Solar Eclipse Alert: Look For It On June 10, 2021

Here’s an article on this Thursday’s solar eclipse by Joe Rao for The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Get ready for a most unusual sunrise solar eclipse! Who gets the best view? We have maps, details, and times here!

In the early morning of Thursday, June 10, 2021, northern and eastern portions of North America will undergo a weird and dramatic event—an annular solar eclipse will be visible and, for most, it will closely coincide with sunrise.

The viewing zone will fall anywhere north and east of a line running roughly from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Evansville, Indiana, extending on to the Atlantic coast near Savannah, Georgia.

Depending on where you are, if your sky is clear, the rising Sun will be somewhat unusual and appear either slightly dented, deeply crescent-shaped, or ring-shaped. If you live in New York State, New England, as well as southern portions of Ontario and Quebec, the Sun will come up looking like a crescent Moon with cusps pointed upward.

Who Gets The Best View?

For those living south and west of this line, you will either be just outside of where the Moon’s shadow will fall, or the eclipse will have ended before the Sun rises. So, unfortunately, much of the central and western parts of the continent will miss out on seeing this unusual solar show.

Across parts of central and northern Canada—starting from the north shore of Lake Superior then heading north through western and northern Ontario, northern Quebec, and the most northerly territory of Canada, Nunavut—viewers located within a path averaging about 380 miles wide will have a front-row seat to witness the rare and exciting spectacle of an annular or ring eclipse.

Toronto will see 86 percent of the Sun’s diameter eclipsed, 85 percent in Montreal, and 80 percent for New York and Boston.

“Ring Of Fire” – What Is An Annular Eclipse?

Because the Moon will be 251,200 miles from Earth on this day, its disk will appear somewhat smaller than the Sun—5.6 percent smaller to be exact. As such, when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, it will not totally cover it, but instead, create a ring of sunlight. Hence, the term “annular” eclipse, derived from the Latin annulus, meaning ring-shaped. Call it a “penny-on-nickel effect” with the nickel representing the Sun and the penny, the Moon.

The annular phase will last 3 minutes 50 seconds if you are on the centerline. Nearer to the edge of the path the duration will be shorter and the ring will look lopsided, with one side shining brighter than the other.

But even if you’re not positioned within the track of the ring phase, you’ll still get a spectacular view as the partial eclipse is definitely a must-see most everywhere from the mid-Atlantic coast north and westward.

Consult the table below and our accompanying eclipse map to gauge what the eclipse might look like from your hometown.

June 10, 2021 Solar Eclipse Timetable