http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/science/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse.html 2016-09-05 10:00:44 A ‘Ring of Fire’ Eclipse Starts Thursday Thursday’s event will be visible from Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. === A ring of sunshine will blaze above parts of Africa on Thursday as the Unlike its better-known relative the “If they look up with protective eyewear they are going to see this strange ring in the sky, more spectacularly they will see these circular shadows,” said The reason every eclipse isn’t a total solar eclipse has to do with the moon’s elliptical orbit. At some points along its journey it is closer to Earth and at some points it is farther away. “It’s that sweet spot when it’s just right in between the two that you get the total eclipse,” said Dr. Young. “This is not exactly the sweet spot, it’s a little too far away.” An annular eclipse happens about once every 18 months. Thursday’s event Dr. Young said that although 95 percent of the sun will be blocked out, anyone who is in a position to watch the event should get some special solar eclipse glasses so they do not harm their eyes. For the rest of the world, you’ll still be able to watch Jay Pasachoff He and some of his colleagues have traveled to Réunion, a remote island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, in order to see it and photograph the peak. Dr. Pasachoff studies the effects that solar eclipses have on temperature and air pressure. Annular eclipses don’t provide researchers with as much interesting science as total eclipses, so he plans to use the event as a practice-run for the total solar eclipse that will cross the United States in August next year. Still, Dr. Pasachoff said he is excited to bask in the strange light of the annular eclipse. “The sky looked perfectly ordinary when I arrived, but tomorrow at the same time the moon will be blocking out most of the sun from the same location,” he said. “It’s intellectually rewarding to see the clockwork of the universe.” The next annular eclipse will be in February over Chile.