This weekend, several parts of the world will bear witness to a total annular solar eclipse that will illuminate the Moon with a ‘ring of fire’.

An annular solar eclipse takes place when the Earth, Sun, and Moon line up, but the Moon cannot entirely block out the Sun because it’s not close enough to the Earth.

This makes the Sun create a fiery ‘annular’ (the Latin word for “ring”) around the Moon. If you would like to see it in motion, check out this footage NASA shared of the 2013 annular solar eclipse below:

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The video was filmed at sunrise in Western Australia as the Moon intercepted the Sun.

“At times, it would be hard for the uninformed to understand what was happening. In an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block the entire Sun, and at most leaves a ring of fire where sunlight pours out around every edge of the Moon,” NASA said of the phenomenon.

Astronomy lovers will be able to get a glimpse of the ‘ring of fire’ on June 21 but the spectacular views will only be available to select countries. NASA’s map shows that the eclipse will be most visible in some parts of Asia, central Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.

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But NASA added that nearby regions, such as eastern Africa, will also get a good view: “You can be hundreds of miles from the theoretical point of Greatest Duration and still enjoy annularity lasting within a fraction of a second of the maximum possible (as long as you stay within several miles of the central line).”

If you would like to see the eclipse, NASA suggests to keep track of the weather forecast and make sure to pick a spot where your view won’t be obstructed by clouds.

“Good weather is the key to successful eclipse viewing – better to see a shorter eclipse from clear sky [than] a longer eclipse under clouds,” explained the space agency.
If you won’t be able to catch the eclipse in your part of the world, tune in to the live stream on the Time and Date website.