A rare annular solar eclipse, known as a “Ring of Fire,” is set to occur on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
However, the event will only be primarily visible over the remote interior of Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean.
While the “annular” phase, where the Moon is centred in front of the Sun to create a thin, glowing ring, lasts approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds, the path of visibility is restricted to a narrow 383-mile-wide corridor, according to CNN.
This path crosses East Antarctica, including the French-Italian Concordia Research Station and Russia’s Mirny Station, but avoids all major global population centres.
Regions in the southern tip of South America and Southern Africa, including South Africa, Madagascar, and Mauritius, are set to experience a partial eclipse.
However, the event will be entirely invisible in Kenya and other parts of East Africa.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun while at or near its apogee, its farthest point from Earth.
Because the Moon appears smaller than the Sun at this distance, it cannot completely cover the solar disk, resulting in the characteristic halo effect.
NASA heliophysicist Alex Young, speaking to the publication, said that such events are a matter of “pure geometry,” requiring observers to be positioned precisely within the moon’s antumbral shadow.
The phenomenon has a long history in scientific observation.
In 1836, British astronomer Francis Baily first identified “Baily’s Beads”, points of sunlight peeking through lunar valleys, during an eclipse in Scotland. His findings were instrumental in advancing the study of lunar topography and solar physics.
Africa has a notable history with these events, having witnessed the longest annular eclipse of the millennium on January 15, 2010.
While today’s eclipse bypasses much of the continent, two significant events are expected next year, according to Time and Date.
An annular eclipse will cross Africa on February 6, 2027, followed by a major total solar eclipse on August 2, 2027.
The latter is expected to be one of the longest total eclipses of the 21st century, offering over six minutes of totality in parts of North Africa.