- South Korea's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite captured footage of the annular solar eclipse over Antarctica
- The annular eclipse occurred when the Moon was near its farthest point from Earth, creating a "ring of fire"
- The eclipse was visible only from Antarctica, southern Africa, and parts of South America on February 17
South Korea's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite shared stunning footage of the annular solar eclipse, also known as the "ring of fire" eclipse, that swept across Antarctica on February 17. This phenomenon happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but when it is at or near its farthest point from Earth.
"You'll want to see this without a shadow of a doubt!" NOAA Satellites wrote in a post on X. "South Korea's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A geostationary satellite caught the #AnnularEclipse that passed over Antarctica this morning. In this animation, you can see the moon's dark shadow quickly passing across the bottom left of the globe."
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Watch the video here:
You'll want to see this without a shadow of a doubt!
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) February 17, 2026
South Korea's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A geostationary satellite caught the #AnnularEclipse that passed over Antarctica this morning. 🌔 In this animation, you can see the moon's dark shadow quickly passing across the bottom left of the… pic.twitter.com/rAOU6gHyQ1
During an annular solar eclipse, the Moon doesn't cover the Sun entirely and appears smaller as it is farther away from Earth. The lunar body hence looks like a dark disk on top of a larger, bright disk - creating a ring around the Moon.
The annular solar eclipse occurred at 7:12 am EST (1212 GMT). India couldn't witness this spectacular event as it was visible only from remote regions of Antarctica and parts of southern Africa and South America.
The path of annularity stretched 4,282 km long and 616 km wide, rising over mainland Antarctica and setting into the Davis Sea of the Southern Ocean.
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It was visible from research stations like Concordia and Mirny. And countries like South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe experienced partial visibility.
A total lunar eclipse will occur on March 3, 2026, when the Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow across the Moon.
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