Annular eclipse:
HOUSTON – On October 14, an annular eclipse will move through our western states and Texas. The word “annular” come from Latin meaning ring. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is near apogee (closest to Earth.) When the moon enters the sun’s shadow it does not completely cover the sun. The result, during the eclipse, a bright ring (annulus) appears in the sky. This is the first annular eclipse visible in the U.S. since May 20, 2012.
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It’s essential to note that annular eclipses are different from total solar eclipses. In a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun’s disk, leading to a brief period of darkness known as totality. In contrast, during an annular eclipse, a ring of sunlight remains visible around the Moon’s silhouette.
Annular eclipses are less common than partial or total solar eclipses because the alignment of the Earth, Moon, and Sun must be very precise for the annular effect to occur. As a result, they are relatively rare events and can only be observed along a narrow path on the Earth’s surface during each occurrence. In Houton we will not see annularity. The moon will cover 90% of sun creating a partial solar eclipse.
Total Solar Eclipse:
The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse of the sun is the first time since 2017 the contiguous United States will experience totality. Texas, and its population of 12.8 million people live in the eclipse path. All 50 states will have at least a partial eclipse.
Houston is not in the path of totality. 94% of the sun will be in the moon’s shadow creating a partial solar eclipse.
Texas, the only state that gets to see both:
INTERACTIVE: Simulation of solar eclipse
NASA scientists will be looking at how much the Earth’s environment changes during the historic eclipse and you can help. Here’s how: Download the GLOBE Observe phone application so NASA can collect data to better understand the relationship between the sun and the Earth.
Join the community by downloading the app here.
Click here for more eclipse coverage from KPRC2 and Click2Houston.com.
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