When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.An annular solar eclipse captured in the sky over Nevada in October 2023. | Credit: Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesWe’re just one week away from the first solar eclipse of 2026! Here’s what you need to know before a dramatic “ring of fire” annular eclipse darkens the sky over Antarctica on Feb. 17, likely confusing millions of penguins.The eerie dimming is possible thanks to an extraordinary bit of celestial geometry. Earth’s moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, which happens to be, on average, 400 times farther from our planet than its natural satellite — a wondrous cosmic coincidence that causes both celestial objects to appear the same size in our sky.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis allows us to see breathtaking solar eclipses when the lunar disk passes directly in front of the sun during its new moon phase, blocking its light. Some eclipses occur when the moon is further from Earth in its elliptical orbit, setting the stage for a spectacular annular solar eclipse. During these events, the smaller lunar disk passes in front of the sun, occulting most of its surface, while leaving a sliver of its outer rim on show.When is the next solar eclipse?Feb. 17 will see a spectacular annular solar eclipse unfold over a swathe of Antarctica, as the moon glides between the sun and Earth, occulting the vast majority of our parent star while leaving its outer rim visible to form a burning halo in the southern sky.The period of maximum eclipse — an event known as annularity — is set to begin at 7:12 a.m. EST (1212 GMT) and will last for 1 minute and 52 seconds, after which the moon’s silhouette will slide inexorably off the solar disk.The path of the annular solar eclipse on Feb. 17, 2026. | Credit: Michael Zeiler/EclipseAtlas.comSadly, the full ring of fire will only be witnessed by the few human beings inhabiting research stations in the path of annularity, along with the millions of penguins who call the frozen continent home. Sk …
