January 26 Annular Eclipse Photos

By Nancy Atkinson - January 26, 2009 08:44 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy

An annular solar eclipse earlier today was visible in South-East Asia, southern Africa and Australia. Thanks to M.R. Taufik from Bontang, Indonesia for sharing this image of a complete ring or annulus of light from the sun peeking out from around the moon. Because the moon's orbit is elliptical, its distance from Earth--and its apparent size—varies. Annular eclipses happen when the moon looks too small to completely cover the sun. Such an event that occurs about 66 times a century.

There were a few photo collections on Flickr of the eclipse; see here, and here. And here's more from M.R. Taufik.

Here's a great gallery of eclipse photos.

National Geographic has a few images, too.

The next solar eclipse will occur July 22 this year.

Q&A+ ▶ Our latest video — free on Patreon Will A Naked-Eye Moon Object End Conspiracy Theories? The extended edition: ad-free, with extra content. Free to watch — no account needed. ▶ Watch it free

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com