Solar eclipse photo gallery showcases the 'ring of fire'

The solar eclipse: it is one of the rarest, and perhaps the most dramatic of all astronomical phenomenon. For a few spellbinding minutes, the Moon moves directly between the Earth and Sun, blocking out the Sun's rays and turning day into night.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth. However, since the Moon does not orbit Earth on a flat plane, eclipses are extremely rare as the moon will pass below or above the Sun, as seen from Earth, the vast majority of the time.

Complicating matters is the orbital shape of the Moon. The planets and moons do not orbit in circles, but ellipses. Because of the slightly elongated elliptical orbits, the moon and planets actually change in angular size as seen from Earth. A perfect example of this is Mars, which is coming to opposition and making its closest approach to Earth at the end of the month.

Back to the moon, the angular size of the moon changes, quite dramatically. These differences in distance can produce two very different kinds of solar eclipses. The total solar eclipse occurs when the moon is close to Earth, technically called perigee. By lucky coincidence, the Moon and Sun are the same angular size in the sky (about 1 degree). When the moon is at its closest, it completely blocks out the Sun's rays, leaving only the glowing corona, or outer atmosphere of the Sun showing.

Obviously, this eclipse looked very different, as there was a tiny ring of sun visible behind the dark Moon. This is called an annular eclipse and this type of eclipse occurs when the moon is at its farthest from Earth, which is called apogee. Since the moon's angular size is slightly smaller than it is at perigee, it cannot completely block the Sun, resulting in a true ring of fire effect. One passed over Ohio in 1994.

Sadly, the Moon is moving away from the Earth at about 1.6 inches per year. In due time, the truly spectacular total solar eclipses will be a thing of the past, leaving only the annular variety, whose rings of fire will get bigger and bigger. The good news for us is that this will not happen for hundreds of millions of years.

We are truly in the right place at the right time.

While all of us living in Northeast Ohio were not privy to the eclipse. Even if it had been clear, it still would have done no good as the eclipse occurred on the other side of the world. However, thanks to the profusion of cameras and computers, everyone with access to the Web can share the wonder experienced first hand by those lucky enough to be living in the path of the Moon's shadow.

By the way, the next total solar eclipse that will pass over North America will occur on August 21, 2017. The next annular will be on May 20, 2012..

For more info:
Spaceweather (huge photo gallery)
CBS News with video
Yahoo News UK