annular eclipse · February 6, 2027
The sky is simulated clear: that is a display choice, not a weather forecast.
The best place to watch
A few minutes of night, in the middle of the day
You are standing at the best place on Earth to see it. Scroll: the page becomes the eclipse itself, second by second.
C1 · First contact
A notch on the edge of the disc
Nothing has changed yet. The Moon bites into the solar disc on one side, but the daylight will not shift a hair for the next twenty minutes — the eye makes up for it.
Partial phase
The crescent closes
Past 80 % obscuration the shadow finally starts to show: colours lose their warmth, contrasts harden, the air turns cold.
The last seconds
The crescent closes on itself
The Moon is too far away to cover the Sun: rather than vanish, the crescent is about to join up at both ends. The glasses stay on.
Annularity
A ring of fire
A ring of photosphere surrounds the Moon. It does not turn to night — more light is left than on a heavily overcast day, no stars, no corona. Never take your eye protection off.
Maximum
From here, the Sun does not disappear
To see the corona you have to get inside the shadow's path — a few hundred kilometres is sometimes enough. Outside it, even at 99 %, it is still broad daylight.
C3 · Exit
The ring breaks
The ring breaks on one side and becomes a crescent again. The light climbs back gently, without the shock of a totality.
C4 · Last contact
Over
The disc is whole again. For any given spot on Earth, the next total eclipse takes three and a half centuries to come round, on average — which is why people travel for these.
Out of reach
No eclipse visible from here
From this place, the Sun and the Moon do not meet above the horizon. There is nothing to unfold: move closer to the shadow's path to see anything at all.
The sky is rising