18/05/2023
Annular solar eclipse 2023: Everything you need to know about North America's 'ring of fire' Annular Solar Eclipse 2023 Live
On Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will come to North America.
Roughly 11 years after the same type of solar eclipse crossed the U.S. Southwest on May 20, 2012, this one will be visible from a similar region, crossing eight U.S. states from Oregon to Texas, according to NASA(opens in new tab).
During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun, so it can't block the entire disk. The result is a beautiful "ring of fire." Here's everything you need to know about this rare event.
Related: Solar eclipses 2023: When is the next solar eclipse?
This eclipse won't darken skies the way the total solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, did. A solar eclipse occurs when a new moon is positioned precisely between Earth and the sun and casts its shadow on Earth.
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon appears relatively small in the sky so does not fully cover the disk of the sun, leaving a thin outer ring often called a "ring of fire."
Whether the moon can completely cover the sun's disk depends on the moon's distance from Earth. The moon has a slightly elliptical orbit around Earth, so at two points each month, it is farthest (apogee) and closest (perigee) to Earth, making the moon appear slightly smaller and slightly larger than average in our sky.
On Oct. 14, 2023, the new moon will look relatively small and, therefore, cover only 91% of the sun's disk as viewed from the narrow path of annularity that stretches from Oregon through Texas and beyond.
Related: A total solar eclipse and a 'ring of fire' make 2023 special for eclipse-chasers
On Oct. 14, 2023, all of North America and Central America, and most of South America will experience a solar eclipse. For all of that region, the spectacle will be a partial solar eclipse of varying obscuration. Only within the path of annularity, which is 118 to 137 miles (190 to 220 kilometers) wide, will the ring of fire be visible. That path will stretch from Oregon through northern California, northeast Nevada, central Utah, northeast Arizona, southwest Colorado, central New Mexico and southern Texas. It will then move across the Gulf of Mexico and over Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil.
The point of greatest eclipse — where viewers could see a ring of fire lasting 5 minutes, 17 seconds — will occur off the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. To see the exact path of annularity, check out this interactive map(opens in new tab) created by French eclipse expert Xavier Jubier.
The most scenic places to see the ring of fire are in the U.S. Southwest and at the Mayan temple at Edzná on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Here are some notable locations and cities that will see a ring of fire, together with the local time and duration of that event, according to Jubier. Note that all of these places will also see a long partial solar eclipse before and after the brief 'ring of fire; their closeness to the centerline of the path of annularity determines the duration of the ring of fire:
Oregon Dunes, Oregon: 9:15 a.m. PDT; 4 minutes, 29 seconds
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon: 9:17 a.m. PDT; 4 minutes, 19 seconds
Lava Beds National Monument, California: 9:19 a.m. PDT; 54 seconds
Great Basin National Park, Nevada: 9:24 a.m. PDT; 3 minutes, 46 seconds
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah: 10:27 a.m. MDT; 2 minutes, 31 seconds
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah: 10:27 a.m. MDT; 4 minutes, 37 seconds
Canyonlands National Park, Utah: 10:29 a.m. MDT; 2 minutes, 24 seconds
Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah: 10:29 a.m. MDT; 4 minutes, 29 seconds
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona: 10:29 a.m. MDT; 4 minutes, 16 seconds
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: 10:31 a.m. MDT; 2 minutes, 57 seconds
Chaco Culture National Park, New Mexico: 10:32 a.m. MDT; 4 minutes, 42 seconds
Albuquerque, New Mexico: 10:34 a.m. MDT; 4 minutes, 42 seconds
San Antonio: 11:52 a.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 5 seconds
Corpus Christi, Texas: 11:55 a.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 52 seconds
Padre Island National Seashore, Texas: 11:56 a.m. CDT; 4 minutes, 52 seconds
Edzná Maya archaeological site, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico: 11:23 a.m. CST; 4 minutes, 32 seconds
Although it's a great excuse to visit new places, the most important factor for eclipse viewing is clear weather. Check the climate and weather(opens in new tab) before you make a plan, and be prepared to change your location when the local short-term weather forecasts arrive.
Although it's largely being seen as a warm-up for the 2024 total solar eclipse, the 2023 annular solar eclipse is a great excuse to travel, and for eclipse chasers who have yet to see an annular solar eclipse, it's a great opportunity.
As with all eclipses, it's important to be in the center of the path of the moon's shadow if you want to experience as long a spectacle as possible. That means putting yourself on or near to the centerline. However, experienced eclipse chasers will head to the northern edge of the path — at locations such as Dolores, Colorado, and Santa Fe, New Mexico — to experience a much shorter, but arguably more dramatic, spectacle.
Viewers in these locations will see a ring of fire for perhaps just a few seconds. But it will be less circular, and one part of the edge of the moon will appear to almost block out the sun. This may make it possible to glimpse the "Baily's beads" ring around the moon during the annularity phase, just as can be seen during a total solar eclipse.
Although the ring of fire will get a lot of attention, few people make much effort to travel to see an annular solar eclipse. After all, these events don't quite compare to total solar eclipses. On Oct. 14, 2023, most of the Americas will experience a big partial solar eclipse. Here is what the 10 biggest cities in the U.S. will experience that day; only one will see the ring of fire:
New York: 23% at 1:22 p.m. EDT
Los Angeles: 71% at 9:24 a.m. PDT
Chicago: 43% at 11:58 a.m. CDT
Houston: 85% at 11:58 a.m. CDT
Phoenix: 79% at 9:31 a.m. MST
Philadelphia: 25% at 1:21 p.m. EDT
San Antonio: "Ring of fire" at 11:52 a.m. CDT
San Diego: 68% a.m. at 9:26 PDT
Dallas: 80% at 11:52 a.m. CDT
San Jose, California: 75% at 9:20 a.m. PDT
