It was the first annular eclipse of the year: it was visible in the northern hemisphere, from Europe to Canada

A solar eclipse swept the northern hemisphere sky this Thursday along a strip of about 500 kilometers, from Canada to Siberia, via Europe, where it was partial but just as dangerous for the eyes.

At the dawn of this call annular eclipse, the Moon moved slowly in front of the Sun, to transform it during a few minutes into a thin luminous ring, like a “circle of fire” in the June sky.

A show reserved for the few inhabitants of the highest latitudes, who were right in the axis: Northwestern Canada, Far North Russia, Northwest Greenland and the North Pole, or the occultation of the solar disk was 87.8%, as specified by the Paris-PSL Observatory.

The annular eclipse was also visible, but only partially, in the northwestern North America, much of Europe including Spain, France, and the UK, as well as parts of North Asia, already transformed into a sunset eclipse.

At these latitudes, astronomy enthusiasts have been able to observe a fraction of the Sun masked by the black disc of the Moon, at the 20% in London, 13.2% in Paris and 4.8% in Madrid.

The eclipse lasted a few hours.

It was not “very spectacular”, but it was interesting to watch, says the astronomer Florent Defie, from the Paris Observatory.

In major Canadian cities like Toronto you Ottawa, where the eclipse also covered 80% of the Sun, the main problem in observing the eclipse was the weather conditions and finding an obstacle-free place to observe the horizon through which the star will rise.

But in places like Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, in the Arctic, where buildings are low and there are no natural obstacles such as mountains blocking the view of the horizon, the picture was spectacular.

As in all eclipses, Experts have warned that looking directly at the conjunction of celestial bodies during the alignment process is dangerous as the sun’s rays could damage vision.

It was the first annular eclipse of the year 2021 and the sixteenth of the 21st century.

This astronomical phenomenon occurs during the period of new Moon, when the Earth, the Moon and the Sun are perfectly aligned.

If the apparent diameter of the Moon is less than that of the Sun, part of the crown of fire remains visible.

A total eclipse, which briefly plunges part of the planet into darkness, occurs when the diameter of the moon corresponds exactly to that of the sun seen from the earth.

The last total eclipse occurred on May 26, 2021 and could be observed, although not at its peak, in some countries of South America.

This rarer phenomenon has been observed in particular in France in August 1999.

(With information from AFP)

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