'Ring of fire' solar eclipse thrills skywatchers in Africa, AsiaAnnular eclipses occur when the Moon -- passing between Earth and the Sun -- is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlightNAIROBI: Skywatchers along a narrow band from west Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, India and the Far East witnessed on Sunday a dramatic "ring of fire" solar eclipse. Arcing eastward across Africa and Asia, it reached "maximum eclipse" -- with a perfect solar halo around the Moon -- over Uttarakhand, India near the Sino-Indian border at 12.10pm local time (1.40pm in Thailand). More spectacular, but less long-lived: the exact alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun was visible for only 38 seconds. A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves into Earth's shadow. There will be a second solar eclipse in 2020 on Dec 14 over South America.

Source: Bangkok Post June 21, 2020 07:47 UTC