Antarctica to See Rare ‘Ring of Fire’ Solar Eclipse on Feb 17

While most of the world observes the new moon on February 17th without particular notice, a rare celestial event will unfold over a remote corner of Antarctica: an annular solar eclipse, often called a “ring of fire” eclipse.

During an annular solar eclipse, the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth, but appears too small to completely cover the Sun’s disk. This occurs because the Moon is at its farthest point from Earth in its elliptical orbit. On February 17th, approximately 96% of the Sun will be obscured during this phenomenon.

Observers positioned within a narrow, 383-mile-wide (616 kilometers) path will witness the striking “ring of fire” – a brilliant halo of sunlight encircling the dark silhouette of the Moon – for a maximum duration of 2 minutes and 20 seconds. However, the opportunity to witness this spectacle will be exceptionally limited.

The eclipse’s path traverses largely uninhabited terrain in the Antarctic interior, making it one of the most remote eclipses on record. “It’s possible that only a few people will view this eclipse from within the annular zone,” notes eclipse meteorologist Jay Anderson on his website, Eclipsophile. “It’s a challenge to reach, and You’ll see only two inhabited locations within the annular shadow, neither of which is set up to welcome tourists.”

The most likely observers will be the researchers stationed at Mirny Station, a Russian research facility, and Concordia Station, a joint French-Italian outpost. Anderson estimates that “at worst, a few dozen Russian researchers at Mirny and a small number of French/Italian inhabitants at Concordia will record the event for posterity.”