South Florida Misses Out On 'Ring Of Fire' Solar Eclipse

Miami (CBSMiami) -- Skywatchers across parts of the Northern Hemisphere were able to watch an amazing celestial show early Thursday morning, the first of two solar eclipses this year, unfortunately, it wasn't visible in South Florida.

Thursday's solar eclipse is called the "ring of fire" because it is an 'annular solar eclipse.'

According to NASA, during an annular solar eclipse, the moon is positioned near or at apogee, which is the farthest point from Earth. At this point, the moon is so far away, it can't block the entire sun during the solar eclipse. So a thin, fiery ring is exposed during an annular solar eclipse. This type of eclipse is different than a total solar eclipse in which the entire sun is blocked, and no bright light is visible.

"It is important to point out that the word annular should not be confused by the word "annual" as the two words look similar in spelling. The word annular is used to describe something that is ring-shaped. Hence, the thin, fiery ring that is created during the annular solar eclipse," said CBS4 Meteorologist Jennifer Correa.

The full ring of fire was visible in parts of Canada, the Arctic, Russia, and Greenland and partially visible for much of northeastern North America, Greenland, northern Europe, and northern Asia.

A second total solar eclipse will be visible on December 4 and South Florida will have a visible partial eclipse in October of 2023.