridge over the East River. (Which isn’t really a river at all – but a salt water tidal estuary.)
But I really got a kick from all the other locales that were also able to enjoy the annular eclipse.
Oh, and the next total solar eclipse in the United States will be on April 8, 2024 – visible (weather permitting) from Texas to Maine.
