Lucky sky watchers across South America will be dazzled by a special space phenomenon on Wednesday, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth to produce a “Ring of Fire” eclipse.
Also called an annular solar eclipse, the celestial event will be most visible in parts of Chile and Argentina around 5:20 p.m. local time, according to NASA. Its fiery look is due to the fact that the moon will be at its farthest point from Earth, so it does not cover the sun entirely, creating a ring-shaped silhouette of sunlight.
“Because the Sun is never completely covered, observers must wear proper eye protection at all times during this eclipse,” experts at NASA warned.
A partial eclipse, meanwhile, will take over skies across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, including Hawaii, where it will be visible from 6:10 a.m. HST to 7:57 a.m. It can also be seen in other parts of South America, including Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico as well as Antarctica.
The phenomenon comes a year after the last annular eclipse swept across much of the Western Hemisphere and some six months after a total solar eclipse wowed people across North America, from the Southwest to the Northeast. The rare event drew millions of spectators outside in the middle of the day, all of them eager to witness the first full solar eclipse in seven years.
The next total solar eclipse that can be seen in United States will be on Aug. 23, 2044.
