Argentina and Chile will be privileged witnesses to a spectacular astronomical event: the annular solar eclipse or ring of fire this Wednesday, October 2. Annular eclipses are visually stunning, but unlike total eclipses, they do not produce complete darkness during the day.
The phenomenon, which will last seven minutes, will begin over the Pacific Ocean and progress towards the south of Chile and Argentina, towards the Atlantic. You can’t see it from Spain.
What is an annular eclipse
An annular eclipse is a type of solar eclipse in which the Moon, when interposed between the Earth and the Sun, does not completely cover the solar disk because it is at a further point in its orbit. This causes the Moon’s apparent size to be smaller than that of the Sun, creating a bright ring of visible sunlight around the Moon’s shadow, known as a “ring of fire.”
Unlike a total solar eclipse, where the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon, in an annular eclipse the center of the Sun is covered, but its edges remain visible. This type of eclipse occurs when the Moon is near its apogee, that is, the farthest point in its orbit around the Earth.
From what areas will it be visible?
The places in Argentina where it will be best seen are southern cities like Puerto Deseado and Puerto San Julián, in the province of Santa Cruz, which will be able to appreciate the eclipse in its entirety. It will be visible in particular in the La Ascensión sector of the Patagonian National Park and in the areas of Cañadón Pinturas, near the Cueva de las Manos Provincial Park.
In Chile, the eclipse will first hit Easter Island. Likewise, Cochrane will also be a unique place to observe it. Also in the southern region of Aysén, notably in the Laguna San Rafael National Park, a unique place with the third largest ice reserve in the world.
Recommendations for viewing eclipses
These phenomena can cause damage to the eyes and vision, so it is important to take precautions and protect yourself.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, recommends using telescopes, lenses, or binoculars with solar filters that meet ISO 12312-2, ensuring that “there is no time when it is “safe to look directly” at the Sun without a solar filter that meets the transmission requirements of the international standard.
If you do not have any of these objects, an indirect observation method can be used, such as a pinhole projector, a holey object that projects the image of the Sun onto a nearby surface.
As for photographs, the agency recommends that the lens be equipped with a suitable solar filter.
