With a few days left in the pocket, the US will soon witness the annular '
Ring of Fire ' eclipse, and if you want to keep track of the path of this cosmic phenomenon in real-time then see the new map that
NASA has published.
This new map is called NASA 2023 Eclipse Explorer which will allow you to zoom in and out. Such eclipses happen every year or two, but not everyone gets to see them. For the Americans, this will be the first eclipse of this type that can be seen in the US since 2012 and will be the last one until 2046 rolls around.
The scientific reason behind this cosmic phenomenon is that it happens when the Moon is the farthest away from the
Sun on its elliptical orbit, causing it to appear smaller than the Sun from Earth. When this slightly smaller-looking Moon passes in front of the Sun, a glimmer of the star's corona appears as a circle – or the annulus – around the Moon's edge, according to the
Science alert
It seems that NASA also wanted to keep the people excited about this annular eclipse and that is the reason that they came up with this NASA 2023 Eclipse Explorer.
If you've got patience you can follow the path of annularity in real time. If not, crank the speed up and make it 600 times faster. Using the buttons underneath the map, you can also view areas of partial coverage, and where the eclipse is going to last the longest.
It's a comprehensive resource if you're planning to get out and do some eclipse-spotting, but it's not the only one available. You might also want to check out the Eclipse Simulator, which will show you how the annular eclipse will actually look.
There's also the Great American Eclipse website, which offers some impressive flyover videos that give you a great idea of how the path of annularity is going to progress as the day progresses on October 14.
An eclipse of any description always results in some stunning photos – whether it's the total lunar eclipse of May 2021, the total
solar eclipse of December 2021, or any other similar event. Let's hope this week's eclipse is the same.
A word of warning if you are planning to gaze upwards on Saturday, October 14 when the annular eclipse will be visible in the United States: make sure you're wearing glasses specifically certified to offer protection for solar eclipses.