APOD: Ring of Fire over Monument Valley (2023 Oct 05)

[APOD Robot]

Ring of Fire over Monument Valley

Explanation: Tracking along a narrow path, the shadow of a new moon will race across North, Central, and South America, on October 14. When viewed from the shadow path the apparent size of the lunar disk will not quite completely cover the Sun though. Instead, the moon in silhouette will appear during the minutes of totality surrounded by a fiery ring, an annular solar eclipse more dramatically known as a ring of fire eclipse. This striking time lapse sequence from May of 2012 illustrates the stages of a ring of fire eclipse. From before eclipse start until sunset, they are seen over the iconic buttes of planet Earth's Monument Valley. Remarkably, the October 14 ring of fire eclipse will also be visible over Monument Valley, beginning after sunrise in the eastern sky.

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[Shadowy Marc]

There will be no minutes of totality this time, as the phase between 2nd and 3rd contact of an annular eclipse is called annularity.

[orin stepanek]

A Ring Of Fire Eclipse is a nice thing to view!

[johnnydeep]

Remarkably, the October 14 ring of fire eclipse will also be visible over Monument Valley, beginning after sunrise in the eastern sky.

Is it that remarkable that the path of "annularity" would pass over the same location 11 years later?

Also, I would think that the "duration of annularity" (thanks Shadowy Marc!) would - either usually, or perhaps always - be longer than the duration of totality in a total solar eclipse, yes?

[Shadowy Marc]

Remarkably, the October 14 ring of fire eclipse will also be visible over Monument Valley, beginning after sunrise in the eastern sky.

Also, I would think that the "duration of annularity" (thanks Shadowy Marc!) would - either usually, or perhaps always - be longer than the duration of totality in a total solar eclipse, yes?

Without having numbers at hand: The longest possible annularity is indeed longer than the longest possible totality. But consider this: If the tip of the umbral cone misses the surface of Earth just barely, you get a very short annularity - perhaps just above 0 s. Therefore not every annularity last longer than any given totality.

[johnnydeep]

Remarkably, the October 14 ring of fire eclipse will also be visible over Monument Valley, beginning after sunrise in the eastern sky.

Also, I would think that the "duration of annularity" (thanks Shadowy Marc!) would - either usually, or perhaps always - be longer than the duration of totality in a total solar eclipse, yes?

Without having numbers at hand: The longest possible annularity is indeed longer than the longest possible totality. But consider this: If the tip of the umbral cone misses the surface of Earth just barely, you get a very short annularity - perhaps just above 0 s. Therefore not every annularity last longer than any given totality.

Well, by that reckoning, there are also sub second totalities, right? What if we restrict the discussion to totalities and annularities that are visible in entirety?

[Chris Peterson]

Also, I would think that the "duration of annularity" (thanks Shadowy Marc!) would - either usually, or perhaps always - be longer than the duration of totality in a total solar eclipse, yes?

Without having numbers at hand: The longest possible annularity is indeed longer than the longest possible totality. But consider this: If the tip of the umbral cone misses the surface of Earth just barely, you get a very short annularity - perhaps just above 0 s. Therefore not every annularity last longer than any given totality.

Well, by that reckoning, there are also sub second totalities, right? What if we restrict the discussion to totalities and annularities that are visible in entirety?

The shortest for both is basically zero. The interesting question is what is the longest possible for each, and it certainly seems reasonable that the longest annular eclipse is longer than the longest total one.

[johnnydeep]

Without having numbers at hand: The longest possible annularity is indeed longer than the longest possible totality. But consider this: If the tip of the umbral cone misses the surface of Earth just barely, you get a very short annularity - perhaps just above 0 s. Therefore not every annularity last longer than any given totality.

Well, by that reckoning, there are also sub second totalities, right? What if we restrict the discussion to totalities and annularities that are visible in entirety?

The shortest for both is basically zero. The interesting question is what is the longest possible for each, and it certainly seems reasonable that the longest annular eclipse is longer than the longest total one.

Not least of the reasons being that the Moon is farther from the Earth during an annular eclipse, and thus travels more slowly across the face of the Sun.