Northern Europe’s Annular Eclipse: May 31, 2003

On Saturday, May 31, an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from a good portion of the Northern Hemisphere. The best views will be in northern Scotland, Iceland and Greenland where the Sun will be visible as a ring of fire behind the moon, but even a partial eclipse will be visible from most of Europe, Northern Canada, the Middle East, and Asia. An annular eclipse occurs because the Moon’s orbit isn’t a perfect circle. If the Moon is at the closest part of its orbit when it passes in front of the Sun, it causes a total eclipse – at the furthest point, it’s an annular eclipse.