This Saturday, Americans will have the opportunity to observe an annular solar eclipse, during which the Moon will cover the Sun for a few minutes and a “ring of fire” will appear, reports AFP.

After the USA, the eclipse will be visible in several Central and South American countries (Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, etc.), Agerpres notes.

During an annular eclipse, the Moon is at a greater distance from Earth than during a total eclipse, and its diameter appears to viewers on Earth to be much smaller than the diameter of the Sun, resulting in an orange “ring”.

The event, which promises to mesmerize millions of people, is also a scientific opportunity for NASA, which involves a close study of temperature and atmospheric changes during the eclipse.

To observe the eclipse, special glasses are needed even for those who are further from the optimal viewing area and who will see only a partial eclipse, the US space agency said.

The eclipse will be visible from 9:15 am local time (19:15 Romanian time) in the US state of Oregon and will cross the United States until it is visible at 11:50 am in the sky of southern Texas.

In total, it will be possible to observe it in the regions of eight American states (including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico).

The “Ring of Fire” will also be visible for 5 minutes

The “ring of fire” that will make the outline of the Sun visible will last from a few tens of seconds to more than 5 minutes depending on the observation location.

In the United States, “more than 6.5 million people live in the path of the eclipse,” explained Alex Lockwood of NASA during the press conference. About 68 million people live about 300 kilometers from the path of the eclipse, a distance of several hours, she added.

“And everyone in the continental United States will actually be able to see a partial eclipse,” she added.

NASA plans to broadcast an online video broadcast that will include live broadcasts from New Mexico and Texas.

In Albuquerque, the annual balloon festival that coincides with the eclipse promises to produce sensational images.

The event will be a kind of dress rehearsal before the total eclipse, which will take place in April 2024 and will be visible from the United States.

The two eclipses, the annular and the total, “will be absolutely amazing for science,” said Madhulika Guhathakurta, a researcher with NASA’s Heliophysics Division.

“During a solar eclipse, there is a significant decrease in electron density in the ionosphere,” one of the layers of the atmosphere, she explained.

Total eclipse visible in Spain in 2026

And “even if the atmospheric consequences of solar eclipses have been studied for more than 50 years, many questions remain,” she emphasized. For example, “what part of the ionosphere is affected, over what period of time, and why is this happening?”

NASA will launch three probe rockets from a military base in White Sands, New Mexico: one before the eclipse, one during the eclipse and one after the event.

The goal is to collect data on magnetic and electric fields, electron density, and temperature, which will decrease due to the shadow created by the Moon. This phenomenon can also affect animals.

In 2017, there was a total eclipse in the USA. After April, the next eclipse in the US will be visible in 2044.

A total eclipse will be visible in Spain in August 2026.

The Sun is about 400 times the size of the Moon, but is 400 times farther away, so the two stars appear similar in size when viewed from Earth.