This Thursday, June 10, 2021, residents of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic and Russia will be able to enjoy a beautiful annular solar eclipse. As for France, it will only be partial. The best visibility area will be in the northwest of the country.
An eclipse is defined as the darkening of a star by the interposition of another body between this star and a light source. As part of our Earth system, the Earth is therefore obscured by the presence of the Moon sliding in front of the Sun.
There are different types of eclipses though, starting with "total". In this case, the sizes of the Moon and the Sun appear almost identical to us from our planet. By slipping between the Earth and our star, the Moon makes it "disappear" for a few minutes.
The annular eclipse is another type of eclipse. It is she who interests us today. In this case, the Moon still slips between the Earth and the Sun, but the apparent diameter of the Moon remains slightly smaller than the apparent diameter of our star. From our point of view, our satellite does not therefore completely mask the Sun. Result:A ring of light (or "ring of fire") appears.
An annular solar eclipse is predicted this Thursday, June 10, 2021 . It's the first of the year. The phenomenon will initially be visible from northern Canada. It will then slide by the North Pole before ending in northern Siberia.
In mainland France, however, the eclipse will only be partial, as our country is not in the predicted "centrality band". According to the Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation (IMCCE), the best visibility area will be in the northwest. The degree of obscuration will notably reach 16.8% in Brest and 15.9% in Lille . On the other hand, it will be only 13.1% in Paris and 3.4% in Perpignan.
You will understand, for the vast majority of us, the difference in brightness will be imperceptible . "To the naked eye, there will be no fading sensation “, says Florent Deleflie, from the Paris Observatory, interviewed by Numerama. "The best way to observe the eclipse from France is through an instrument specially designed to observe the Sun or by projection “.
The IMCCE also offers to observe the phenomenon with special eclipse glasses equipped with a filtering plastic film. However, favor a recent pair. Over time, the filtering power can indeed fade according to the institute.
