Solar eclipse 2020 as it happened: Coverage of rare 'annular' event that passed directly over 12 countries
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The arrival of the 2020 Summer Solstice coincided with a rare type of annular solar eclipse on Sunday.
The Moon’s distance from the Earth meant that it did not completely block out the Sun, creating what some astronomers refer to as a “ring of fire”.
The path of totality – when the Earth, Moon and Sun are perfectly aligned – passed from west to east over 12 countries on 21 June.
A partial eclipse was also visible at various times in dozens of other countries, though poor weather across South East Asia made viewing difficult.
A live stream of the eclipse was broadcast as it passed directly over Africa, the Middle East and Asia (skip to around two hours in to see the full annularity over India).
You can also read The Independent's live coverage of the 2020 solar eclipse.
Please wait a moment for the live blog to load
Here's what the latest weather looks like along the path of the total eclipse (red line) and for the furthest regions where the partial eclipse is visible (purple lines).
Satellite imagery courtesy of Accuweather. Poorly drawn lines courtesy of me.
This animation shows where the eclipse is visible much better than my drawing.
If you don't have specialised eclipse viewing glasses to look directly at the sun, other equipment like pinhole projectors can allow you to safely see a projection of the eclipse.
These can be made using a couple of pieces of card or paper, using one to project the image of the sun through a pin-sized hole, and the other to project the image onto.
We're eight minutes away from annularity in Sirsa, India. While we wait here's some history of eclipses.
Back when solar eclipses could not be explained by science and astronomy, they were seen as either harbingers of hope or omens of despair.
Vikings explained them as sky wolves chasing the sun, in Vietnam it was frogs eating the sun, and tribes of North America said it was the mouth of heaven consuming the sun.
Despite this, some civilisations were actually able to predict them. Ancient Chinese astrologers more than 4,000 years ago were able to forecast the exact date of a solar eclipse. It was seen as so important to observe and predict that the failure of two astronomers to predict one in 2300 BC resulted in their heads being chopped off.
The actual point of total annularity for the solar eclipse lasts just a fraction of a second but the crescent partial eclipse can last for several hours.
As the annular solar eclipse heads on its path towards China, there's some time for a bit more eclipse trivia.
An eclipse was needed to prove Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, which was done on 29 May, 2019. Stars near the Sun that would not normally be visible due to the Sun's brightness could be observed by astronomers. They appeared in a slightly different position due to the Sun's gravity bending the light from the star.
One of the peculiar effects of an eclipse is the shadows it creates. Here's how the sun's light looked after passing through a tree's leaves.
The next great view we're going to see through the live stream is in Taipei City, Taiwan. The path of the solar eclipse's annularity passes directly overhead.
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