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In Pictures

Gallery|Science and Technology

In Pictures: Solar eclipse marks the summer solstice

Eclipse arrived on the northern hemisphere’s longest day of the year – the summer solstice.

partial solar eclipse in Doha, Qatar [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
The partial solar eclipse as seen from Doha, Qatar. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Published On 21 Jun 202021 Jun 2020
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Skywatchers along a narrow band from West Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, India and southern China witnessed a dramatic “ring of fire” solar eclipse on Sunday.

Annular eclipses occur when the Moon, passing between Earth and the Sun, is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlight, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible.

They happen every year or two, and can only be seen from a narrow pathway across the planet.

Remarkably, the eclipse arrived on the northern hemisphere’s longest day of the year – the summer solstice – when Earth’s North Pole is tilted most directly towards the Sun.

The annular eclipse is visible from only about 2 percent of Earth’s surface, Florent Delefie, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory, told AFP news agency.

“It’s a bit like switching from a 500-watt to a 30-watt light bulb,” he added. “It’s a cold light, and you don’t see as well.”

The partial solar eclipse is projected on a Kenyan man''s hand through binoculars in Nairobi, Kenya on June 21, 2020. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP)
The solar eclipse projected onto a Kenyan man's hand in Nairobi, Kenya. [Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP]
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A crow stands on a roof as a partial solar eclipse is observed in Nairobi, Kenya, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
A crow stands on a roof as a partial solar eclipse is observed in Nairobi. [Baz Ratner/Reuters]
A man wearing a protective face mask uses a welding helmet as a protection to watch the annular solar eclipse, in Manama, Bahrain, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
A man watches the annular solar eclipse through the visor of a welding helmet, in Manama, Bahrain. [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]
A photo shows a partial solar eclipse observed in Manama, Bahrain, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The partial solar eclipse as seen from Manama, Bahrain. [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]
A partial solar eclipse is seen from the Cairo suburb of Maadi, Egypt, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
The eclipse seen from the Cairo suburb of Maadi, Egypt. [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
A man, wearing a protective face mask against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), uses his mobile phone and solar viewers to take photographs of a partial solar eclipse at Gandhinagar, India, June 21,
A man uses his mobile phone and solar viewers to take photographs of the partial solar eclipse in Gandhinagar, India. [Amit Dave/Reuters]
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A partial solar eclipse is seen from Rajpath in New Delhi, India, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
The solar eclipse seen from Rajpath in New Delhi, India. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]
A photo shows a partial solar eclipse observed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
The partial solar eclipse observed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [Ahmed Yosri/Reuters]
A partial solar eclipse is pictured along Clifton beach, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Karachi, Pakistan June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro.
The solar eclipse as seen from Clifton beach in Karachi, Pakistan. [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]


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