To divide
On October 14, parts of the world will witness a stunning annular solar eclipse. A bright ‘ring’ will then be visible in the sky.
Munich – During a solar eclipse, the new moon moves in front of the sun and hides it – a phenomenon that occurs several times a year, but is always visible only in a limited area. On October 14, part of America will witness a stunning annular solar eclipse, while other parts of the continent will see at least a partial solar eclipse.
During an annular solar eclipse, the moon is not close enough to Earth to completely obscure the solar disk. An “edge” remains, which forms a brilliantly shiny “ring.” In the case of the solar eclipse on October 14, this “ring” will only be visible in a narrow band about 180 kilometers wide that stretches across the United States. It is also partially visible in Central America, Colombia and Brazil. Almost all of the Americas outside this corridor will see a partial solar eclipse – the Moon only partially blocks the Sun and without the spectacular ring.
During an annular solar eclipse, a “ring of fire” remains and the rest of the sun is obscured by the new moon. (File image) © dpa/Gustavo Cuevas
Annular solar eclipse: spectacular “corona of fire” remains visible
The annular solar eclipse is also known as the “fire corona solar eclipse” because at its peak the sun appears to be surrounded by a fiery corona. Unfortunately, this celestial spectacle is not visible in Germany – except on live internet broadcasts.
According to German time, the solar eclipse will occur in the late afternoon and evening. Partial dimming of the sun begins at 5:03 pm, and maximum dimming is reached at 7:59 pm – now the “ring” or “crown of fire” should be visible if you are in the right place. The solar eclipse ends at 10:55 pm.
| 5:03 p.m. |
| 6:10 p.m. |
| 7:59 p.m. |
| 9:49 p.m. |
| 10:55 p.m. |
| Source: time and date |
The moon can only obscure the sun because of size and distance
Although the Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon, spectacular solar eclipses on Earth are only possible because the Moon is about 400 times closer to Earth than the Sun. This allows the Moon’s disk to appear as large as that of the Sun and can completely obscure the Sun. However, a total solar eclipse rarely occurs – in Germany it will only be seen again in 2084. However, partial dimming of the sun occurs much more frequently. The next solar eclipse visible in Germany will be a partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025.
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A lunar eclipse always occurs two weeks before or after a solar eclipse – unlike a solar eclipse, it is visible wherever the moon is in the sky at the time of the eclipse. The next lunar eclipse will take place on October 28th and can also be clearly seen in Germany. However, the moon is only partially obscured. (tab)
Machine assistance was used for this article written by the editorial team. The article was carefully checked by editor Tanja Banner before publication.