Dec 24 - Ring of Fire Eclipse Ahead

December 24 Ring of Fire Eclipse Ahead by:

An annular solar eclipse - now often called a ring of fire eclipse - caught by Geoff Sims on May 10, 2013. The "fire" is really the sun's brilliant surface, shining behind a moon in the far part of its orbit around Earth. Read more about the upcoming eclipse.

Hello, everyone! EarthSky News will be resting and celebrating during the year-end holiday. Between now and January 1, you'll find us in your inbox from time to time, but not every day. From all of us at EarthSky ... love and best wishes! Annular solar eclipse of December 26 2019's only annular eclipse - the 3rd and final solar eclipse of this year - falls on December 26. It's visible along a narrow path in the world's Eastern Hemisphere. Like a total solar eclipse, an annular eclipse happens when the new moon moves directly in front of the sun. But, for this sort of eclipse to occur, the new moon has to be near apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth. Such a moon is too small to cover the sun's disk completely. Instead, an annulus - or thin ring of the sun's surface - surrounds the new moon silhouette. Read more. Was the Christmas star real? What are the astronomical explanations for the Star of Bethlehem or Christmas star? Read more. Get ready for the '20s! Reprinted with permission from Jay Ryan at Classical Astronomy "… Anybody besides me notice that the past 2 decades have been nameless? I remember asking people in the late 90s, what will we call the next decade? The ’00s? How about the 2000s? But nobody ever called that decade anything at all. Same with the current decade now ending. The ’10s? The Teens? Nobody says either of those either. For my own part, I’m glad to be getting back to a decade that has a name and an identity." Read more.

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Tonight … Look for the Northern Cross  It isn't as famous as its counterpart, the Southern Cross. But the Northern Cross looks like a cross, and it's pretty easy to spot. You'll find it upright in the west on late December evenings. Read more.

Solstice sunrise over Monterrey, Mexico View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Raul Cortes in Monterrey, Mexico, caught this solstice sunrise on December 22. He wrote, "The sun shows at the bottom of the saddle, between the two peaks that form the Horse Saddle Hill (Cerro de la Silla). Click in to see Raul's sequence of sunrise images. Thank you, Raul! Also, see more seasonal images from our community, and share your image here. Thanks to all! Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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