For several hours around that time, people lucky enough to be in a narrow 200km-wide corridor crossing North, Central, and South America get to experience an annular eclipse of the sun. Sometimes called a "ring of fire" eclipse, this event happens when the moon moves directly in front of the sun as seen from Earth. Instead, during the maximum phase of the eclipse, the lunar disk is surrounded by a ring of light, making for one of nature’s most awe-inspiring spectacles. Unfortunately, tomorrow’s eclipse is invisible from New Zealand; the next eclipse visible from our world is a partial one on the morning of September 21, 2025, when more than 70% of the solar surface will be covered by the moon, as seen from Dunedin. While we won’t have a front-row seat to this particular eclipse, weather permitting, the next few evenings offer southern stargazers excellent opportunities to spot the very young moon.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 15, 2023 11:47 UTC