Lucky few to see 'ring of fire' solar eclipse over Antarctica on Feb. 17

A penguin colony of chicks and adults waddle on a snowy surface with a boxout in the top right of the image showing a solar eclipse, a ring of glowing yellow light against a dark background — A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse is coming on Feb. 17 — though it will mostly be a skywatching spectacle for penguins. (Image credit: Getty Images)

While the new moon this Tuesday (Feb. 17) will pass without much fanfare in most of the world, something more exciting will be taking place over a sliver of Antarctica: a "ring of fire" solar eclipse, also known as an annular solar eclipse.

During an annular solar eclipse, the moon passes directly in front of the sun but appears too small in the sky to cover it completely. That’s because the moon is at its farthest point from Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit during these rare eclipses. On Feb. 17, 96% of the sun will be covered during the "ring of fire."

Observers within a narrow 383-mile-wide (616 kilometers) path will see a "ring of fire" — the glowing edge of the sun around the dark silhouette of the moon — for up to 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

However, few people will witness it. This eclipse is as remote as they come, with the eclipse's path passing over largely uninhabited terrain in the Antarctic interior.

"It's possible that only a few people will view this eclipse from within the annular zone," eclipse meteorologist Jay Anderson wrote on his website, Eclipsophile. "It's a challenge to reach, and there are only two inhabited locations within the annular shadow, neither of which is set up to welcome tourists. "At worst, a few dozen Russian researchers at Mirny and a small number of French/Italian inhabitants at Concordia [two research stations in Antarctica] will record the event for posterity."

A ring of yellow light illuminates an orange streak in the dark sky during an annular solar eclipse — An annular "ring of fire" solar eclipse occurs when the new moon blocks most of the sun’s disk as seen from Earth, leaving only a bright ring visible on the outside. (Image credit: VCG via Getty Images)

An eclipse for scientists (and penguins)

At Mirny Station, on the Davis Sea coast, the "ring of fire" phase, called annularity, will last 1 minute, 52 seconds, according to Time and Date. Meanwhile, Concordia Station, which is jointly operated by France and Italy, will see the ring of fire for 2 minutes, 9 seconds. The latter location has a much better chance of clear skies, Time and Date adds.

The eclipse officially starts at 09:56 UTC (4:46 a.m. EST), when a partial eclipse will begin across Antarctica and parts of southeastern Africa. (Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius will see a 10% to 35% partial eclipse.) The annular phase takes place between 11:42 UTC and 12:41 UTC (6:42 to 7:42 a.m. EST), with the partial phases concluding by 14:27 UTC (2:27 p.m. EST).

Welcome to Live Science Plus !

Hi ,

Earn Your First Badge

Keep Earning Badges

See what you’ve unlocked.

Members Exclusive

Lucky few to see 'ring of fire' solar eclipse over Antarctica on Feb. 17

An eclipse for scientists (and penguins)