An Annular Eclipse of the Sun
Credit & Copyright:
O. Staiger
An annular eclipse of the Sun was visible in parts of the Eastern Hemisphere on Saturday.
The
above picture was taken
at that time by a video camera in
Mersing on the East Coast of
Malaysia and emailed to
APOD
yesterday from an internet cafe in Kuala Lumpur.
An
annular solar eclipse will occur when the Moon's angular size is slightly less than the Sun's angular size.
Therefore, when the Moon is directly in front of the Sun,
the edges of the Sun are still visible. This solar ring is so bright that the Moon's surface normally
appears dark by comparison. The
angular sizes of the Sun and Moon change slightly because of the elliptical nature of the Moon's and Earth's orbit. A
total solar eclipse
would have occurred were the Moon much closer to the Earth.