What is a ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse?
What is a 'ring of fire' solar eclipse?
It happens when the moon moves in front of the sun
but doesn’t completely block it out like with a total eclipse
Instead, it leaves a thin halo of light around the edge
It happens because the moon is farther away in its orbit
and so appears smaller
A ‘ring of fire’ eclipse falling exactly in midsummer is very rare
The most recent one happened on June 21, 2020
and won’t happen again until 2039