WACO, Texas — The annular solar eclipse is expected to be visible in North America for the first time since 2012 on Oct. 14.
While more Western and Southern areas of Texas such as Odessa, San Antonio and Corpus Christi will have 100% visibility, Central Texans will still get to see the 'Ring of Fire' at about 84%.
It takes a lot of different variables for this natural phenomenon to be visible. Baylor University Astrophysicist Dr. Barbara Castanheira Endl stated, "Following Kepler's laws of planetary motion, during an annular eclipse, the ellipticity of the orbit will cause the angular size of the moon to be just a little bit smaller than the angular size of the sun. Even a small 5% difference in the angles of the sun and the moon, the eclipse would not occur."
NASA says the eclipse will last for more than three hours as it moves through its four phases. The 'Ring of Fire' is only expected to be visible for about 6 minutes during the second phase.
This second phase is said to start at 11:53 a.m. CT. During this time, the moon will be in front of sun, leaving only the outer edge of the sun visible, thus creating the 'Ring of Fire'.
This sounds like a great opportunity to catch a rare event, but don't just go outside and stare at the sun, you'll need to protect your eyes while you're at it.
Eclipse glasses can be purchased from a lot of different places, and if you want to check to make sure your glasses are really safe, you can visit the American Astronomical Society here.
If you're in Killeen, feel free to visit the Mayborn Planetarium and Space Theater to enjoy a 20-minute presentation followed by the show 'Totality Over Texas' from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 14.
Also on KCENTV.com:
