See photos of this Saturday’s annular solar eclipse – 10/14/2023 – Science

Residents of part of the northern region of Brazil can now observe the annular solar eclipse this Saturday (14).

During a solar eclipse, the Moon is positioned between the Earth and the Sun, covering the solar disk. This can occur in four ways: total, annular, partial and hybrid.

In a total eclipse, the apparent size of the Moon is equivalent to that of the Sun, which is completely covered. In the annular, like this Saturday’s event, the apparent size is slightly smaller, leaving a ring of light visible around the Moon.

A partial solar eclipse, in turn, occurs when the Moon covers only part of the solar disk and, in the hybrid type, there is a transition between the annular and the total. In some places the Moon completely covers the Sun, while in others it is possible to observe the edge of light.

The last time an annular solar eclipse could be observed from Brazil it was on November 3, 1994, but not everyone in the country will be able to observe the “ring of fire”, as the circle of sunlight around the Moon’s shadow is called.

In most of the country, the episode can be observed in its partiality. In the North and Northeast regions, however, citizens from some locations will be able to see the ring.

The phenomenon can be observed in Acre and Amazonas and can then be followed by residents of Pará, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, a small part of Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. The only capitals on the path to annulment are Natal (RN) and João Pessoa (PB).

São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are outside the range of greatest totality of the eclipse and will have a partial event, with around 40% of the solar disk shadowed by the Moon. The best time to observe the phenomenon will be at 4:49 pm (Brasília time) on São Paulo and at 4:51 pm in Rio.