--- title: Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Rises Over Africa description: This phenomenon causes the sun to appear as a glowing ring. canonical: https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/ author: Marisa Gertz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-01T15:15:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:21:07.969Z article:section: Science og:title: Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Rises Over Africa og:description: This phenomenon causes the sun to appear as a glowing ring. og:url: https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8db17198c8d18933/6988a48b97cdffdd136adabe/annular-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-FRANCE-OVERSEAS-REUNION-ASTRONOMY-SCIENCE-ECLIPSE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Rises Over Africa twitter:description: This phenomenon causes the sun to appear as a glowing ring. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8db17198c8d18933/6988a48b97cdffdd136adabe/annular-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Rises Over Africa ## Video: Watch This 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Block the Sun Over Africa [Watch (HLS stream): Watch This 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Block the Sun Over Africa](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Xy4D1wod.m3u8) (0:35)  _Published 2016-09-01. A halo of sun shone above parts of Africa on Thursday as the moon glided between the sun and the Earth, causing an annular or “ring of fire” eclipse._ by [Marisa Gertz](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Sep 1, 2016 3:15 PM UTC  The moon covering the sun, leaving a ring of fire effect around the moon, during an annular solar eclipse over Saint-Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, Sept. 1, 2016. The moon covering the sun, leaving a ring of fire effect around the moon, during an annular solar eclipse over Saint-Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, Sept. 1, 2016.Richard Bouhet—AFP/Getty Images by [Marisa Gertz](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Sep 1, 2016 3:15 PM UTC Known as a “[ring of fire](http://main.slooh.com/event/african-ring-of-fire/)“, an annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, but is not near enough to us to totally block it out. On September 1st, this phenomena was visible to a narrow band of central and southern Africa, including Madagascar and the island of La Reunion, where this photo was captured. Outside of that band, [stargazers](http://time.com/4433339/how-to-get-your-kids-into-star-gazing/) in the rest of the continent, and even as far north as Europe, could see partial phases. The next [ring of fire](http://time.com/4475866/africa-solar-eclipse/) will be visible across eastern South America on February 26th of next year. The next total solar eclipse will be visible next August over the United States, for the first time in 37 years, [National Geographic](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/solar-eclipse-ring-fire-september-space-astronomy-science/) reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/"},"headline":"Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Rises Over Africa","datePublished":"2016-09-01T15:15:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:21:07.969Z","description":"This phenomenon causes the sun to appear as a glowing ring.","url":"https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/","keywords":["solar eclipse","Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8db17198c8d18933/6988a48b97cdffdd136adabe/annular-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Marisa Gertz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8db17198c8d18933/6988a48b97cdffdd136adabe/annular-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-FRANCE-OVERSEAS-REUNION-ASTRONOMY-SCIENCE-ECLIPSE","caption":"The moon covering the sun, leaving a ring of fire effect around the moon, during an annular solar eclipse over Saint-Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, Sept. 1, 2016.","creditText":"Richard Bouhet—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/solar-eclipse/","name":"solar eclipse"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/","name":"Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Rises Over Africa"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch This 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Block the Sun Over Africa","description":"A halo of sun shone above parts of Africa on Thursday as the moon glided between the sun and the Earth, causing an annular or “ring of fire” eclipse.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Xy4D1wod/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-09-01T14:51:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Xy4D1wod.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/","duration":"PT35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4475969/ring-of-fire-solar-eclipse-rises-over-africa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```