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'Ring of Fire' wows people across Americas

October 15, 2023

The rare solar eclipse was a spectacle for millions across the Western Hemisphere as the moon moved into place and blocked out all but a brilliant circle of the sun's outer edge.

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Ringförmige Sonnenfinsternis | USA
People watch the "ring of fire" annular eclipse in Albuquerque.Image: Chancey Bush/Albuquerque Journal/AP/picture alliance

People across the Americas stared skywards on Saturday to witness a rare "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun.

It happens when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth at its furthest point from the planet but does not cover the Sun completely, creating "ring of fire" effect is created. The phenomena lasts only a few minutes.

The "ring of fire" visible in Albuquerque.
The "ring of fire" visible in Albuquerque.Image: Chancey Bush/Albuquerque Journal/AP/picture alliance

"It's majestic. We're in awe," Shannon Cozad, who watched the eclipse from New Mexico in the United States, said.

NASA said the eclipse followed a path from the US Pacific Northwest, crossing over parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil before ending at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean. 

A child puts special sun filter glasses to a dog during the Annular at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
A child puts special sun filter glasses to a dog during the Annular at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.Image: Carlos Tischler/Eyepix Group/NurPhoto/picture alliance

"It is something that nature brings us and that we must watch," said 77-year-old Pilar Cáceres who watched the eclipse by following its shadow through a piece of cardboard in Mexico. 

A security guard observes the Annular Solar Eclipse by using homemade sunscreens at the Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace) viewpoint in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
A security guard observes the Annular Solar Eclipse by using homemade sunscreens at the Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace) viewpoint in Cochabamba, Bolivia.Image: Mateo Romay Salinas/Anadolu/picture alliance

Saturday's event comes ahead of a total eclipse set for April 2024, but the next annular eclipse, as the "ring of fire" is more formally known, will be in 2039 in Alaska and 2046 in the lower 48 states.

dbb/lo (AFP,AP, Reuters)