{"id":301785,"date":"2026-02-17T02:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/301785\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T02:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:20:16","slug":"ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-event-can-be-seen-this-week-but-only-in-some-locations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/301785\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Ring of fire&#8217; solar eclipse event can be seen this week &#8211; but only in some locations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first solar eclipse of 2026 unfolds on February 17, but the &#8216;ring of fire&#8217; phenomenon will only be visible from a few regions<\/p>\n<p>Carrington Walker GAU Writer and Annette Belcher<\/p>\n<p>10:28, 16 Feb 2026Updated 10:30, 16 Feb 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Accurately simulated solar eclipse.\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_Solar-eclipse.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The rare event will take place on Tuesday\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The rare event will take place on Tuesday(Image: RapidEye via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The first solar eclipse of 2026 is set to occur this week, though only a select few locations across the globe will be able to witness the phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The event, an annular eclipse dubbed the &#8220;ring of fire&#8221;, happens when <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dublinlive.ie\/all-about\/environment\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">the sun, moon and earth<\/a> align almost perfectly. As the moon passes directly in front of the sun, it blocks the central disc and projects a defined shadow, leaving a narrow ring of light glowing around its perimeter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">This <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dublinlive.ie\/all-about\/environment\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">remarkable sight<\/a> will take place on Tuesday (February 17), providing one of the year&#8217;s most notable celestial events. However, for those hoping to observe it, location will be key, as visibility is restricted to just a few regions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Total solar eclipse on the red orange sky in the morning, Elements of this image furnished by NASA\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_Total-solar-eclipse-on-the-red-orange-sky-in-the-morning.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The UK is unlikely to be able to view the event\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The UK is unlikely to be able to view the event(Image: Chayanan via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Whether the &#8220;ring of fire&#8221; will be visible from the UK hinges on the precise geographic path of the Moon&#8217;s shadow, with experts pointing out that only those in certain areas will see the alignment in its entirety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The first solar eclipse will begin at 7.10am on Tuesday, 17 February. However, the celestial display will only be visible in a limited number of locations, according to National World.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The path of annularity &#8211; the route the solar eclipse will follow and be visible from &#8211; will emerge across western Antarctica and continue off across the Davis Sea coast and the Southern Ocean. This means that the forthcoming solar eclipse won&#8217;t be visible from the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">As per Space.com, the following locations will witness a partial solar eclipse, with the percentage of the sun&#8217;s disk obscured in each location:<\/p>\n<p>Heard and McDonald Islands, Australia &#8211; 88%French Southern and Antarctic Lands, France &#8211; 88%Mascarene Islands, Mauritius\/France &#8211; 35%Port Louis, Mauritius &#8211; 32%Saint-Denis, Reunion, France &#8211; 31%Antananarivo, Madagascar &#8211; 20%Durban, South Africa &#8211; 16%Maputo, Mozambique &#8211; 13%Maseru, Lesotho &#8211; 11%Gaborone, Botswana &#8211; 4%Harare, Zimbabwe &#8211; 3%Ushuaia, Argentina &#8211; 3%<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Following Tuesday&#8217;s solar eclipse, there will be a lunar eclipse on 3-4 March. This event will cast a reddish tint on the moon as the Earth passes between the Moon and Sun, casting its shadow onto the Moon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Owing to the moon&#8217;s reddish hue during this occurrence, a lunar eclipse is sometimes dubbed a &#8220;Blood Moon&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first solar eclipse of 2026 unfolds on February 17, but the &#8216;ring of fire&#8217; phenomenon will only&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[65072,246,61,60,82,247,767],"class_list":["post-301785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-dublin-weather","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-space","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}