The rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse was visible from the Eastern hemisphere and is the last solar eclipse of the year.
The last solar eclipse of 2019 happened on December 26 and left the world stunned with its "ring of fire" as the moon did not cover the sun wholly, leaving out a portion of the sun exposed which looks like a ring of fire. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon covers the sun wholly or partially. An annular solar eclipse takes place when the moon's apparent diameter is smaller than that of the sun's and blocks most of the sun's light. This causes the sun to look like a ring (annulus) of fire.
Tamil Nadu: Solar eclipse witnessed in Chennai pic.twitter.com/7cDz6NSgmc
— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2019
"Ring of fire" eclipses occur every year or two, however they are only visible from a narrow band of Earth each time and it can be decades before the same pattern is repeated, reports The Guardian.
LOOK: The moon totally covers the sun in a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse as seen from the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu state on December 26, 2019. Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP pic.twitter.com/2zMOsf6UqZ
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) December 26, 2019
According to timeanddate.com, the solar eclipse was initially visible from South Indian states at 7:59 am IST. The maximum eclipse occurred at 10:47 am IST and it ended at 1:35 pm IST.
An airplane flies past as the moon moves in front of the sun in a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse as seen from Hanoi on December 26, 2019. | via Nhac Nguyen, AFP pic.twitter.com/PF3NTKk84E
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) December 26, 2019
The 88-mile (142 km) visibility path of the "ring of fire" moved to Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Singapore, Borneo, the Philippines, and the U.S. territory of Guam, making it visible to potentially millions of skywatchers, reports space.com.
Last solar eclipse of 2019 to create 'ring of fire' upon Pakistan pic.twitter.com/kefpKLI2KT
— Engr Choudhary Hamid Waseem (@SmartAbbey94) December 26, 2019
The next annual eclipse in June 2020 will be visible to a narrow band from Africa to northern Asia, claims the Guardian. Strict instructions were issued for skywatchers to use eye-protection for eclipse viewing. It was informed that viewing the eclipse through tinted glasses, binocular, home-made glasses are highly unsafe and could cause permanent loss of vision. Therefore, professional equipment is the safest and could give a clear view of the last eclipse of the decade.
A school boy uses solar filter glasses to view a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse at a school in Mumbai on December 26, 2019. Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP pic.twitter.com/UGYuos8tKm
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) December 26, 2019
The rare “ring of fire” annular solar #Eclipse captured in Singapore on 26 December 2019 - pic.twitter.com/dg8qImtkZn -
— Fa Conti (@faconti) December 26, 2019
RT Domenico Calia -
A bird flies past the moon as it moves in front of the sun in a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse, as seen from Wan Twin in central Myanmar on December 26, 2019.
— Alma Angeles (@AlmaEBC1with25) December 26, 2019
Ye Aung Thu / AFP pic.twitter.com/2QIIquCHJH
References:
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2019-december-26
https://www.space.com/ring-of-fire-christmas-solar-eclipse-2019-webcasts.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2019/dec/26/rare-ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-in-pictures